Benchmarks trade in fine fettle in early deals; Sensex regains 33,800 mark

Indian equity benchmarks made an optimistic start after two days of consolidation and are trading in fine fettle in early deals on Friday, with frontline gauges recapturing their crucial 10,450 (Nifty) and 33,800 (Sensex) levels. Sentiments remained up-beat with Reserve Bank of India in its latest edition of the Financial Stability Report has noted that while the stress in the banking sector remains elevated, it appears to be bottoming out. Some support also came with Chairman of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM) Bibek Debroy’s statement that India is expected to be a $ 6.5-7 trillion economy by 2030, and at the current exchange rate it would touch $ 10 trillion by 2035-40. He said that India will be remarkably different country as the size of its economy will enhance the country's role in global affairs.

Global cues too remained supportive with most of the Asian counters trading in green terrain, though the Japanese stock market is flat in choppy trade on Friday despite the positive lead from Wall Street. The US markets though managed a modestly positive close but ended the last session off their highs.

Back home, traders shrugged off IMF report that India's financial sector is facing considerable challenges with high non-performing assets and slow deleveraging and repair of corporate balance sheets testing the resilience of the banking system and holding back growth. The 2G spectrum case related stocks remained buzzing after the special CBI court acquitted all 18 accused including A Raja and K Kanimozhi in 2G spectrum allocation case.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 33854.16, up by 97.88 points or 0.29% after trading in a range of 33767.73 and 33856.11. There were 19 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.54%, while Small cap index was up by 0.71%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Power up by 1.03%, Capital Goods up by 0.90%, Utilities up by 0.88%, Industrials up by 0.86% and Realty was up by 0.82%, while Consumer Durables down by 0.14% was the lone losing index on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Maruti Suzuki up by 1.72%, Tata Motors - DVR up by 1.66%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.54%, ONGC up by 1.28% and Tata Motors up by 1.05%. On the flip side, Coal India down by 0.71%, Hero MotoCorp down by 0.63%, Bajaj Auto down by 0.50%, Power Grid Corporation down by 0.39% and Tata Steel down by 0.36% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, expressing hope that Indian economy will improve its role in global affairs, Bibek Debroy chairman of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM) has said that India’s national income is expected to be $6.5-7 trillion by the year 2030. However, he also said that it will be just $4000, still less than many other countries. Besides, he pointed that growth had been 2% lower since 2011 due to the priority given to long-term structural changes.

Debroy, who is also the NITI Aayog Member, added that if exchange rate remains what it is today then Indian economy will be $10 trillion economy by 2035-40. He further said if exchange rate appreciates then India will be $10 trillion economy before 2035. He also said that India will be remarkably different country as the size of its economy will enhance the country's role in global affairs.

He stated that people are not seeking government jobs today, instead, more and more people are providing jobs to others. On the issues related to land, he said it is a contentious issue and it is very inefficiently used in India, and the country doesn’t have clear system of land titling. Moreover, at present, India’s GDP or gross domestic product is nearly $2.5 trillion and the country ranks as the sixth largest economy in the world.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10464.90, up by 24.60 points or 0.24% after trading in a range of 10448.25 and 10467.85. There were 31 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Maruti Suzuki up by 1.68%, ONGC up by 1.52%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.41%, Adani Ports up by 1.26% and Bajaj Finance up by 1.08%. On the flip side, Lupin down by 0.92%, HCL Tech down by 0.81%, Coal India down by 0.67%, Bajaj Auto down by 0.66% and Hero MotoCorp down by 0.50% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in green; FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI rose 0.86 points or 0.05% to 1,752.07, Shanghai Composite gained 3.75 points or 0.11% to 3,303.81, Nikkei 225 jumped 5.13 points or 0.02% to 22,871.23, KOSPI Index increased 9.78 points or 0.4% to 2,439.61, Taiwan Weighted added 9.92 points or 0.09% to 10,498.89 and Hang Seng was up by 77.72 points or 0.26% to 29,444.78.

On the flip side, Jakarta Composite was down by 12.63 points or 0.2% to 6,170.76.