Markets hold gains; Sensex hovers around 35,000 mark

Mirroring firm global cues, the local barometer gauges held their gains in early afternoon session, on account of buying in frontline counters. Sentiments on the street remained positive with private report stating that India’s economic growth will accelerate to 7.2 per cent in the current fiscal buoyed by manufacturing activity even as rising oil prices and high government debt remain a challenge. The report further noted that the agriculture sector is expected to grow higher than the estimated 2.1 per cent in the current fiscal year on account of positive prospects on Rabi harvest and a normal monsoon, contributing significantly to the national GDP. Some optimism also spread among the investors with NITI Aayog’s statement that 3.53 million (35.3 lakh) new jobs were generated between September 2017 and February this year. The EPFO data shows that from September 2017 to February 2018, 3.1 million (31.10 lakh) new payroll additions were made across all age groups. Besides, encouraging earnings posted by some bluechip companies too influenced trading sentiments. The broader markets too participated in the rally. In scrip specific development, Loyal Equipments was up by over one and half percent on receiving a Letter of Intent (LOI) from Dresser-Rand India of worth Rs 91.50 lakh for supply of Pressure Vessels & Heat Exchangers.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading in green, after US stocks rallied overnight on upbeat earnings results from some of the biggest US companies and a pullback by Treasury yields. Investors also cheered the start of a historic summit between the leaders of South and North Korea. Back home, the BSE Sensex is currently trading at 34947.58, up by 233.98 points or 0.67% after trading in a range of 34744.73 and 35030.87. There were 20 stocks advancing against 11 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 0.66%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Bankex up by 1.61%, Energy up by 1.48%, PSU up by 1.41%, Oil & Gas up by 1.14% and Realty up by 1.12%, while IT down by 1.01% and TECK was down by 0.71% were the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were SBI up by 4.80%, Axis Bank up by 4.68%, ICICI Bank up by 4.02%, Asian Paints up by 2.51% and Reliance Industries up by 2.16%. On the flip side, TCS down by 1.79%, Wipro down by 1.63%, NTPC down by 1.25%, Coal India down by 1.10% and Hindustan Unilever down by 1.01% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, a day after retirement fund body Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) and Pension Fund Regulatory Development Authority (PFRDA) released data on job creation, the government think-tank NITI Aayog has said that between September 2017 and February 2018, 3.53 million (35.3 lakh) new jobs were generated. It added that the data for recent months are provisional due to continuous updating of employee records, this could be called a conservative estimate and the actual figures may well be more than this. However, EPFO data showed that during this six-month period 3.1 million (31.10 lakh) new payroll additions were made across all age groups.

Talking about PFRDA data, NITI Aayog said that the New Pension Scheme (NPS) data indicates generation of 420,000 new payrolls during the given period, that too only from Tier-1 account. Besides, the NPS currently manages the corpus of around 5 million (50 lakh) employees in state and central government. It said “We may as well as bid goodbye to the days of analyses based on random sample surveys. Hopefully, this would also end the debate regarding and criticisms about jobless growth in the economy. A more constructive phase of focusing on deriving the most out of this data for furthering development should now begin.”

Highlighting importance of payroll data, the government think-tank stated that India has, for the first time, introduced monthly payroll reporting for the formal sector to facilitate analysis of new and continuing employment, and this data would provide a more firm basis for various analysis and studies of the economy and job creation. Besides, the EPFO, Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) and the PFRDA have released payroll data. It added that the numbers from these three organisations are an eye opener and put an end to all speculations and conjectures regarding job creation in the economy. They also strengthen the efforts made by the government on job creation and formalisation of the economy.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10688.60, up by 70.80 points or 0.67% after trading in a range of 10647.55 and 10704.85. There were 36 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Axis Bank up by 5.04%, SBI up by 4.93%, ICICI Bank up by 3.98%, HPCL up by 3.80% and Asian Paints up by 3.21%. On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 2.70%, HCL Tech. down by 2.57%, TCS down by 1.78%, Wipro down by 1.69% and Coal India down by 1.51% were the top losers.

All the Asian markets were trading in green; Jakarta Composite increased 0.73 points or 0.01% to 5,909.93, Shanghai Composite was up by 2.87 points or 0.09% to 3,077.90, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI added 8.82 points or 0.48% to 1,861.09, KOSPI Index surged 16.76 points or 0.68% to 2,492.40, Taiwan Weighted inched up 64.85 points or 0.62% to 10,553.43, Nikkei 225 increased 148.26 points or 0.66% to 22,467.87 and Hang Seng increased 187.45 points or 0.62% to 30,195.13.