Jubilation continues on Dalal Street in afternoon deals

Gaining further strength, Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade jubilantly in afternoon deals, following positive cues from global markets. The frontline gauges were trading comfortably above the crucial 11,500 (Nifty) and 38,200 (Sensex) marks. The sentiments were on upbeat mood with former chief economic advisor Arvind Virmani’s statement that India’s economic growth seems to be back on a recovery path and the country will be on a firm 7.5% plus growth track this fiscal. He also said the US-China tariff war provides an opportunity to increase India’s exports to the US. Markets also drew some solace with the Central Board of Direct Taxes’ (CBDT) statement that income Tax collection in the country stood at a record Rs 10.03 lakh crore during 2017-18. It also said during 2017-18, a record number of 6.92 crore I-T returns were filed, which was 1.31 crore more than 5.61 crore returns filed in 2016-17. The market rally was also powered by strong gains in Capital Goods, Industrials, Energy and Metal stocks coupled with recovery in the rupee value against dollar.

On the global front, Asian counters were trading mostly in green, as investors welcomed signs of progress in resolving the trade dispute between the U.S. and China. Back home, the BSE Sensex is currently trading at 38253.31, up by 305.43 points or 0.80% after trading in a range of 38050.69 and 38281.70. There were 25 stocks advancing against 6 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 1.02%, while Small cap index was up by 0.35%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Capital Goods up by 3.55%, Industrials up by 2.37%, Energy up by 1.65%, Metal up by 1.44% and Oil & Gas up by 1.33%, while IT down by 0.99% and TECK down by 0.77% were the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Larsen & Toubro up by 5.80%, Tata Motors up by 3.96%, Tata Motors - DVR up by 3.60%, ONGC up by 3.19% and Tata Steel up by 2.26%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 2.96%, Maruti Suzuki down by 0.43%, Power Grid down by 0.35%, ITC down by 0.30% and ICICI Bank down by 0.24% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Airports Council International (ACI), the global trade representative of the world's airport authorities, in its latest report has showed that India tops the Asia Pacific region in posting the highest growth in air passenger traffic in May at 13.3 percent. In comparison, the growth in China and South Korea stood at 8.3 percent and 8.1 percent, respectively. It stated that the Asian giants like India, China and South Korea have shown impressive growth in the air traffic passenger that has led to a situation of disparity in the region if compared with passenger traffic growth of Japan and Australia.

According to the report, the Asia-Pacific market as a whole posted a growth rate of 6.3 percent, slightly higher than Europe where the figure stood at 6.2 percent. On the other hand, North America saw the traffic grow by 5.6 percent. It pointed out that the presence of the low-cost business model among carriers along with historically low jet fuel prices have certainly acted as catalysts to stimulate air transport demand through lower fare offerings on certain market segments. However, it noted that oil prices have shown a steady rise in the succeeding months.

ACI further highlighted that the global passenger traffic grew by 5.6 percent in May on a year-over-year basis. It noted that while this was close to one percentage point below its year-to-date growth figure, it remains a robust demonstration of resilience considering the global climate of increasing geopolitical tension.
The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11546.45, up by 75.70 points or 0.66% after trading in a range of 11499.65 and 11551.85. There were 34 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Larsen & Toubro up by 5.86%, Tata Motors up by 3.62%, ONGC up by 3.07%, Tata Steel up by 2.44% and Hero MotoCorp up by 2.20%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 2.94%, GAIL India down by 2.35%, HCL Tech. down by 1.04%, Lupin down by 0.90% and Titan Co down by 0.74% were the top losers.

Asian counters were trading mostly in green; Hang Seng increased 360.27 points or 1.31% to 27,573.68, Straits Times rose 2.81 points or 0.09% to 3,212.25, KOSPI increased 0.83 points or 0.04% to 2,247.88, Taiwan Weighted surged 8.09 points or 0.08% to 10,699.05, Shanghai Composite added 23.15 points or 0.86% to 2,692.12 and Jakarta Composite was up by 108.83 points or 1.85% to 5,892.63.

On the flip side, Nikkei 225 was down by 71.38 points or 0.32% to 22,199.00.