Benchmarks trade with traction; Nifty reclaims 10,200 mark

Indian equity benchmarks made an optimistic start and are trading with traction in early deals on Friday, amid supportive global cues. Sentiments remained up-beat with International Energy Agency's (IEA) report that India is emerging as a ‘major driving force’ in global energy trends, with all modern fuels and technologies playing a part. Meanwhile, the finance ministry has said that the FRDI Bill, under consideration of a joint parliamentary committee, is depositor friendly and provides more protection to them compared to existing provisions. It has clarified that the provisions in the FRDI Bill do not modify current protections for depositors adversely at all, the ministry held, maintaining that these rather provide additional protections in a more transparent manner.

Firm global leads too provided the required support to the domestic markets with Asian markets rallying at this point of time, led by the Japanese market which is up by over a percent, as its economy expanded in the third quarter more than initially reported, as business investment grew at a faster pace. The US markets managed a positive close though the major averages came off their highs in last session.

Back home, stocks related to power sector remained buzzing, as Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Power and Renewable Energy, RK Singh, has coaxed State governments to reduce the number of slabs for selling power. Aviation stocks showed mixed reaction despite Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha’s statement that India’s aviation market would surpass the US and China by crossing a billion passenger trips per year in the next 10 to 15 years.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 33157.38, up by 208.17 points or 0.63% after trading in a range of 33034.20 and 33166.49. There were 26 stocks advancing against 5 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.80%, while Small cap index was up by 0.93%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 1.66%, Metal up by 1.29%, Basic Materials up by 1.15%, Auto up by 0.94% and Industrials up by 0.93%, while there were no losing indices on the BSE sectoral front.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel up by 3.16%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.91%, Tata Motors up by 1.88%, Tata Motors - DVR up by 1.31% and Wipro up by 1.26%. On the flip side, NTPC down by 0.45%, Hero MotoCorp down by 0.39%, Asian Paints down by 0.34%, Reliance Industries down by 0.34% and Dr. Reddys Lab down by 0.31% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, allaying fears over 'bail-in' provisions that are being seen as making bank deposits unsafe, the Finance Ministry has said that the provisions of the Financial Resolution and Deposit Insurance Bill, 2017 (FRDI Bill), under consideration of a joint parliamentary committee, are aimed at protecting the interests of depositors and provides more protection to them compared to existing provisions. This statement comes in the wake of certain misgivings that appeared in the media about provisions. Clarifying further it said that the provisions in the FRDI Bill do not modify current protections for depositors adversely at all and added that it provide additional protections in a more transparent manner.

Presently, each person who makes a deposit in the bank can only be protected up to a limit of Rs 1 lakh by the guarantee of the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC). For remaining deposits, that is, beyond Rs 1 lakh of deposits in a bank, depositors do not have any deposit protection guarantee and are treated at par with claims of unsecured creditors as of now. Besides providing similar protection / guarantee of Rs 1 lakh to depositors as it exists today, the Centre said, the rights of uninsured depositors are being placed at an elevated status in the FRDI Bill compared to the existing legal arrangements over the unsecured creditors and even government dues.

According to the Ministry, the FRDI Bill is far more depositor friendly than many other jurisdictions, which provide for statutory bail-in, where consent of creditors or depositors is not required for bail-in. It also said the FRDI Bill does not propose in any way to limit the scope of powers for the government to extend financing and resolution support to banks, including public sector banks (PSBs) and added that the government's implicit guarantee for PSBs remains unaffected. It stated that the FRDI Bill will strengthen the system by adding a comprehensive resolution regime which will help ensure that, in the rare event of failure of a financial service provider, there is a system of quick, orderly and efficient resolution in favour of depositors.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10231.00, up by 64.30 points or 0.63% after trading in a range of 10195.25 and 10235.95. There were 41 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bharti Airtel up by 2.43%, Vedanta up by 2.26%, Hindalco up by 2.09%, Maruti Suzuki up by 2.03% and Indusind Bank up by 1.94%. On the flip side, Bharti Infratel down by 1.14%, NTPC down by 0.75%, Hero MotoCorp down by 0.64%, Asian Paints down by 0.58% and Reliance Industries down by 0.56% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading in green; FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI rose 4.8 points or 0.28% to 1,723.85, Shanghai Composite gained 6.78 points or 0.21% to 3,278.84, KOSPI Index increased 7.49 points or 0.3% to 2,469.47, Taiwan Weighted jumped 22.22 points or 0.21% to 10,377.98, Jakarta Composite added 28.06 points or 0.47% to 6,034.90, Nikkei 225 surged 220.68 points or 0.98% to 22,718.71 and Hang Seng was up by 247.22 points or 0.87% to 28,550.41.