Value buying buoys domestic markets; Nifty recaptures 10,050 mark

Indian equity benchmarks turned optimistic and are trading jubilantly in late trade, as traders went for value buying after two sessions of drubbing. Sentiments got soothed on reports that the United States and China have quietly started negotiations to improve US access to Chinese markets eased fears of a trade war between the two economic giants. Back on domestic turf, traders took encouragement with finance ministry stating that India is on track to doubling the size of its economy to $5 trillion by 2025. Economic Affairs Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg said that the country is well poised to click a growth rate of 7-8 percent and with focus on start-ups, MSMEs and infrastructure investment it can step on to higher growth pedestal.

Global cues too remained supportive with European markets making a firm start as trade-related tensions seemed to be easing. Asian markets turned mostly in green at this point of time as traders went for bargain hunting. Back home, the Indian rupee strengthened for the third session against the US dollar, tracking gains in Asian currencies. On the sectoral front, auto stocks remained in top gear on report that the Supreme Court has proposed a roll out of BS-VI fuel across 13 Metros by April 1, 2019. The Centre will consult oil marketing companies and will reply to the proposal for BS-VI roll-out.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 32911.94, up by 315.40 points or 0.97% after trading in a range of 32515.17 and 33084.33. There were 23 stocks advancing against 8 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.60%, while Small cap index was up by 0.47%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 2.30%, Bankex up by 1.41%, Consumer Discretionary Goods & Services up by 1.31%, Realty up by 1.24% and Auto was up by 1.23%, while Oil & Gas down by 1.00%, IT down by 0.61%, Utilities down by 0.41% and TECK was down by 0.27% were the few losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Yes Bank up by 4.41%, SBI up by 4.01%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.09%, HDFC up by 2.07% and HDFC Bank up by 1.92%. On the flip side, Wipro down by 4.17%, Tata Motors - DVR down by 1.07%, Infosys down by 1.03%, Tata Motors down by 0.83% and Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.30% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, India’s largest apex body of business organisation, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) has said that India should play a significant role in reducing the emerging possibilities of a global trade war between the United States and China that can disrupt the positive outlook in the world trade. It observed that the US protectionist measures have raised fears of a global trade war. It also highlighted the need for keeping the World Trade Organisation (WTO) process intact and also making the multilateral institution stronger so that a rule-based global trade is ensured and bilateral issues have an effective platform for resolution.

The industry body has stated that with the WTO Director-General Roberto Azevedo raising alarm on the issue at the two-day mini-ministerial in New Delhi early this week, it is high time countries across the world think beyond retaliatory measures to counter the challenges posed by the targeting of the WTO by the US and unilateral increase in tariffs. It also said that India's growing acceptance as an important nation in facilitating constructive deliberations among the countries with diverging interests must be capitalised to strengthen the WTO.

Concern about a global trade war reemerged after US President Donald Trump unveiled a plan to slap tariffs on $60 billion worth of Chinese imports to punish the country for its ‘unfair’ seizure of American intellectual property, a move that could increase the already tense trade relations between the world's two biggest economies. In a retaliatory move, China unveiled plans to impose higher tariffs on $3 billion worth of American goods including pork and pipes in retaliation to US tariffs on steel and aluminium imports from Beijing.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10072.45, up by 74.40 points or 0.74% after trading in a range of 9958.55 and 10087.40. There were 35 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Yes Bank up by 4.64%, SBI up by 3.83%, Zee Entertainment up by 2.82%, Bajaj Finance up by 2.39% and Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.03%. On the flip side, GAIL India down by 4.28%, Wipro down by 4.08%, HPCL down by 3.10%, IOC down by 1.48% and BPCL down by 1.05% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in green; Taiwan Weighted gained 16.72 points or 0.15% to 10,840.05, KOSPI Index surged 20.32 points or 0.84% to 2,437.08, Nikkei 225 increased 148.24 points or 0.72% to 20,766.10 and Hang Seng was up by 239.48 points or 0.79% to 30,548.77.

On the flip side, Shanghai Composite decreased 19.04 points or 0.6% to 3,133.72, Jakarta Composite slipped 13.44 points or 0.22% to 6,197.26 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was down by 5.3 points or 0.28% to 1,859.92.

European markets were trading in green; France’s CAC gained 20.08 points or 0.39% to 5,115.30, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 25.76 points or 0.37% to 6,947.70 and Germany’s DAX was up by 66.97 points or 0.56% to 11,953.28.