Bulls tighten grip on Dalal Street; Sensex above 36,200 mark

Bulls tightened grip on the Dalal Street in late afternoon session, with Sensex and nifty extended their gains to reach at fresh intraday high points. In line with the larger peers, the broader markets too performed jubilantly in late noon deals, with Realty, Energy and Metal stocks contributing most to the upward rally. Domestic sentiments got boost with the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) latest report showing that private corporate business sector records robust sales growth in fourth quarter of 2017-18, with the companies posting sales of Rs 9.25 trillion as compared Rs 8.41 trillion in the last quarter of 2016-17. Investors remained optimistic as Crisil in its latest report predicted that India Inc’s revenue in the first quarter of the current financial year is expected to grow at a 12-quarter high of 12.8%. The street paid no heed towards a private report stating that Indian inflation likely rose to a near two-year high in June, driven by surging oil and food prices, a development that would strengthen calls for more monetary policy tightening by the RBI.

On the global front, European markets were trading mixed, after European Central Bank policymaker Ewald Nowotny warned that Britain's ramshackle exit from the European Union could damage economic growth in the euro zone. Investors also focused on upcoming corporate earnings. Elsewhere in Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel signed a raft of economic cooperation agreements with the Chinese prime minister and said both countries are committed to multilateralism and a rules-based global trade order. However, Asian markets were trading in green, as optimism about the US economy and the beginning of the earnings season provide a distraction from trade tensions. Back home, in scrip specific development, Himachal Futuristic Communications gained traction after the company received advance purchase orders worth Rs 305 crore and Rs 278 crore aggregating to around Rs 583 crore from Bharat Broadband Network Nigam (BBNL), New Delhi.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 36208.47, up by 273.75 points or 0.76% after trading in a range of 36019.63 and 36218.64. There were 21 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.87%, while Small cap index was up by 1.09%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 2.21%, Energy up by 1.88%, Metal up by 1.67%, Telecom up by 1.55% and Basic Materials up by 1.24%, while Healthcare down by 0.17% was the lone losing index on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Reliance Industries up by 2.68%, Tata Steel up by 2.38%, Yes Bank up by 2.21%, Coal India up by 2.20% and Bajaj Auto up by 2.12%. On the flip side, Sun Pharma down by 1.26%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.06%, Hero MotoCorp down by 0.89%, Indusind Bank down by 0.64% and TCS down by 0.42% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, India's central banking institution, the Reserve Bank of India in its latest report has revealed that private corporate business sector records robust sales growth in fourth quarter of 2017-18, with the companies posting sales of Rs 9.25 trillion as compared Rs 8.41 trillion in the last quarter of 2016-17. A performance analysis report is based on the abridged financial results of 2,723 listed non-government non-financial (NGNF) companies for the Q4 FY18.

According to the RBI’s report, sales growth improved in manufacturing sector, information technology (IT) and the services (non-IT) sectors, while telecommunication and real estate companies saw a contraction in their sales. The report further found that demand conditions improved for the major manufacturing industries like electrical machinery & apparatus, motor vehicles and other transport equipments, petroleum products and pharmaceuticals & medicines.

Further, the report also showed improvement in operating profit and net profit of the manufacturing sector, despite input costs pressures, due to higher growth in value of production, while operating profits of the services (non-IT) sector plunged further in Q4 FY18. Besides, the report pointed that interest expenses of the manufacturing sector grew at a higher rate and the industries such as iron & steel, petroleum products and pharmaceuticals & medicine contributing the most. However, this sector registered a decline in interest to sales ratio.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10937.90, up by 85.00 points or 0.78% after trading in a range of 10876.65 and 10941.05. There were 33 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Hindalco up by 3.20%, GAIL India up by 2.96%, Tata Steel up by 2.73%, Reliance Industries up by 2.69% and UPL up by 2.33%. On the flip side, HPCL down by 1.26%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.00%, Indusind Bank down by 0.99%, Sun Pharma down by 0.98% and Indiabulls Housing  Financedown by 0.90% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 gained 144.71 points or 0.65% to 22,196.89, KOSPI was up by 8.36 points or 0.36% to 2,294.16, Shanghai Composite edged higher by 12.33 points or 0.44% to 2,827.44, Taiwan Weighted increased 36.61 points or 0.34% to 10,756.89, Straits Times surged 35.92 points or 1.1% to 3,264.74 and Jakarta Composite rose 55.15 points or 0.94% to 5,862.53. On the flip side, Hang Seng decreased 6.25 points or 0.02% to 28,682.25.

 European markets were trading mixed; UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 2.83 points or 0.04% to 7,685.16 and Germany’s DAX was down by 1.69 points or 0.01% to 12,542.20. On the flip side, France’s CAC increased 12.88 points or 0.24% to 5,410.99.