Firm trade continues on Dalal Street; Banks steal the show

Key barometer gauges continued their firm trade in early afternoon session, with the Sensex and Nifty rallying to new highs, boosted by the bank recapitalisation plan announced by the government. The government approved a Rs. 2.11 lakh crore recapitalisation plan for public sector banks over two years to boost their finances, private investment and help revive the economy. Traders also took some encouragement with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s statement that the Indian economy is on a strong wicket with sound macro-economic fundamentals. Moreover, firmness in Asian stocks coupled with healthy buying witnessed in Banking, Capital Goods, Industrials and Power stocks also lifted the optimism in domestic equities. In scrip specific development, ITI gained on emerging as the lowest bidder for 50 lakh smart meters quoting a rate of Rs 2,503 per unit, followed by Genus Power and KEONICS in a reverse auction by EESL.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green, following the overnight gains on Wall Street as upbeat corporate earnings results and optimism about global economic growth boosted investor sentiments. Back home, the BSE Sensex is currently trading at 32934.42, up by 327.08 points or 1.00% after trading in a range of 32804.60 and 33117.33. There were 19 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index, while 1 stock remained unchanged.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.12%, while Small cap index was up by 0.01%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were PSU up by 7.03%, Bankex up by 3.62%, Capital Goods up by 3.20%, Industrials up by 1.66% and Power up by 1.29%, while Consumer Durables down by 1.32%, Realty down by 0.62%, Healthcare down by 0.34%, Metal down by 0.25% and Consumer Disc down by 0.16% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were SBI up by 23.75%, ICICI Bank up by 11.47%, Larsen & Toubro up by 5.26%, Axis Bank up by 3.44% and Wipro up by 1.50%. On the flip side, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 4.65%, HDFC Bank down by 3.68%, HDFC down by 2.58%, Lupin down by 1.55% and Sun Pharma down by 0.91% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in order to give a major push to India’s infrastructure and create more jobs, the Union cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given its nod for the biggest ever highway project worth around Rs 7 lakh crore for development of over 80,000 km of highways including the ambitious Bharatmala project in the next five years. Bharatmala is the biggest ever road building programme after National Highways Development Project (NHDP) that saw development of about 50,000 km, and aims at improving connectivity in border and other areas.

Under Bharatmala scheme, 34,800 km of highways would be constructed at the cost of Rs 5.35 lakh crore. It involves building 9,000 km of economic corridors to unlock full economic potential, 6,000 km of inter-corridor and feeder routes, 5,000 km of national corridors efficiency improvement. To boost border roads and international connectivity, the government also approved construction of 2,000 km of roads along the eastern and western borders of the country.

For funding of Bharatmala project, Rs 2.09 lakh crore will be raised as debt from the market, Rs 1.06 lakh crore from private investments and Rs 2.19 lakh crore from sources like Central Road Fund, toll etc. In addition to 34,800 km under Bharatmala, balance works of 48,877 km of highway projects under other current schemes will be implemented in parallel by NHAI/MoRTH with an outlay of Rs 1.57 lakh crore.  This will be financed by providing Rs 0.97 lakh crore from CRF and Rs 0.59 lakh crore as gross budgetary support. 

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10266.20, up by 58.50 points or 0.57% after trading in a range of 10240.90 and 10340.55. There were 30 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were SBI up by 23.58%, ICICI Bank up by 11.78%, Larsen & Toubro up by 4.93%, Ultratech Cement up by 4.08% and Axis Bank up by 3.50%. On the flip side, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 4.66%, Yes Bank down by 4.59%, Indiabulls Housing Finance down by 4.22%, Indusind Bank down by 4.02% and HDFC Bank down by 3.73% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; KOSPI Index increased 2.01 points or 0.08% to 2,492.50, Shanghai Composite was up by 4.16 points or 0.12% to 3,392.41, Taiwan Weighted added 6.79 points or 0.06% to 10,750.57, Jakarta Composite rose 32.19 points or 0.54% to 5,984.26 and Hang Seng surged 108.53 points or 0.39% to 28,263.50.

On the flip side, Nikkei 225 decreased 97.55 points or 0.45% to 21,707.62 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was down by 0.38 points or 0.02% to 1,735.76.