Firm trade prevails in early afternoon session

Indian equity benchmarks continued their firm trade in early afternoon session, on sustained buying by participants, driven by strong corporate earnings and positive global cues. Sentiments on the street remained in optimistic mood with private report stating that the Indian economy is witnessing a ‘cyclical upswing’ and the country is likely clock a GDP growth of 7.5 per cent this financial year, which will mark an improvement from the 6.7 per cent likely outturn in 2017-18. Some support also came after Reserve Bank of India (RBI) further liberalized ECB policy. In a bid to facilitate cheaper access of overseas funds, RBI liberalized External Commercial Borrowings (ECB) Policy by including more sectors in the window. Moreover, appreciation in Indian rupee for the third day in a row on account of depreciation of the dollar overseas, too supported the market. In scrip specific development, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone was up by over half a percent on planning to raise funds by issue of Equity Shares / convertible Bonds through Qualified Institutional Placement (QIP) / GDR / ADR / FCCBs / FCEBs / Convertible Securities.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading in green, as investors focused on a mix of ebbing geopolitical tensions, robust earnings and economic data. Back home, the BSE Sensex is currently trading at 35197.96, up by 228.26 points or 0.65% after trading in a range of 35004.00 and 35213.30. There were 26 stocks advancing against 5 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.53%, while Small cap index was up by 0.71%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 1.55%, FMCG up by 1.32%, TECK up by 1.26%, Metal up by 1.06% and Realty up by 0.93%, while Energy down by 1.66%, Oil & Gas down by 0.77% and Telecom down by 0.14% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Yes Bank up by 5.04%, TCS up by 2.21%, Hindustan Unilever up by 2.07%, SBI up by 1.92% and Tata Motors - DVR up by 1.59%. On the flip side, Axis Bank down by 3.28%, Reliance Industries down by 2.72%, ICICI Bank down by 0.36%, Coal India down by 0.05% and ONGC down by 0.03% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, soothing worries of slowdown in reform momentum ahead of elections, Economic Affairs Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg has said that the process of economic reforms is still continuing in reasonably major way and noted that there are no signs of de-reform in the system.

Garg further mentioned the various areas like portfolio investment, capital markets and the assets creation, where the lot of reforms are still going on. He further highlighted the major structural and fundamental reforms undertaken in the country, describing them as truly global and big. Besides, he said that consolidation process continues and both the GST and IBC are stabilising.

Economic Affairs Secretary also assured that there is no sign that government would halt the pace of reform in the last year. Garg further said that India deserves a rating upgrade on the back of the major structural and fundamental reforms undertaken by the government.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10757.00, up by 64.70 points or 0.61% after trading in a range of 10704.60 and 10759.00. There were 39 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index, while 1 stock remained unchanged.

The top gainers on Nifty were Yes Bank up by 4.73%, Vedanta up by 2.64%, Hindustan Unilever up by 2.28%, TCS up by 2.21% and SBI up by 2.06%. On the flip side, Axis Bank down by 3.42%, UPL down by 3.06%, Reliance Industries down by 2.94%, Bharti Infratel down by 2.03% and Indian Oil Corporation down by 0.77% were the top losers.

All the Asian markets were trading in green, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 1.31 points or 0.07% to 1,864.78, Shanghai Composite was up by 7.2 points or 0.23% to 3,082.23, KOSPI Index added 22.98 points or 0.92% to 2,515.38, Jakarta Composite surged 43.48 points or 0.73% to 5,962.72, Taiwan Weighted inched up 104.45 points or 0.99% to 10,657.88, Nikkei 225 increased 148.26 points or 0.66% to 22,467.87 and Hang Seng was up by 450.92 points or 1.49% to 30,731.59.