Bulls tighten grip on Dalal Street

The local benchmarks continued to trade jubilantly in late afternoon session, with bulls tightening their grip on Dalal Street, aided by firm opening in European markets. Among BSE sectoral indices, metal index was the star-performer with gains of around 2%, while broader indices too holding their rally with notable gains, cheered by the certainty that the ruling BJP was set to retain power in Gujarat. The traders continued to take encouragement with Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Urjit Patel’s statement that with growth picking up in the second quarter of the current financial year, the economic slowdown may have bottomed out. Separately, UN economic official has said that Indian economy can achieve 8% growth rate for next two decades, if it focus more on promoting investment and improving the living conditions of its people. India’s firm exports data along with positive Asian cues, too helped the indices to maintain their momentum. India’s merchandise exports jumped 30.55% to $26195.76 million in November 2017, on the back of robust growth in shipments of gems and jewellery and engineering goods. Meanwhile, the Government sought Parliament approval for additional expenditure of Rs 66,113 crore, including funds to rollout schemes to provide electricity connections to poor and payment of urea subsidies.

On the global front, European markets were trading in green, as traders remained optimistic about US Republican lawmakers passing tax reform legislation. Asian markets were also trading in green. Back home, in scrip specific development, Eros International Media gained after the company inked a four-film co-production deal with leading production house, Drishyam Films.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 33723.16, up by 260.19 points or 0.78% after trading in a range of 32595.63 and 33801.90. There were 26 stocks advancing against 5 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.99%, while Small cap index was up by 0.72%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 1.95%, Telecom up by 1.42%, Consumer Disc up by 1.34%, Auto up by 1.33% and Healthcare up by 1.15%, while Realty down by 0.03% was the lone losing index on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.65%, ICICI Bank up by 2.46%, Sun Pharma up by 2.39%, SBI up by 2.22% and Adani Ports & SEZ up by 1.98%. On the flip side, Coal India down by 1.13%, Yes Bank down by 0.76%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.37%, ITC down by 0.21% and Infosys down by 0.07% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, after United Nations (UN) in its latest report, projected India's GDP growth rate of 7.2% in 2018 and 7.4% in 2019, an UN economic official has said that Indian economy can achieve 8% growth rate for next two decades, if it focus more on promoting investment and improving the living conditions of its people. He also noted that the country has largely positive and growth favorable economic conditions but it needs to come out with the next series of reforms to achieve its potential.

Sebastian Vergara, an Economic Affairs Officer at the United Nations listed down various factors which have led to positive economic conditions in India, which includes growth of private consumption, sound macroeconomic policies, and government’s emphasis on public investment and infrastructure projects. He further added that county’s fiscal policy has also provided support for the economic activity.

On the demonetizational front, UN expert said that the note ban had resulted in temporary liquidity crunch, but it has resulted beneficial for the banking sector and to increase the tax base. He also noted that in the current year, the government has been focusing particularly on the banking sector, with other reform measures and these reforms are helping the Indian economy to improve its efficiency and increase the medium-term prospects of its economy.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10422.15, up by 88.90 points or 0.86% after trading in a range of 10074.80 and 10443.55. There were 37 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index, while 1 stock remained unchanged.

The top gainers on Nifty were Vedanta up by 3.89%, Hindalco up by 3.23%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.80%, SBI up by 2.75% and ICICI Bank up by 2.61%. On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 1.54%, Coal India down by 1.13%, Indian Oil Corporation down by 1.10%, HPCL down by 1.06% and Yes Bank down by 0.92% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading in green; Shanghai Composite increased 1.79 points or 0.05% to 3,267.92, Taiwan Weighted increased 15.08 points or 0.14% to 10,506.52, Hang Seng increased 202.3 points or 0.7% to 29,050.41 and Nikkei 225 increased 348.55 points or 1.55% to 22,901.77. On the flip side, Jakarta Composite decreased 29.34 points or 0.48% to 6,090.08, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 4.33 points or 0.25% to 1,748.74 and KOSPI Index decreased 0.19 points or 0.01% to 2,481.88.

All European markets were trading in green; UK’s FTSE 100 rose 46.54 points or 0.62% to 7,537.11, France’s CAC increased 58.76 points or 1.1% to 5,408.06 and Germany’s DAX was up by 123.85 points or 0.95% to 13,227.41.