Bourses maintain upbeat mood in early afternoon deals

Indian equity indices maintained their upbeat mood in early afternoon session, as buying momentum in the equities persisted. Traders remained in jubilant mood with Industry chamber CII’s statement that businesses across several key sectors are seeing firm growth in sales and orders, indicating that the economy is on a recovery path and investments will pick up. CII said the impact of sustained structural reforms is now being felt on the ground as a mammoth economy is turning around. Some optimism also spread among the investors with CARE Ratings’ report stating the country’s industrial output is expected to log five to six per cent growth in this fiscal, bettering 4.3 per cent growth rate clocked in the previous fiscal. Moreover, an appreciating rupee coupled with encouraging earnings by some companies too added some thrust on the street. The broader indices too equally participated in the gains, with both mid cap and small cap indices trading up by over 1.30%. In scrip specific development, Kalpataru Power Transmission surged by over 2% on receiving an approval for issuance of secured/unsecured redeemable Non-Convertible Debentures up to Rs 300 crore by the company in one or more tranches.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading in green, following positive weekend news regarding US-North Korea relations. Investors also digested the extended slide in oil prices after top producers indicated output could increase. Back home, the BSE Sensex is currently trading at 35123.94, up by 199.07 points or 0.57% after trading in a range of 35006.50 and 35155.39. There were 22 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 1.35%, while Small cap index was up by 1.39%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 2.33%, Healthcare up by 2.15%, PSU up by 2.12%, Capital Goods up by 1.84% and Realty up by 1.68%, while IT down by 1.95%, TECK down by 1.62%, Consumer Durables down by 0.41% and Telecom down by 0.16% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Sun Pharma up by 7.33%, Coal India up by 2.52%, Asian Paints up by 1.88%, Larsen & Toubro up by 1.80% and Maruti Suzuki up by 1.61%. On the flip side, TCS down by 2.40%, Infosys down by 1.60%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.26%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.83% and Wipro down by 0.55% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, expressing optimism on the India’s economic growth, the industry body, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has said that the Indian economy is on a recovery path and investments will pick up. It also expects that the country to record growth of 7.3-7.7% in 2018-19. It added that growth will be aided by several major development campaigns such as Make in India, Digital India, Swachh Bharat, Clean Energy and others gaining traction, as well as recovery in the global economy and expectations of a normal monsoon.

On the sectoral front, the industry body said that sectors like consumer non-durables, two-wheelers and tractors are witnessing strong rural consumption, as prudent macroeconomic management has encouraged growth and investments for capacity expansion are being planned as demand conditions recover. Besides, the capital goods sector is showing steady improvement and order books are filling up. Exports, too, are poised to grow at a faster pace in the current fiscal year, which started on a good note. It also said that the government has avoided slippage in the fiscal deficit despite the rise in oil prices. Inflation too has remained under control to the extent possible even as cost of oil is going up.

CII highlighted eight key areas where reform measures have unlocked growth forces, that  includes India’s biggest reform Goods and Services Tax (GST), emphasis on ease of doing business, Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, liberalisation in foreign direct investment (FDI) policy and high infrastructure spending. Moreover, CII President Rakesh Bharti Mittal has said that the impact of sustained structural reforms is now being felt on the ground as a mammoth economy is turning around. He added that businesses across several key sectors are experiencing firm growth in sales and orders, indicating better capacity utilisation and higher investment expectations.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10680.50, up by 75.35 points or 0.71% after trading in a range of 10640.55 and 10682.90. There were 34 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Sun Pharma up by 7.61%, HPCL up by 5.57%, BPCL up by 5.31%, Indian Oil Corporation  up by 4.83% and Lupin up by 4.27%. On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 3.72%, HCL Tech. down by 2.59%, TCS down by 2.47%, Infosys down by 1.50% and Bharti Airtel down by 1.46% were the top losers.

Most of the Asian markets were trading in green; KOSPI Index increased 18.16 points or 0.74% to 2,478.96, Nikkei 225 rose 30.3 points or 0.13% to 22,481.09, Taiwan Weighted surged 45.47 points or 0.42% to 10,987.77, Jakarta Composite added 77.8 points or 1.3% to 6,053.54 and Hang Seng was up by 174.09 points or 0.57% to 30,762.13.

On the flip side, Shanghai Composite decreased 13.15 points or 0.42% to 3,128.15 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI shed 11.33 points or 0.63% to 1,786.07.