Sensex, Nifty hover near highest point of the day

Indian equity benchmarks continued their momentum to trade near highest point of the day in the afternoon session, supported by buying mainly in FMCG, Metal and Energy stocks, coupled with broadly positive global cues. Traders remained in jubilant mood with report that foreign direct investment (FDI) from nations widely regarded as tax havens such as Cayman Islands and Hong Kong jumped in 2017-18, even as overall India-bound investments showed a slower rise, year-on-year (Y-o-Y). From the Cayman Islands, inflows rose in a single year from a low $71.03 million to a whopping $1.23 billion. The markets also drew some solace with Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia’s statement that the US wants to reduce its trade deficit with India as quickly as possible, asserting that the Trump administration is aggressively pushing New Delhi on the issues of medical devices, pharmaceuticals, dairy products and agriculture. Moreover, better-than-expected quarterly earnings by select index heavyweights and firm foreign capital inflows too supported the equity indices' northward trajectory. The broader indices were also putting up huge amount of gains, with a rally around a percent. On the sectoral front, textile stocks were under pressure after private report stating that the ongoing indefinite strike of transporters has cast a shadow on the $130-billion textile industry which is facing a staggering loss of up to Rs 1,500 crore.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green, on signs of rapprochement between the United States and Europe over trade issues. Back home, the BSE Sensex is currently trading at 37297.60, up by 312.96 points or 0.85% after trading in a range of 37134.88 and 37327.00. 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 0.97%, while Small cap index was up by 0.92%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were FMCG up by 1.92%, Metal up by 1.51%, Energy up by 1.29%, Consumer Durables up by 1.24% and Telecom up by 1.22%, while IT down by 0.12% and TECK down by 0.02% were the few losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ITC up by 4.63%, Tata Motors - DVR up by 4.52%, Tata Motors up by 3.37%, Hero MotoCorp up by 2.94% and Bajaj Auto up by 2.29%. On the flip side, Adani Ports &SEZ down by 1.78%, Power Grid down by 1.07%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.98%, TCS down by 0.93% and ONGC down by 0.62% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari has said that projects for constructing 6,320 km of road have been awarded under Bharatmala Pariyojana Phase-I Project, with the financial implication estimated to be Rs 1.44 lakh crore. He also said that the total investment for Bharatmala is expected to be around Rs 7.50 lakh crore for constructing about 84,000 km of road.

The Minister has stated that out of the total financial outlay of Rs 5,35,000 crore allocated for Bharatmala Phase-I, projects with financial implication of approximately Rs 1,44,300 crore for a length of about 6,320 km have been awarded. He noted that these projects were awarded up to June 2018.

Under the first phase, a total of 34,800 km of road, including 10,000 km of residual NHDP (National Highway Development Project) have been approved for development. The first phase of Bharatmala is to be implemented over a period of five years from 2017-18 to 2021-22.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11248.60, up by 81.30 points or 0.73% after trading in a range of 11210.25 and 11253.90. There were 33 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ITC up by 4.56%, Tata Motors up by 3.78%, Hindalco up by 3.41%, Hero MotoCorp up by 2.85% and Titan Co up by 2.32%. On the flip side, Dr. Reddys Lab down by 2.00%, Grasim Industries down by 1.65%, Adani Ports &SEZ down by 1.45%, Bajaj Finserv down by 1.31% and Hindustan Unilever down by 1.08% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Jakarta Composite increased 17.84 points or 0.3% to 5,963.98, Taiwan Weighted rose 65.17 points or 0.59% to 11,075.78, KOSPI surged 5.93 points or 0.26% to 2,294.99 and Nikkei 225 was up by 125.88 points or 0.55% to 22,712.75.

On the flip side, Straits Times decreased 9.90 points or 0.3% to 3,318.70, Hang Seng dipped 30.22 points or 0.11% to 28,750.92 and Shanghai Composite shed 8.37 points or 0.29% to 2,873.86.