Indian equity benchmarks remained choppy in late afternoon session but manage to trade in green territory, amid weak opening in European markets. Sensex and Nifty trading with marginal gains, while the broader markets showed some fervor and traded with notable gains to perform better. Traders continued to take support with Economic Affairs Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg’s statement that getting investment in the infrastructure sector and bankruptcy reforms are the two issues which are on the top of the government's agenda. Some relief also came with the report that the International Monetary Fund suggested India to consider setting up an independent fiscal council, saying this institution has contributed to better outcomes in the countries where it has been introduced. Furthermore, some buying witnessed at Telecom, Oil & Gas and Realty counters, while selling in Banking, Consumer Durables and IT stocks weighted on the sentiments.
On the global front, European markets were trading in red as the stand-off over independence for Catalonia continued and North Korea warned that a nuclear war could break out any moment. Asian markets were also trading in red. Back home, in scrip specific development, Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) traded higher after the company launched a programme ‘Prerna’ to empower women working in the agriculture sector by promoting efficient and ergonomic farm tools and equipment. The project will be initially launched in the state of Odisha, with the intention to positively impact the lives of over 1,500 families across 30-plus villages.
The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 32653.17, up by 19.53 points or 0.06% after trading in a range of 32556.74 and 32699.86. There were 17 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.
The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.25%, while Small cap index was up by 0.51%.
The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 2.33%, Realty up by 0.88%, Oil & Gas up by 0.78%, Capital Goods up by 0.67% and PSU up by 0.54%, while Bankex down by 0.07%, Consumer Durables down by 0.07% and IT down by 0.05% were the top losing indices on BSE.
The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel up by 2.78%, Bajaj Auto up by 1.52%, Asian Paints up by 1.35%, Cipla up by 1.24% and Hero MotoCorp up by 0.96%. On the flip side, Axis Bank down by 1.09%, Tata Motors down by 0.81%, Infosys down by 0.64%, ONGC down by 0.47% and Tata Steel down by 0.42% were the top losers.
Meanwhile, emphasizing that Infrastructure sector investment and bankruptcy reforms are the two issues which are on the top of the government's agenda, Economic Affairs Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg said that the country needs to take more efforts to improve the infra sector as it would lead to a better economy, a better life and better management.
Garg detailing priorities, noted the importance of insolvency and broken funds resolution for the banking sector as this will help the banks to improve their performance. Further, Garg expressed need of India to become a formal economy, a less cash economy and ensured that the government will look on these problems too.
On the most discussed Universal Basic Income (UBI) scheme, Economic Affairs Secretary said that the government has looked at it very closely, while adding that in a way programmes like Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) are kind of UBI scheme, which also applies test of work rather than a dole. He further said that there was a big analysis in the economic survey about the big basic scheme of schemes and these are the ideas which always remain under examination.
The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10242.95, up by 12.10 points or 0.12% after trading in a range of 10212.60 and 10251.85. There were 26 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining on the index.
The top gainers on Nifty were HPCL up by 2.75%, Bharti Airtel up by 2.70%, BPCL up by 2.63%, Indiabulls Housing Finance up by 2.30% and Yes Bank up by 1.79%. On the flip side, Zee Entertainment down by 3.22%, Axis Bank down by 1.14%, Tata Motors down by 1.02%, Infosys down by 0.75% and UPL down by 0.73% were the top losers.
Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Taiwan Weighted decreased 51.06 points or 0.47% to 10,723.15, Jakarta Composite decreased 12.32 points or 0.21% to 5,937.38, Shanghai Composite decreased 6.43 points or 0.19% to 3,372.04 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 3.56 points or 0.2% to 1,750.81. On the flip side, KOSPI Index increased 4.32 points or 0.17% to 2,484.37, Hang Seng increased 4.69 points or 0.02% to 28,697.49 and Nikkei 225 increased 80.56 points or 0.38% to 21,336.12.
All European markets were trading in red; UK’s FTSE 100 slipped 12.23 points or 0.16% to 7,514.74, France’s CAC decreased 10.62 points or 0.2% to 5,352.26 and Germany’s DAX was down by 3.5 points or 0.03% to 13,000.20.
