Benchmarks continue firm trade in morning session

Indian equity benchmarks continued their firm trade in morning session on account of buying in frontline blue chip counters. The Indian rupee opened flat against dollar versus previous close 64.58. The dollar had lost some sheen after FOMC minutes cautious about inflation. Traders were taking support with a private report that the slowdown in the economy has bottomed out, and going forward, the pace of recovery will depend on initiatives the government takes to boost growth momentum, especially private investment. The report added that there has been improvement on some parameters of the economy following the slowdown, post demonetization and GST. Some optimism also crept in on report that the global ratings agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) will revise India’s sovereign ratings. In 2012, the outlook was for the country lowered to negative, which was raised to stable soon after the Modi government assumed office in 2014. The rating, however, remained unchanged at ‘BBB-‘. Separately, Union minister Suresh Prabhu’s said that the commerce and industry ministry is chalking out a proper business plan based on market research in its bid to promote exports of goods and services. He added that a proper market segmentation is the need of the hour to understand the potential of domestic goods and services.

Meanwhile, the President’s assent to the ordinance to amend the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) that will bar defaulters from bidding for the stressed assets received thumbs up from stakeholders who described it as a major step towards providing comfort to incoming new investors. However, the amendment to the IBC that bars promoters from bidding for their own distressed companies could impact lenders as it would bring down the value of these assets. Investors took note that the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) is planning to ease takeover rules to speed up the resolution of insolvency proceedings for stressed companies as local lenders seek to recover about Rs 9 lakh crore from entities rendered unviable by the mounting debt pile. Mixed reactions were displayed in hospital stocks on report that India may soon tighten the control on private hospitals and other clinical establishments, with the central government having decided to urge all states to implement an Act that was passed in 2010 in order to curb malpractices by such establishments.

Traders were seen piling up position in Consumer Durables, Telecom and IT stocks, while selling was witnessed in Metal and Realty sector stocks. In scrip specific development, Thomas Cook India was trading firm as the company has managed to raise more than the planned Rs 600 crore from its offer for sale of Quess Corp shares as it was oversubscribed five times on Thursday. The sale of Thomas Cook’s 5.42 percent stake in Quess Corp opened on Thursday to institutional investors and bids were received at a clearing price of Rs 851, a 6.4 percent premium to the floor price of Rs 800. Swaraj Engines was trading on firm note as the company is looking into a share buyback plan. The board of directors of the company will consider the proposal on November 28.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red. Japanese manufacturing activity expanded at the fastest pace in more than three years in November as output, new orders, and new export orders all accelerated in a sign the economy will continue its growth streak. The Markit/Nikkei Japan Manufacturing flash Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) rose to 53.8 in November on a seasonally adjusted basis from a final reading of 52.8 in October. Back home, the BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty were trading above the psychological 33,600 and 10,350 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was positive in the ratio of 1459:763, while 119 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 33690.83, up by 102.75 points or 0.31% after trading in a range of 33639.98 and 33714.42. There were 22 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.55%, while Small cap index was up by 0.70%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 0.81%, Telecom up by 0.80%, IT up by 0.73%, Energy up by 0.71% and TECK up by 0.68%, while Metal down by 0.31% and Realty down by 0.14% were the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Infosys up by 1.50%, Bajaj Auto up by 1.22%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 0.93%, Bharti Airtel up by 0.82% and Reliance Industries up by 0.81%.

On the flip side, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.04%, Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone down by 0.65%, Tata Steel down by 0.58%, Wipro down by 0.48% and Asian Paints down by 0.45% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, as India’s merchandise exports entered the negative terrain after over an year, contracting 1.12 per cent to $ 23 billion in October, the commerce and industry minister Suresh Prabhu has said that his ministry is chalking out a 'proper' business plan based on market research in its bid to promote exports of goods and services.

Prabhu said that a proper market segmentation is the need of the hour to understand the potential of domestic goods and services and added that the segmentation will shed light on the possibility of increasing penetration of products and services.

The minister taking note of the potential of regions such as Russia and Latin America, said, “We are working on a strategy for each of the markets.' He added that while the ministry is making a new industrial policy they are also trying to create new markets for Indian products globally. Regarding the huge demand in luxury items in the international market he said that the ministry is working on quite a few interesting steps and is in the process of preparing a proper business plan based on market research.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10386.65, up by 37.90 points or 0.37% after trading in a range of 10362.25 and 10392.75. There were 39 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were IndusInd Bank up by 1.78%, Bajaj Finance up by 1.50%, Infosys up by 1.47%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.42% and Bharti Infratel up by 1.37%.

On the flip side, Zee Entertainment down by 1.26%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.90%, Tata Steel down by 0.79%, Hindalco down by 0.78% and Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone down by 0.63% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Shanghai Composite decreased 17.49 points or 0.52% to 3,334.43, Jakarta Composite decreased 16.85 points or 0.28% to 6,046.39, Taiwan Weighted decreased 5.53 points or 0.05% to 10,849.04 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 5.46 points or 0.32% to 1,715.81.

On the other hand, KOSPI Index increased 3.38 points or 0.13% to 2,540.53, Nikkei 225 increased 25.36 points or 0.11% to 22,548.51 and Hang Seng increased 59.55 points or 0.2% to 29,767.49.