Firm trade persists on Dalal Street

Key Indian equity benchmarks continued their firm trade in late morning session, following positive cues from other Asian markets. Heavy buying in Realty, Auto and Capital Goods stocks also added to the gains. Traders were also taking some support from with Railway and Coal minister Piyush Goyal’s statement that the government is thinking of 360 degree solutions in terms of setting things in order for infrastructure sector. The markets also got boost with the report that Commerce and industry ministry has appointed four institutes, including IIFT and ICAI, to interact with stakeholders and suggest measures to push India’s ranking in ease of doing business index. Investors were also taking some encouragement with Union Minister Parshottam Rupala’s statement that the Centre was making concerted efforts to double the income of farmers by 2022 and asked scientists, and others concerned to tackle the challenges being faced by the agriculture sector. He opined that scientists, environmental and agricultural experts must have a global outlook and local approach to combat the challenges in agricultural and environmental sectors. Besides, the broader markets were also following the larger peers.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green, following the gains on Wall Street Friday as bond yields declined from recent four-year highs and crude oil prices rose to two-week highs. In addition, the Federal Reserve issued its monetary policy report to Congress, with the central bank suggesting a gradual pace of interest rate hikes in 2018. Back home, in scrip specific development, PVV Infra gained the traction after the company entered into a MoU with Government of Andhra Pradesh (AP) on February 25, 2018, for development of self-sustaining Eco-city with a walk-to-work environment that provide affordable housing to Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) and Lower Income Group (LIG), create jobs under both direct and indirect employment with specified MSME activities, caters to social, educational, medical and recreational and other needs resulting in ultimate overall economic growth.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 34385.67, up by 243.52 points or 0.71% after trading in a range of 34225.72 and 34435.06. There were 22 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.67%, while Small cap index was up by 0.77%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 2.11%, Auto up by 1.77%, Capital Goods up by 1.56%, Industrials up by 1.54% and Bankex up by 1.04%, while IT down by 0.56% and TECK down by 0.30% were the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Indusind Bank up by 2.93%, Tata Motors up by 2.69%, Tata Motors - DVR up by 2.48%, Larsen & Toubro up by 2.20% and Maruti Suzuki up by 2.19%. On the flip side, Dr. Reddy’s Lab down by 1.45%, Sun Pharma down by 1.09%, Infosys down by 0.95%, TCS down by 0.78% and Yes Bank down by 0.73% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, following the fraudulent transactions worth Rs 11,400 crore detected at Punjab National Bank (PNB), Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has ruled out privatisation of public sector banks (PSBs) and said that the move may not find political consensus. He also said that a lot of people have started talking of privatisation in the outcome of the PNB fraud. He pointed out that the issue of bank privatisation involves a large political consensus and also involves an amendment to the law (Bank Nationalisation Act).

Noting that recapitalisation of PSBs over the last decade had little impact on improving their health, the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) called for their privatisation in the interest of creating a dynamic banking sector in the country. FICCI President Rashesh Shah had met the Finance Minister and asked him to begin the process of bank privatisation in a phased manner, leaving just 2-3 lenders in the public sector.

Besides, Industry body, the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) had also demanded that the government to reduce its stake in banks to less than 50 percent so that they can work with the sense of accountability and with the interest of stakeholders and depositors on priority. Moreover, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) had urged the government to surrender its majority control of banks and allow them to function like private sector lenders.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10565.35, up by 74.30 points or 0.71% after trading in a range of 10520.20 and 10578.70. There were 39 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Indusind Bank up by 2.95%, Tata Motors up by 2.76%, BPCL up by 2.31%, Larsen & Toubro up by 2.25% and Maruti Suzuki up by 2.20%. On the flip side, Dr. Reddy’s Lab down by 1.40%, NTPC down by 1.07%, Infosys down by 1.00%, Sun Pharma down by 1.00% and Tech Mahindra down by 0.85% were the top losers.
 
Asian markets were trading mostly in green; FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 1.22 points or 0.07% to 1,862.72, KOSPI Index increased 2.99 points or 0.12% to 2,454.51, Shanghai Composite increased 41.08 points or 1.25% to 3,330.10, Taiwan Weighted increased 42.15 points or 0.39% to 10,836.70, Hang Seng increased 227.08 points or 0.73% to 31,494.25 and Nikkei 225 increased 285.09 points or 1.3% to 22,177.87.

On the flip side, Jakarta Composite decreased 15.77 points or 0.24% to 6,604.03.