Markets hold gains; Nifty nearing 10,400 mark

Key Indian benchmarks held their early gains in late morning session, with Nifty nearing the psychological level of 10,400, despite weak Asian markets. Sentiments were upbeat with the private report stating 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. Adding to the optimism, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said direct transfer of government benefits using technology, bank accounts and biometric identifier Aadhaar has helped save $10 billion in subsidies. Some support also came with Confederation of Indian Industry’s (CII) statement that the government's recent move to give infrastructure status to the logistics industry in India, will not only spur growth, but will also bring in more investments into this sector. Moreover, the broader markets were also performing well with gains of more than 0.50%, in line with larger peers.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red, with investors treading cautiously following the sell-off in Chinese equities on Thursday and in the absence of overnight cues from Wall Street, which was closed for a public holiday. Back home, in scrip specific development, Arshiya surged after the company finalised the definitive agreements on November 23, 2017 with Ascendas Property Fund (India) (Ascendas), part of the Ascendas-Singbridge Group (Asia's leading sustainable urban and business space solutions provider), for the monetisation of its six warehouses situated at the Free Trade and Warehousing Zone at Panvel, near Mumbai (Arshiya FTWZ).

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 33682.56, up by 94.48 points or 0.28% after trading in a range of 33639.98 and 33714.42. There were 20 stocks advancing against 10 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 0.56%, while Small cap index was up by 0.64%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 1.16%, IT up by 0.87%, TECK up by 0.79%, Consumer Disc up by 0.62% and Auto up by 0.59%, while Metal down by 0.13% was the lone losing index on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Infosys up by 1.94%, Bajaj Auto up by 1.19%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.14%, Sun Pharma up by 0.74% and Cipla up by 0.74%. On the flip side, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.11%, Asian Paints down by 0.58%, Tata Steel down by 0.51%, Wipro down by 0.51% and Adani Ports & SEZ down by 0.41% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has said that the government's recent move to give infrastructure status to the logistics industry in India, will not only spur growth, but will also bring in more investments into this sector. Besides, it noted that that the logistics sector, which already offers over 17 million jobs, will grow at an even faster rate going forward and provide even higher employment opportunities than before.

In accordance with the CII, the logistics sector is still highly fragmented and has suffered from lack of investments and a proper recognition. Over the past few years, the industry group has been pursuing this issue with the government at various levels and ministries.  It has welcomed the government's proactive step of setting up a logistics division under the Ministry of Commerce for integration of related sectors. Adding further, it stressed on need to facilitate credit flow into the sector with longer tenures and reasonable interest rates. It also explained that infrastructure status for the logistics sector can result in an integrated planning of logistics infrastructure and better utilisation of existing assets and resources with a focus on timely maintenance and upgradation.

Besides, K V Mahidhar, Head, CII Institute of Logistics, has stated that their institute will continue to work with both users and service providers to capitalise on opportunities and the thrust by the government to further improve the competitiveness of the logistics sector. He also expressed his hopes that subsequently, this can result in the enhancement of the logistics performance index of the country.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10385.80, up by 37.05 points or 0.36% after trading in a range of 10362.25 and 10392.75. There were 36 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Infosys up by 1.90%, Aurobindo Pharma up by 1.84%, Indusind Bank up by 1.81%, Bajaj Finance up by 1.38% and HPCL up by 1.25%. On the flip side, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.86%, Hindalco down by 0.65%, Tata Steel down by 0.62%, Wipro down by 0.58% and Adani Ports & SEZ down by 0.55% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Jakarta Composite decreased 16.85 points or 0.28% to 6,046.39, Shanghai Composite decreased 11.86 points or 0.35% to 3,340.05, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 5.46 points or 0.32% to 1,715.81 and Taiwan Weighted decreased 0.48 points or 0% to 10,854.09.

On the flip side, KOSPI Index increased 2.65 points or 0.1% to 2,539.80, Nikkei 225 increased 32.22 points or 0.14% to 22,555.37 and Hang Seng increased 87.68 points or 0.3% to 29,795.62.