Markets hover near day’s highs; Sensex gains 100 points

The local benchmarks added gains in late afternoon session to trade near intraday high levels, with the Sensex gaining more than 100 points. Realty and IT index gained the most among all others, while Oil & Gas, Metal and Energy continued their trade in red in afternoon deals. Traders were optimistic with Moody's latest report stating that India and China remain the fastest growth economies in Asia Pacific region. The market participants also took encouragement with the private report that economic indicators like PMIs, vehicle sales and steel demand suggest that growth momentum in India has gathered pace in December. Separately, another private firm expects an uptick in GDP growth in FY19 to 7.3% from the 6.5% estimated for FY18, expecting a rural push by Government and rise in consumption. Besides, the government’s reforms push, also providing support to the markets. Cabinet has relaxed FDI policy norms for retail, airlines, construction and power exchanges. On the sectoral front, select tyre companies stocks were trading higher, amid Credit rating agency, ICRA’s latest report stating that Indian tyre industry revenues is likely to grow by 8% during FY18, on the back of favorable demand prospects along with price hikes between January-May 2017.

On the global front, European markets were trading mixed as investors eyed the minutes of the European Central Bank's latest policy meeting, as well as fresh corporate earnings reports. However, Asian markets were trading mostly in red. Back home, in scrip specific development, Emami Infrastructure gained after the company received an approval for issue of Redeemable, Non-Convertible Debentures (NCDs) up to Rs 500 crore on private placement basis. The board of directors at its meeting held on January 11, 2018 approved for the same.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 34542.83, up by 109.76 points or 0.32% after trading in a range of 34400.61 and 34556.97. There were 18 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.30%, while Small cap index was up by 0.69%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 2.24%, IT up by 1.01%, TECK up by 0.83%, Telecom up by 0.54% and Healthcare up by 0.47%, while Oil & Gas down by 0.36%, Energy down by 0.31%, PSU down by 0.20% and Metal down by 0.19% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Infosys up by 2.37%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.70%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.56%, Adani Ports & SEZ up by 1.11% and Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.09%. On the flip side, Wipro down by 1.03%, Coal India down by 0.96%, ICICI Bank down by 0.82%, Indusind Bank down by 0.76% and Power Grid Corporation down by 0.73% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, credit rating agency, ICRA in its latest report has said that Indian tyre industry revenues is likely to grow by 8% during the current financial year (FY18), on the back of favorable demand prospects along with price hikes between January-May 2017.

As per the report, the industry is expected to witness growth in volumes as well at the rate of 8% to record 1,805 lakh tyres during FY18, despite the weak volumes in Q1 and part of Q2 during GST roll-out. In the terms of tonnage, tyre demand is estimated to grow by 7% during the current financial year, on the back of increased T&B replacement demand. The rating agency also pegged growth rate of 8.5% and 7% to the unit and tonnage, respectively for the next fiscal year.

Besides, ICRA estimated that the tyre industry will grow at the rate of 10% during FY18-22 and during the same period, the industry will fund their heavy capex with the help of past three years’ significant accruals. It further noted that the industry will continue adding capacity over next five years, owing to the large cash balances, strong accrual position and favourable demand. As per report, capex investments are likely to continue with planned Rs 25,000 crore of investments spread across the next five years.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10657.35, up by 25.15 points or 0.24% after trading in a range of 10612.35 and 10664.60. There were 25 stocks advancing against 25 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Indiabulls Housing Finance up by 2.51%, Tech Mahindra up by 2.37%, Infosys up by 2.30%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.69% and Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.51%. On the flip side, Bharti Infratel down by 1.35%, Cipla down by 1.25%, Wipro down by 1.15%, Bajaj Finance down by 1.12% and Ambuja Cement down by 1.05% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Nikkei 225 decreased 77.77 points or 0.33% to 23,710.43, Taiwan Weighted decreased 21.03 points or 0.19% to 10,810.06, Jakarta Composite decreased 20.89 points or 0.33% to 6,350.29, KOSPI Index decreased 11.84 points or 0.47% to 2,487.91 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 9.19 points or 0.5% to 1,813.73. On the flip side, Shanghai Composite increased 3.51 points or 0.1% to 3,425.35 and Hang Seng increased 46.67 points or 0.15% to 31,120.39.

European markets were trading mostly in green; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 2.8 points or 0.04% to 7,751.31 and France’s CAC increased 5.15 points or 0.09% to 5,509.83. On the flip side, Germany’s DAX decreased 6.06 points or 0.05% to 13,275.28.