Bourses erase losses to trade in green

Key benchmark indices erased their all losses and started trading in green territory in early afternoon session, on the back of buying witnessed in Metal, Oil & Gas and Capital Goods stocks. The sentiments turned optimistic with the reports that chief economic adviser (CEA) Arvind Subramanian suggested that measures such as privatisation, selective capital infusion into viable banks, and taking stressed loans off the balance sheet of banks will make the record bailout of state-owned banks, announced by finance minister Arun Jaitley, even more effective. Besides, short-covering by participants with Thursday being the last trading session of the October series of derivative contracts also supported the sentiments. However, gains were limited with a recent poll showing that India’s economy will likely grow at its slowest pace in four years this fiscal year, as a currency ban and GST have disrupted business activity and dampened consumer demand. Meanwhile, the broader markets gained strength with the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices rising by 0.57% and 0.73%, respectively. In scrip specific development, Thomas Cook India was up by over a percent with its arm receiving approval to invest in Vedang Cellular Services and Trimax Smart lnfraprojects.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red, tracking a retreat on Wall Street as fears over the progress of US President Donald Trump's tax cut plans dampened investor sentiment. Back home, the BSE Sensex is currently trading at 33048.25, up by 5.75 points or 0.02% after trading in a range of 32835.06 and 33074.91. There were 15 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.57%, while Small cap index was up by 0.73%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 1.84%, Oil & Gas up by 1.72%, Capital Goods up by 1.71%, PSU up by 1.35% and Industrials up by 0.95%, while Telecom down by 0.86%, Consumer Durables down by 0.12% and TECK down by 0.11% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Cipla up by 3.02%, Larsen & Toubro up by 1.90%, Coal India up by 1.66%, Tata Steel up by 1.31% and Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 0.92%. On the flip side, ICICI Bank down by 2.86%, Power Grid down by 1.99%, HDFC down by 1.49%, Asian Paints down by 1.30% and Dr. Reddy’s Lab down by 1.06% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, with a view to support startups in the oil and gas sector for a period of three years, as many as 10 public sector undertakings (PSUs) under the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas, has unveiled a Rs 320 crore startup fund.  Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has said that the oil sector PSUs have partnered with 36 projects (startups). He believes that this initiative would help promote innovation and new business models in the oil and gas sector. 

The minister further mentioned that the 10 state-run firms running the initiative are IndianOil, Hindustan Petroleum, Bharat Petroleum, Oil India, ONGC, Engineers India, Numaligarh Refinery, Gas Authority of India, Balmer Lawrie and Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals. He pointed out that India will offer investment opportunities worth $300 billion in oil sector over next 10 years so as to keep pace with the country's energy demand. In an apparent reference to the government's planned initiative on waste-to-wealth (energy) projects, he said that rag picking would be big business in the coming days.

Pradhan also indicated that the government has provided 3 crore LPG connections to poor households in 15 months and in the next 15 months, 4 crore families would be provide electricity connections under the Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana - 'Saubhagya'. He also expressed hope that the burden of oil imports would reduce in the coming days, and added that if oil imports worth Rs 1 lakh crore are avoided then it would be a big boost for the country.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10310.55, up by 15.20 points or 0.15% after trading in a range of 10271.85 and 10312.45. There were 30 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were BPCL up by 4.48%, HPCL up by 3.47%, Yes Bank up by 2.74%, Cipla up by 2.55% and Larsen & Toubro up by 2.01%. On the flip side, HCL Tech. down by 4.25%, ICICI Bank down by 2.50%, Power Grid Corporation down by 2.17%, Indiabulls Housing Finance down by 2.15% and Bharti Infratel down by 2.02% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Hang Seng decreased 108.18 points or 0.38% to 28,194.71, Taiwan Weighted shed 15.81 points or 0.15% to 10,734.76, KOSPI Index was down by 11.87 points or 0.48% to 2,480.63 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI slipped 3.24 points or 0.19% to 1,735.81.

On the global front, Jakarta Composite increased 6.86 points or 0.11% to 6,032.29, Shanghai Composite was up by 7.82 points or 0.23% to 3,404.72 and Nikkei 225 added 32.16 points or 0.15% to 21,739.78.