Bourses maintain upbeat mood in afternoon deals

Indian equity indices maintained their upbeat mood in early afternoon session, as buying momentum in the equities persisted. Domestic sentiments remained firm with ASSOCHAM chief’s statement that the RBI’s decision to keep the policy rate unchanged is on the expected lines, though the less than hawkish stance has come about as a relief for the industry which had even feared a possible hike in the lending rates, following inflationary concerns. Adding the optimism among investors, the private report stated that India’s oil refining capacity is set to jump 80%, or by 194 MT, by 2030 as state refiners, Reliance Industries and Rosneft line up expansion plans, undeterred by the renewables explosion, hoping to meet future demand. Moreover, strong Q3 earnings by some bluechip companies along with positive trend at other Asian markets, aided the key indices' upward trajectory.  In scrip specific development, Bharat Forge surged by over five percent on reporting a rise of 77.40% in its net profit at Rs 228.17 crore for Q3FY18 as compared to net profit of Rs 128.62 crore for Q3FY17.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green. China reported a 36.9 percent jump in imports and a rise of 11.1 percent in exports — both in dollar terms — for the month of January. Both figures beat expectations. Back home, the BSE Sensex is currently trading at 34519.30, up by 436.59 points or 1.28% after trading in a range of 34108.76 and 34565.03. There were 26 stocks advancing against 5 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 1.86%, while Small cap index was up by 2.40%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 3.24%, Healthcare up by 2.63%, IT up by 2.59%, TECK up by 2.42% and Industrials up by 1.85%, while Metal down by 0.14% was the lone losing index on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Dr. Reddy’s Lab up by 3.59%, Sun Pharma up by 3.52%, Infosys up by 3.13%, Axis Bank up by 2.60% and TCS up by 2.02%. On the flip side, Power Grid down by 1.00%, Tata Steel down by 0.77%, Asian Paints down by 0.34%, ONGC down by 0.32% and Tata Motors down by 0.03% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, global rating agency, Moody's Investors Service in its latest report has said that the issuance of green bonds worldwide is expected to shoot up by 60 percent to $250 billion in the year 2018 as against $155 billion of green bonds issued in previous year. Besides, it pointed out that developed market banks and corporates will remain the most active participants in the market, with emerging market issuers, sovereigns and municipals, and green secularisations providing important engines of growth. 

The rating agency observed that India and China will be the leaders among emerging markets. It also said that growth in aggregate issuance will be supported mainly by China and India, which have accounted for a combined $53 billion of issuance since the inception of the green bond market. It noted that issuances will increase in other emerging countries as governments look to implement green finance policies. Further, it believes that multilateral agencies will also play a pivotal role in supporting the development of emerging market green bonds. As per the Moody’s findings, the cumulative green bond issuance in India has more than doubled to $6.5 billion (in US dollar-equivalent terms) since the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) issued its green bond regulations in May 2017.

Similarly, the report indicated that such issuances by China rose exponentially to $22.9 billion in 2016, from $1.3 billion a year earlier, following the release of green bond guidelines from the People’s Bank of China and the National Development and Reform Commission. It observed that despite a number of challenges the green bond market for emerging regions are strong, underpinned by ambitious climate and sustainable policy agendas and multilateral support for market development. It also noted that the bulk of the issuance across the globe, in terms of volume, will be driven by issuers who have traditionally played a large role in the green bond market.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10604.50, up by 127.80 points or 1.22% after trading in a range of 10479.55 and 10614.30. There were 40 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Cipla up by 6.83%, Indiabulls Housing Finance up by 3.88%, Dr. Reddy’s Lab up by 3.78%, Sun Pharma up by 3.47% and Infosys up by 3.12%. On the flip side, Indian Oil Corporation down by 4.30%, Vedanta down by 1.68%, Aurobindo Pharma down by 1.34%, Tata Steel down by 0.94% and Power Grid down by 0.87% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading mostly in green; FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 3.46 points or 0.19% to 1,840.14, KOSPI Index rose 11.06 points or 0.46% to 2,407.62, Hang Seng surged 147.25 points or 0.49% to 30,470.45 and Nikkei 225 added 245.49 points or 1.13% to 21,890.86.

On the flip side, Shanghai Composite decreased 44.05 points or 1.33% to 3,265.21, Taiwan Weighted was down by 23.02 points or 0.22% to 10,528.52 and Jakarta Composite shed 1.7 points or 0.03% to 6,533.17.