Markets continue to trade in green terrain in late morning deals

Key Indian benchmarks continued to trade in green territory in late morning session, on the back of firm cues from other Asian markets. Investors were taking some support with credit ratings agency, Crisil Ratings’ latest report highlighting that India’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth will improve sharply to 7.5% in the next fiscal year 2018-19 (FY19) and added that the country’s GDP will grow at the rate of 6.5% in the current fiscal year (FY18). Some support also came with Minister of State for External Affairs M. J. Akbar’s statement that the government is committed to extending every support to Indian industrys focused efforts to increase investments in European countries. Traders' sentiments were also optimistic, as the State Bank of India (SBI) Research in its latest report has projected that the GST collections will grow in the range of 14-16% during the fiscal year 2018-19 (FY19), similar to the decadal gross tax revenue growth rate at 13.9%. However, the markets trimmed some of their gains, on the back of selling in Telecom, Healthcare and Banking stocks.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green, as concerns about a potential global trade war eased following news that US President Donald Trump faced mounting pressure from political allies to reconsider his decision to impose tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. Trump has also indicated that the tariffs on steel and aluminum would be removed if the US negotiates a ‘new & fair’ NAFTA agreement. Back home in scrip specific development, Ramco Cements gained after the company entered into an agreement with Ramco Industries, a Related Party, for acquisition of their clinker grinding unit situated at Kharagpur, West Bengal.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 33803.52, up by 56.74 points or 0.17% after trading in a range of 33787.82 and 34060.13. There were 19 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.60%, while Small cap index was up by 0.10%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 0.98%, Metal up by 0.96%, Realty up by 0.79%, Oil & Gas up by 0.73% and Basic Materials up by 0.68%, while Telecom down by 0.14%, Healthcare down by 0.12%, Bankex down by 0.09% and Auto down by 0.02% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Indusind Bank up by 2.06%, Tata Steel up by 1.99%, HDFC up by 1.23%, Yes Bank up by 1.13% and Dr. Reddy’s Lab up by 1.08%. On the flip side, ICICI Bank down by 1.22%, Sun Pharma down by 1.21%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.01%, SBI down by 0.91% and Tata Motors - DVR down by 0.75% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu has said that the government is in the process of forming a group to study necessary changes in the Special Economic Zones (SEZs) Policy. SEZs, which emerged as major export hubs in India, contribute significantly to the country’s total outbound shipments.

Prabhu has pointed out that the developers and units of these zones enjoy certain fiscal and non-fiscal incentives such as no licence is required for import, full freedom for subcontracting and no routine examination of cargo for export/import by customs authorities. They also enjoy direct and indirect tax benefits.

In order to address issues pertaining to the rubber sector, the minister said that the government has decided to constitute a task force on the commodity for finding out short term solutions and formulating long term strategies to tackle the problems. He added that the members of the task force include representatives of state and central government. He further said that the effort will be to work towards a rubber policy in consultation with state governments.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10385.15, up by 26.30 points or 0.25% after trading in a range of 10377.95 and 10441.35. There were 29 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Indiabulls Housing Finance up by 2.40%, Zee Entertainment up by 2.02%, BPCL up by 2.00%, Indian Oil Corporation up by 1.91% and Indusind Bank up by 1.88%. On the flip side, Bharti Infratel down by 2.36%, Lupin down by 1.47%, Bosch down by 1.38%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.20% and ICICI Bank down by 1.19% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 5.82 points or 0.32% to 1,848.44, Shanghai Composite increased 21.93 points or 0.67% to 3,278.86, KOSPI Index increased 36.51 points or 1.54% to 2,411.57, Taiwan Weighted increased 141.44 points or 1.33% to 10,784.34, Nikkei 225 increased 411.62 points or 1.96% to 21,453.71 and Hang Seng increased 507.6 points or 1.7% to 30,393.99.

On the flip side, Jakarta Composite decreased 5.99 points or 0.09% to 6,544.60.