Firm trade persists; Metal stocks shine

Key Indian benchmarks remained firm in late morning session, on the back of firm cues from Asian markets along with buying in Metal, Energy and Industrials indices. Traders were optimistic with Niti Aayog Vice Chairman Rajiv Kumar’s statement that economy is expected to clock growth of 7.5 percent in 2018. He further noted that as the economy picks up, employment will pick up. Sentiments also remained positive with US-India Strategic Partnership Forum’s (USISPF) report that India's decision to relax FDI norms in various sectors would make it a much more attractive destination for overseas investors. Some support also came with Farm Minister Radha Mohan Singh’s statement that India’s agriculture sector will expand more than 4% in 2017-18, trying to allay concerns raised by the statistical office’s projection of sluggish growth in one of the most important segments of the economy. Besides, in line with the larger peers, the broader indices were also showing optimism in late morning deals. Meanwhile, the country's crude steel production rose nearly 6 per cent to hit an all-time high of 101.28 million tonnes (MT) last year. 

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green, following the record closing highs overnight on Wall Street amid easing worries about US Treasuries and a rise in crude oil prices. Optimism about upbeat corporate earnings results also lifted investors’ sentiments. Back home, in scrip specific development, Varun Beverages was trading higher after the company concluded the acquisition of PepsiCo India’s previously franchised rights for the state of Chhattisgarh.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 34589.98, up by 86.49 points or 0.25% after trading in a range of 34558.36 and 34638.42. There were 17 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.19%, while Small cap index was up by 0.71%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 0.83%, Energy up by 0.76%, Industrials up by 0.74%, Capital Goods up by 0.62% and Oil & Gas up by 0.55%, while Telecom down by 0.37%, IT down by 0.29%, Realty down by 0.21% and TECK down by 0.20% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Maruti Suzuki up by 1.32%, ICICI Bank up by 1.29%, Reliance Industries up by 1.05%, HDFC up by 0.70% and Larsen & Toubro up by 0.69%. On the flip side, TCS down by 1.29%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.94%, Sun Pharma down by 0.61%, Wipro down by 0.45% and Power Grid Corporation down by 0.40% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Union Steel Minister Chaudhary Birender Singh has said that India’s steel exports should rise to 6-7 percent of total production, in the coming years, from the present 1.5 percent. He noted that the steel industry, which was in trouble till recently primarily due to excess production in China, is now stabilising following protective measures by the government like the minimum import price and anti-dumping duty.

The minister also pointed out that in the last one year, the country has been able to reduce steel imports by nearly 40 percent, and has also become a net exporter of steel. Besides, he indicated that India was lagging behind in research and innovation technology with regard to steel production. Therefore, he said that a cabinet note will be moved next week for putting up the Steel Research and Technology Mission of India (SRTMI) to boost research and development in the sector.

Singh further said that the steel ministry is planning to merge all its research bodies under an umbrella institute SRTMI.  He also said that the government had earlier said the initial corpus for setting up of SRTMI is Rs 200 crore of which 50 percent is to be provided by the steel ministry and the balance by the participating steel companies. According to the ministry’s report, the exports of total finished steel during April-December of 2017-18 were up by 52.9 percent to 7.606 million tonnes.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10675.45, up by 24.25 points or 0.23% after trading in a range of 10669.85 and 10690.25. There were 27 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Zee Entertainment up by 2.15%, Vedanta up by 1.77%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.32%, ICICI Bank up by 1.20% and Reliance Industries up by 1.14%. On the flip side, TCS down by 1.45%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.93%, UPL down by 0.85%, Lupin down by 0.62% and Sun Pharma down by 0.52% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Jakarta Composite increased 0.1 points or 0% to 6,386.44, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 4 points or 0.22% to 1,820.88, KOSPI Index increased 5.22 points or 0.21% to 2,493.13, Taiwan Weighted increased 73.9 points or 0.68% to 10,883.96 and Hang Seng increased 162.84 points or 0.52% to 31,283.23.

On the flip side, Nikkei 225 decreased 64.86 points or 0.27% to 23,645.57 and Shanghai Composite decreased 2.98 points or 0.09% to 3,422.37.