Sensex, Nifty hover near record highs

Mirroring the firm global cues, the local benchmarks hovered near their record highs in late afternoon session. The rally in the markets was led by gains in Telecom, Realty, TECK and Consumer Disc stocks and industry majors like Yes Bank, Adani Ports & SEZ and Bharti Airtel. The broader markets were also holding the gains, but only Oil & Gas and PSU sectors failed to join the rally in noon deals. Sentiments remained upbeat with global ratings agency, Fitch Ratings’ in its latest report stating that the country has the potential to grow at an average of 6.7% per annum over the next five years and will be the fastest growing large economies. Optimism remained among the inventors, as Finance Minister Arun Jaitley assured that the positive impact of the government’s reform measures would get reflected in the medium to long term. He further noted that India is the only economy which could maintain a growth rate of 7-8% amid challenges like the country’s weak public sector banks (PSBs) and initial disturbance of demonetisation, Goods and Services Tax (GST). On the sectoral front, mixed reaction was seen in pharma sector stocks with a private report stating that the Indian pharma sector's December quarter revenue is estimated to remain flat, while profits are likely to slip owing to decline in US businesses and a sharp appreciation in rupee. 

On the global front, European markets were trading in green, as investors eyed the release of euro zone inflation data due later in the day, as well as a highly-anticipated US employment report. Besides, German retail sales surged more than expected in November, data showed on Friday, boosting hopes that private consumption propped up growth in Europe’s biggest economy at the end of last year. Back home, in scrip specific development, Dilip Buildcon gained after the company incorporated a subsidiary namely ‘DBL-VPR Mining’ for exploring sector of Mining Activities including but not limited to coal mining.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 34144.54, up by 174.90 points or 0.51% after trading in a range of 34020.84 and 34175.21. There were 25 stocks advancing against 6 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.69%, while Small cap index was up by 0.95%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 3.22%, Realty up by 1.12%, TECK up by 0.95%, Consumer Disc up by 0.92% and Basic Materials up by 0.86%, while Oil & Gas down by 0.60%, PSU down by 0.30% and Energy down by 0.14% were the few losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Yes Bank up by 5.76%, Adani Ports & SEZ up by 3.60%, Bharti Airtel up by 2.86%, Indusind Bank up by 2.08% and Dr. Reddy’s Lab up by 2.01%. On the flip side, ONGC down by 1.53%, SBI down by 0.65%, Sun Pharma down by 0.52%, ICICI Bank down by 0.46% and Infosys down by 0.32% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, few days after admitting that the Indian economy slowed down in 2016-17, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has assured that the positive impact of the government’s reform measures would get reflected in the medium to long term and noted that India is the only economy which could maintain a growth rate of 7-8 per cent amid challenges like the country’s weak public sector banks (PSBs) and initial disturbance of demonetisation, Goods and Services Tax (GST).

Finance Minister further listing the various reform measures like GST rollout, demonetisation, containing of inflation and recapitalisation of public sector banks, said that the coming generations will remember the government for creating this new economic history. Jaitley also pointed that structural reforms have a price and the government has also paid price in the short term but the price bottoms out itself and then the curve begins to move up and the signs of that are beginning to come.

On the benefits of reforms measures, Arun Jaitley said that though the country faced some initial issues with GST regime, it is beneficial in the medium and long term and is also brining more tax revenue compared to the past years.  Finance Minister also mentioned the government’s continuous efforts to improve health of PSU lenders, with its huge recapitalisation plan of over Rs 2.12 lakh crore.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10549.60, up by 44.80 points or 0.43% after trading in a range of 10520.10 and 10562.80. There were 37 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Yes Bank up by 5.50%, Adani Ports & SEZ up by 3.22%, Bharti Airtel up by 3.05%, Bajaj Finance up by 2.05% and Indusind Bank up by 2.04%. On the flip side, ONGC down by 1.30%, BPCL down by 1.10%, HPCL down by 1.04%, Indian Oil Corporation down by 0.97% and UPL down by 0.83% were the top losers.

All Asian markets were trading in green; Shanghai Composite increased 6.04 points or 0.18% to 3,391.75, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 13.13 points or 0.73% to 1,816.58, KOSPI Index increased 31.06 points or 1.26% to 2,497.52, Taiwan Weighted increased 31.17 points or 0.29% to 10,879.80, Jakarta Composite increased 34.33 points or 0.55% to 6,326.65, Hang Seng increased 78.16 points or 0.25% to 30,814.64 and Nikkei 225 increased 208.2 points or 0.89% to 23,714.53.

All European markets were trading in green; UK’s FTSE 100 rose 11.73 points or 0.15% to 7,707.61, France’s CAC increased 19.84 points or 0.37% to 5,433.53 and Germany’s DAX was up by 88.89 points or 0.68% to 13,256.78.