Benchmarks trade in fine fettle in early deals; Nifty conquers 10,900 mark

Extending record breaking streak, Indian equity benchmarks once again made an optimistic start and are trading in fine fettle in early deals, with Nifty surpassing its crucial 10,900 level, while Sensex just shy of 35,700 mark. Sentiments remained up-beat, as traders took some encouragement with report that overseas investors have put in a whopping Rs 87 billion in the Indian capital markets this month so far on expectation of recovery in corporate earnings and attractive yields. This follows an investment of Rs 2 trillion in the capital markets (equity and debt) in the entire 2017. Some support also came with IMF Chief Christine Lagarde and Norway's Prime Minister Erna Solberg's statement that raising women's participation in the labour force to the same level as men can boost India's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 27 per cent.

On the global front, Asian markets are exhibiting mixed start, as investors kept an eye on political developments in the U.S. after a government shutdown began last week. The US markets ended higher on Friday, as traders remained optimistic about the outlook for the economy and corporate earnings overshadowed concerns about a government shutdown at midnight.

Back home, Prime Minister Narendra Modi indicated that the upcoming Budget will not be a populist one and it’s a myth that the common man expects ‘freebies and sops’ from the government. In scrip specific development, Maruti Suzuki edged higher on planning to introduce four new products, while J Kumar Infraprojects advanced on receiving LoA from DMRC.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 35697.17, up by 185.59 points or 0.52% after trading in a range of 35547.24 and 35700.72. There were 17 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.20%, while Small cap index was up by 0.68%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Energy up by 1.58%, Realty up by 0.80%, Oil & Gas up by 0.74%, Industrials up by 0.52% and Auto was up by 0.43%, while Telecom down by 0.63%, Metal down by 0.36%, TECK down by 0.32%, IT down by 0.26% and Utilities down by 0.01% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ONGC up by 4.93%, Reliance Industries up by 2.27%, Yes Bank up by 2.07%, Adani Ports up by 1.81% and Coal India up by 1.63%. On the flip side, Wipro down by 1.48%, Asian Paints down by 1.18%, ICICI Bank down by 1.13%, Tata Motors - DVR down by 0.96% and Bharti Airtel down by 0.92% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, with India targeting to achieve double digit growth in due course, the Union minister Nitin Gadkari has expressed hope that the finance minister will give more priority to agriculture and infrastructure investment in the forthcoming budget. He said the government has set a target to double agriculture income by 2022 and increase agriculture growth rate to more than 10%. He added that this will be a landmark for the country. He also said that the government's ambitious infrastructure projects of roads, shipping, ports and inland waterways will be completed with investment of Rs 8,00,000 crore by March 2018.

Terming infrastructure as very important for the country, the minister said they need world-class water, power, transportation and communication infrastructure. Stressing the importance of ‘world class infrastructure’ for the all-round development of the country, he said that currently 28 km of roads are being built per day from 2 km per day in 2014 and next year, it will touch 40 km per day.

The Cabinet has already cleared projects of Rs 7,50,000 crore under Bharatmala projects and by end of March 2018, they will complete investment of Rs 8,00,000 crore in infrastructure and many of which is from private sector. They have increased annual budget for road project from Rs 40,000 crore to Rs 1,30,000 crore annually this year and targeting Rs 1,50,000 crore next year. The road construction would further gather momentum with average addition of 28 km per day by March this year and 40 km per day by next year.

Gadkari said his ministry has sanctioned Rs 1,00,000 crore for irrigation projects in Maharashtra's draught prone areas. Urging the state governments to adopt new modes of transport like waterways, he said that 10,000 seaplanes would be brought into operation in the country over the next two years. He also warned that in the next three months rules and regulations should be put in place for operating seaplanes in the country.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10920.70, up by 26.00 points or 0.24% after trading in a range of 10881.40 and 10929.85. There were 18 stocks advancing against 32 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ONGC up by 4.67%, Reliance Industries up by 1.93%, Adani Ports up by 1.76%, Coal India up by 1.60% and Yes Bank up by 1.53%. On the flip side, HPCL down by 2.92%, Hindalco down by 1.47%, Wipro down by 1.44%, BPCL down by 1.38% and Asian Paints down by 1.29% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mixed; Shanghai Composite rose 7.54 points or 0.22% to 3,495.41, Jakarta Composite gained 26.53 points or 0.41% to 6,517.42 and Taiwan Weighted was up by 51.15 points or 0.46% to 11,202.00.

However, Nikkei 225 decreased 41.41 points or 0.17% to 23,766.65, KOSPI Index declined 27.47 points or 1.09% to 2,492.79, Hang Seng shed 14.11 points or 0.04% to 32,240.78 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was down by 2.19 points or 0.12% to 1,826.64.