Markets extend gains to hover near day’s high

Key Indian equity benchmarks extended their gains and hovering near day’s high in late morning session, with the Sensex and Nifty trading above 33,000 and 10,100 levels, respectively. Sentiments remained up-beat with Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) data on performance of private corporate sector showing that the India’s manufacturing sector witnessed an improvement in sales growth in the third quarter this fiscal on annual basis, though net profit has remained subdued due to lack of support from other income. As per the data, sales of manufacturing companies increased by 14% in the Q3 FY18 compared to similar period of the previous fiscal, while the net profit of the manufacturing companies declined by 2.4% in Q3 FY18. Some support also came with Former Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Raghuram Rajan’s statement that India can achieve a growth rate of 10%. He added that some key reforms are needed to accelerate India's Growth Rate.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red, reflecting weakness in technology stocks after Facebook shares tumbled overnight amid allegations political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica inappropriately obtained and used the social media giant's user data. Investors also remained cautious ahead of the US Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement on Wednesday, with the central bank widely expected to raise interest rates by 25 basis points. Back home, most of the aviation stocks flies high after data released by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation showed passengers carried by domestic airlines in February rose 24.1% year-on-year. In the scrip specific development, Arfin India gained traction on bagging purchase orders worth Rs 170 crore from JSW Steel for supply of various Aluminium Deox Products and various Cored Wire Products for the year 2018-19.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 33058.15, up by 135.03 points or 0.41% after trading in a range of 32810.86 and 33058.34. There were 25 stocks advancing against 6 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.33%, while Small cap index was up by 0.17%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 0.83%, Telecom up by 0.76%, TECK up by 0.75%, Consumer Durables up by 0.70% and Energy was up by 0.61%, while Metal down by 0.38% was the sole losing index on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Steel up by 3.08%, Dr. Reddy’s Lab up by 1.36%, Sun Pharma up by 1.36%, Adani Ports & SEZ up by 1.25% and Wipro up by 1.13%. On the flip side, NTPC down by 1.14%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.10%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.66%, Axis Bank down by 0.38% and Yes Bank down by 0.26% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) data on performance of the private corporate sector has showed that India's manufacturing sector witnessed an improvement in sales growth in the period October-December 2017-18 (Q3) on annual basis, however net profit has remained subdued due to lack of support from other/non-operating income. It noted that during Q3 of FY18, manufacturing companies’ sales surged by 14 percent as compared to similar period of the previous fiscal, while net profit of these companies declined by 2.4 percent.

According to the data, the information technology (IT) sector also registered modest improvement in sales growth, although lower than in the previous year. It also noted that the services (non-IT) sector showed signs of revival as reflected by positive sales growth. Besides, it pointed out that among major manufacturing industries, demand conditions improved for chemical and chemical products; cement and cement products; machinery and machine tools; and motor vehicles and other transport equipment.

The data further stated that operating profits of the manufacturing sector were supported by improved demand conditions and continued to record a healthy growth, despite significant increase in input costs. It also said that pricing power in terms of the net profit margin declined for the manufacturing sector, while it improved for the services (non-IT) sector. 

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10141.30, up by 47.05 points or 0.47% after trading in a range of 10049.10 and 10144.35. There were 35 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bharti Infratel up by 4.69%, Tata Steel up by 3.45%, Tech Mahindra up by 2.12%, Eicher Motors up by 1.77% and BPCL up by 1.73%. On the flip side, Vedanta down by 5.05%, Cipla down by 1.07%, NTPC down by 1.05%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.01% and IOC down by 0.96% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Nikkei 225 declined 137.41 points or 0.64% to 21,343.49, Hang Seng slipped 109.36 points or 0.35% to 31,404.40, Jakarta Composite decreased 69.87 points or 1.11% to 6,219.71, Taiwan Weighted dropped 36.06 points or 0.33% to 11,010.84 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was down by 1.82 points or 0.1% to 1,846.12. on the other hand, Shanghai Composite increased 1.23 points or 0.04% to 3,280.48 and KOSPI Index was up by 5.16 points or 0.21% to 2,480.19.