Sensex, Nifty continue to trade above neutral line; Metal shines

Key Indian equity benchmarks continued their trade above neutral line in late afternoon session, with the Sensex gaining around 200 points, aided by firm opening in European markets. In line with the larger peers, the broader markets were too holding their gaining momentum in noon deals. The domestic sentiments remained upbeat with the Economic Affairs Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg’s statement that India can double the size of its economy to $5 trillion by 2025 and it is on track to achieve this goal. Besides, healthy buying across almost all sectors led by Metal, PSU and Basic Materials along with major industry gainers such as SBI, Tata Steel and Axis Bank, were too keeping the market sentiments optimistic. Some support also came with a report that over 1,200 fresh foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) were registered with markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) during April-January period of fiscal year 2017-18, driven by their continued interest in Indian equity, bonds and real estate. However, gains remained capped as the finance ministry indicated that the interest rate on small savings schemes may not go up in the next quarter. On the sectoral front, telecom stocks were trading higher, despite Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (TRAI) latest report stating that adjusted gross revenue (AGR) of the sector fell 7.5%, reflecting continuing financial stress in the debt-laden sector.

On the global front, European markets were trading in green, as concerns over a global trade war eased. The White House is seeking reduced tariffs on imported cars as well as asking China to allow foreign majority ownership of financial services firms. Asian markets were also trading in green. Back home, in scrip specific development, Shalby Hospitals (Shalby) jumped higher on entering into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Gleneagles Global Health City, Chennai for Heart & Lung Transplant Program on March 23, 2018.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 33265.07, up by 198.66 points or 0.60% after trading in a range of 33077.13 and 33371.04. There were 25 stocks advancing against 6 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 1.25%, while Small cap index was up by 1.59%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 1.87%, PSU up by 1.76%, Basic Materials up by 1.52%, Healthcare up by 1.21% and Bankex up by 1.16%, while Telecom down by 0.90% was the lone losing index on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were SBI up by 3.15%, Tata Steel up by 2.03%, Axis Bank up by 1.83%, TCS up by 1.47% and Asian Paints up by 1.43%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 1.29%, Bajaj Auto down by 0.92%, Hero MotoCorp down by 0.43%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.31% and HDFC down by 0.21% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, stressing on the need for a radical change at the state and district levels to improve the present situation, NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant has said that India’s Gross domestic product (GDP) is growing at the rate of 7-8 per cent and the same needs to be reflected on the human development index (HDI) wherein the country stands at 131st position out of 188 nations.

Kant has also expressed need of collaboration between industry associations while attending to the huge challenge that lies in improving HDI rank and in bringing the transformation that the country needs. He further said that industry associations should take steps to contribute to the development of districts, as transformation of 115 backward districts to middle status will lead to demand generation.

NITI Aayog CEO pointed out various areas like education, health and nutrition, where the industry should focus more, especially at district level. He further highlighted his department’s efforts towards improvement of districts, noting that NITI Aayog is capturing real-time data on the progress of the key performance indicators of the 115 districts and will rank them on regular basis.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10197.30, up by 66.65 points or 0.66% after trading in a range of 10139.65 and 10207.90. There were 43 stocks advancing against 7 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Indian Oil Corporation up by 4.40%, HPCL up by 4.13%, Hindalco up by 3.73%, Indiabulls Housing Finance up by 3.20% and SBI up by 3.02%. On the flip side, Bharti Infratel down by 2.53%, Bajaj Auto down by 1.30%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.30%, Hero MotoCorp down by 0.54% and HDFC Bank down by 0.12% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 4.67 points or 0.25% to 1,864.58, KOSPI Index increased 14.98 points or 0.61% to 2,452.06, Shanghai Composite increased 32.93 points or 1.05% to 3,166.65, Taiwan Weighted increased 146.74 points or 1.35% to 10,986.79, Hang Seng increased 242.06 points or 0.79% to 30,790.83 and Nikkei 225 increased 551.22 points or 2.65% to 21,317.32. On the flip side, Jakarta Composite decreased 6.38 points or 0.1% to 6,193.79.

All European markets were trading in green; France’s CAC increased 58.4 points or 1.15% to 5,124.68, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 102.64 points or 1.49% to 6,991.33 and Germany’s DAX increased 158.93 points or 1.35% to 11,946.19.