Indian bourses trade marginally higher in noon deals

In an extremely choppy session, the local barometer gauges were trading marginally higher in early afternoon session, as Metal, Auto, Industrials and Power shares witnessed buying amid firm Asian markets. Investors took support with report that the Nikkei India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index, or PMI, rose to a 5 year high of 54.7 in December from 52.6 in November. The survey highlighted that strong business performance was underpinned by the fastest expansions in output and new orders since December 2012 and October 2016 respectively. Some solace was also among the local traders with government’s decision to ease norms for rectification of GST returns. The Finance Ministry has permitted businesses to rectify mistakes in their monthly returns - GSTR-3B - and adjust tax liability, a move that will help them file correct returns without fear of penalty. However, gains were limited as retail inflation for industrial workers rose to 3.97 per cent in November 2017 as compared to 3.24 per cent for the previous month, mainly due to surge in prices of food items, kerosene and cooking gas. In scrip specific development, Ashok Leyland surged by around three percent after reporting a jump of 79% in December sales to 19,253 units, as against 10,731 units sold in the same month of last year.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green, after a survey of Chinese manufacturing proved surprisingly upbeat. China's December Caixin manufacturing PMI came at 51.5 vs 50.6 expected and 50.8 last, reflecting that the operating conditions improved at the quickest pace for four months. Sentiment was also helped by news that North Korea had offered an olive branch to South Korea, with Kim Jong-un saying he was 'open to dialogue' with Seoul.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 33828.45, up by 15.70 points or 0.05% after trading in a range of 33723.26 and 33964.14. There were 14 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.45%, while Small cap index was down by 0.42%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 0.25%, Auto up by 0.24%, Industrials up by 0.18%, Power up by 0.12% and Energy up by 0.09%, while Oil & Gas down by 0.50%, Consumer Disc down by 0.45%, FMCG down by 0.40%, PSU down by 0.38% and Utilities down by 0.38% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Motors - DVR up by 3.15%, Tata Motors up by 2.76%, ONGC up by 1.92%, Coal India up by 1.31% and Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.26%. On the flip side, SBI down by 0.99%, Larsen & Toubro down by 0.92%, Maruti Suzuki down by 0.79%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.77% and Adani Ports & SEZ down by 0.65% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the industry chamber Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) in its Year Ahead Outlook has stated that India is likely to witness mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity worth $50 billion in the year 2018, on the back of plenty of stressed corporate assets on offer attempting valuations. Besides, it observed that the country’s M&A transactions saw a quantum jump of 170 percent in valuations and over 70 percent in the number of transactions in 2017.

As per the different data compilations, there were a total of 944 transactions (664 domestic and 280 cross-border) in 2017 worth $46.5 billion ($3.1 billion domestic and $33.4 billion cross-border). This was against a total of 553 transactions (358 domestic and 195 cross-border) worth $17.5 billion ($7.2 billion domestic and $10.3 billion cross-border) in 2016. The chamber pointed out that there has been a quantum leap in M&A transactions in India with more focus on sectors such as healthcare, telecom, energy, real estate, media & entertainment, banking, insurance, oil, cement and consumer products.

The report further highlighted that the M&A opportunities in 2018 would remain robust given the fact that lot more assets continue to remain under stress. It also noted that some big-ticket projects referred to the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code would see change in promoters in areas like real estate, steel etc. It also suggested easing of guidelines and legislative support in the Income Tax Act and the Competition Act to boost M&A activity in India. It added that amendments in the Stamp Act, 1899 to bring uniformity of Stamp Duty in all Indian states particularly to M&A transactions can prove to be a catapult for the future M&A’s in India.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10439.10, up by 3.55 points or 0.03% after trading in a range of 10409.65 and 10495.20. There were 21 stocks advancing against 29 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Motors up by 2.91%, Bharti Infratel up by 2.42%, Tech Mahindra up by 2.19%, ONGC up by 1.92% and Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.30%. On the flip side, Eicher Motors down by 2.91%, HPCL down by 2.30%, Indiabulls Housing Finance down by 2.03%, BPCL down by 1.77% and Indian Oil Corporation down by 1.27% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading mostly in green; KOSPI Index increased 12.16 points or 0.49% to 2,479.65, Shanghai Composite was up by 38.68 points or 1.17% to 3,345.85, Jakarta Composite surged 53.61 points or 0.84% to 6,409.26, Taiwan Weighted rose 67.87 points or 0.64% to 10,710.73 and Hang Seng added 544.81 points or 1.82% to 30,463.96.

On the flip side, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was down by 15.05 points or 0.84% to 1,781.76.