Benchmarks trade in fine fettle; Sensex surpasses 33,200 mark

Extending their winning streak for fifth straight session, Indian equity benchmarks have made a positive start and are trading in fine fettle in early deals on Friday, with frontline gauges surpassing their crucial 33,200 (Sensex) and  10,350 (Nifty) levels. Traders took some encouragement with credit rating agency Fitch’s report that the recent recapitalisation plan announced by the government for public sector banks will provide substantial funds to the lenders to address the capital shortages that has a major negative impact on their ratings. Meanwhile, markets regulator SEBI revising the framework for 'block deals' by providing two separate trading windows of 15 minutes each and increasing the minimum order size to Rs 10 crore. The move is aimed at ensuring confidentiality of the large trades and stable prices for such transactions.

Global cues too remained supportive with most of the Asian counters trading in green at this point of time, led by technology stocks taking cues from some upbeat earnings, while the congressional action on tax reform in US too boosted confidence in the growth outlook. The US markets made a mixed closing despite some positive economic reports and some better-than-expected corporate results.

Back home, power sector stocks remained on buyers’ radar, as the Power Minister R.K. Singh has said that the government is working to make obligations under power purchase agreement (PPA) statutory binding, ensuring all discoms have PPAs to cover 100 percent requirement. The market breadth indicating the overall health of the market was strong, with 1,265 shares gaining and 701 shares declining, while a total of 85 shares were unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 33221.97, up by 74.84 points or 0.23% after trading in a range of 33169.48 and 33270.62. There were 22 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.43%, while Small cap index was up by 0.56%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Capital Goods up by 0.80%, Industrials up by 0.65%, Utilities up by 0.63%, FMCG up by 0.63% and Power up by 0.61%, while Telecom down by 2.52%, Bankex down by 0.67%, PSU down by 0.62%, TECK down by 0.42% and Oil & Gas down by 0.21% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Adani Ports up by 1.80%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.76%, Cipla up by 1.61%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.33% and ITC up by 1.04%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 2.02%, SBI down by 1.86%, Wipro down by 1.61%, ICICI Bank down by 1.12% and Hindustan Unilever down by 0.89% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, after the announcement of various reforms by the government, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) Secretary Ramesh Abhishek has expressed hope that India’s ranking is likely to improve significantly in the World Bank’s ease of doing business report, as they have worked very hard. The government’s optimism regarding the improvement in India's rank comes on the back of reforms taken to improve the efficiency in granting construction permits, starting a business and resolving insolvency.

DIPP Secretary also said that the introduction of Goods and Services Tax (GST) is bound to be a ‘gamechanger’ for India's economy despite the expected initial hiccups, which are being addressed by the government. He added that when one do such a massive reform there are bound to be some issues and challenges, but the government has been responding to feedback from stakeholders and making appropriate changes as required.

Participating countries in the ease of doing business report took ranking seriously as they believe that it plays a key role in helping foreign investors to decide where to invest. India’s rank inched up by just one place to 130 in the last year’s survey that measures the ease of doing business in various countries.  The World Bank's ‘ease of doing business’ survey 2018 is slated to be released on October 31. Besides, Abhishek pointed out that in the last three-and-a-half years, India has received foreign direct investment (FDI) of above $170 billion.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10355.20, up by 11.40 points or 0.11% after trading in a range of 10336.85 and 10366.15. There were 34 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bajaj Finance up by 2.01%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.97%, Cipla up by 1.88%, Adani Ports up by 1.75% and Zee Entertainment up by 1.63%. On the flip side, Yes Bank down by 5.75%, Bharti Infratel down by 5.07%, HPCL down by 2.64%, Bharti Airtel down by 2.38% and Indian Oil Corporation down by 1.94% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Shanghai Composite increased 9.56 points or 0.28% to 3,417.12, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI surged 9.63 points or 0.55% to 1,746.43, Taiwan Weighted gained 11.49 points or 0.11% to 10,746.25, KOSPI Index jumped 13.2 points or 0.53% to 2,493.83, Nikkei 225 added 229.02 points or 1.05% to 21,968.80 and Hang Seng was up by 236.05 points or 0.84% to 28,438.43.

On the flip side, Jakarta Composite was down by 0.91 points or 0.02% to 5,994.93.