Local equities hold positive momentum

Local equity benchmarks continued their trade with healthy gains in the morning trades, setting a record high with Sensex breaching 38,600 mark and Nifty trading above 11,650 level, following the sharp gains in Power Grid, Yes Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank. Likewise, Metal, Utilities and Power have also elevated with gains on their respective front line stocks. The markets took support from a report that foreign investors have pumped in a little over Rs 6,700 crore into the Indian capital markets so far this month on improvement on the macro front, better corporate earnings and correction in the mid and small-cap space. The latest inflow comes following a net infusion of over Rs 2,300 crore in the capital markets both equity and debt last month. Traders were also taking encouragement from former Niti Aayog vice-chairman Arvind Panagariya statement that he has opined that rupee depreciation was long overdue, saying appreciated currency had hurt the country’s exports. Panagariya further said India’s macroeconomic management is sound and there was no reason to worry.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading in green, after US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said a gradual approach to raising rates was best to protect the US economy and job growth. Back home, in scrip specific development, L&T surged with its construction arm bagging order worth Rs 1,394 crore. Besides, Sundaram Finance gains on reporting 26% rise in its net profit at Rs 140.73 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2018.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 38608.62, up by 356.82 points or 0.93% after trading in a range of 38416.73 and 38617.27. There were 29 stocks advancing against 2 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.71%, while Small cap index was up by 0.64%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 1.46%, Utilities up by 1.39%, Bankex up by 1.36%, Power up by 1.35% and PSU up by 1.26%, while there were no losing sectoral indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Power Grid up by 3.62%, Yes Bank up by 2.22%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 2.01%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.89% and SBI up by 1.71%. On the flip side, Wipro down by 0.05% and Sun Pharma down by 0.04% were the only losers.

Meanwhile, in order to boost bilateral trade, India and Singapore have signed the Second Protocol amending the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA). Both sides agreed to expand the coverage of tariff concessions, liberalize the Rules of Origin, rationalize Product Specific Rules and include provisions on Certificate of Origin and Cooperation on its verification. These measures will further facilitate trade between India and Singapore and in addition enhance utilization of CECA.

The provisions of the Second Protocol will come into effect from September 14, 2018. The two countries are exploring the possibility of launching the 3rd Review of India-Singapore CECA in September, 2018. The CECA was the first comprehensive agreement covering trade in goods, services and investments, which India had signed with any of its trading partners. The CECA was signed on June 29, 2005 and its first review was concluded on October 1, 2007.

Besides, Singapore is the second largest trading partner of India within Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), while India is the largest trading partner of Singapore in South Asia, with a bilateral trade of $17.7 billion in FY18. Singapore's trade with India constitutes about 21.8 percent of India's total trade with ASEAN and 2.3 percent of its global trade. India had a trade surplus of $2.73 billion with Singapore in FY18.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11658.90, up by 101.80 points or 0.88% after trading in a range of 11595.60 and 11660.85. There were 45 stocks advancing against 5 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Power Grid up by 3.35%, Grasim Industries up by 2.40%, Yes Bank up by 2.30%, Hindalco up by 2.21% and Kotak Mahindra Bank was up by 2.14%. On the flip side, Bharti Infratel down by 0.68%, Zee Entertainment down by 0.51%, Dr. Reddy’s Lab down by 0.29%, Eicher Motors down by 0.24% and Sun Pharma was down by 0.21% were the top losers.

All Asian markets were trading in green; Hang Seng surged 571.22 points or 2.02% to 28,243.09, Shanghai Composite soars 38.97 points or 1.41% to 2,768.40, Jakarta Composite strengthened 44.51 points or 0.74% to 6,013.26, Straits Times gained 21.27 points or 0.66% to 3,234.27, Taiwan Weighted rose 85.70 points or 0.79% to 10,895.05, KOSPI increased 8.18 points or 0.36% to 2,301.39 and Nikkei 225 was up by 209.06 points or 0.92% to 22,810.83.