Key gauges hold positive momentum

Local equity benchmarks hold positive momentum in the morning session, mirroring positive global cues along with a stronger rupee. Sensex trading with over half a percent gain, while Nifty trading above 11,300 level after intense buying thronged the markets. Among sectors, Energy, Metal and Oil & Gas indices were gaining over 1.70%, while IT, Telecom and TECK were on the losing side. The domestic sentiments remained upbeat with State Bank of India’s report that Indian rupee may be set to recover as oil peaks out and investors realize the currency has been sold off too heavily amid the emerging-market rout. Market-men also took some support from a private report that according to estimates from the 2018 global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI), India has made momentous progress in reducing multidimensional poverty with its incidence almost halving between 2005-6 and 2015-16, climbing down to 27.5 per cent from 54.7 per cent. Traders took note of a report that the federation of chambers of commerce and industry (FICCI) has called for a joint meeting between the industries and the government to chalk out a strategy balancing expenditure, and boosting economic growth.

On the global front, Asian market were trading in green, after US stocks hit new all-time highs, while the dollar slipped as investors shrugged off trade tensions between China and US. Back home, on the sectoral front, infrastructure stocks were buzzing on the streets, despite India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) reported that it has maintained a stable outlook across the infrastructure sector with the exception of coal-based thermal power, which continues with its negative outlook for the remaining part of FY19.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 37374.82, up by 253.60 points or 0.68% after trading in a range of 37202.94 and 37489.24. There were 23 stocks advancing against 8 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.37%, while Small cap index was up by 0.12%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Energy up by 1.91%, Metal up by 1.79%, Oil & Gas up by 1.73%, PSU up by 1.45% and Basic Materials was up by 0.85%, while IT down by 0.73%, TECK down by 0.67% and Telecom was down by 0.31% were the few losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ICICI Bank up by 3.35%, Axis Bank up by 3.32%, Tata Steel up by 3.08%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.27% and SBI was up by 2.08%. On the flip side, Yes Bank down by 19.62%, Infosys down by 1.17%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.74%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.64% and Sun Pharma was down by 0.44% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, expressing optimism over prospects of Indian farmers’ income, Minister of State for Agriculture Parshottam Rupala has said that the farmer-producer organisation (FPO) model could help achieve the goal of doubling farmers’ income ‘well before time’. He noted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had earlier talked about doubling the income of farmers by 2022.

Rupala also said that some successful FPO models are working in the country and efforts could be made to replicate them or expand their ambit to other regions. Using this FPO model, farmers are in a position to fix the price of their production. He said ‘Due to the central government’s policies in the last three years, agriculture production is breaking all records and now as PM Modi said, we need to connect agriculture production to the other aspect - that is doubling the income of farmers in the country’.

He recommended farmers and FPOs to see what is the global trend in terms of consumer needs and cater to that demand. Earlier, there were veg and non-veg categories but currently organic items are in demand in the veg category, so FPOs should tap such a market and cater to the demand by providing branded and reliable organic products. Citing examples of Chinese products like fire crackers and kites, he said those companies know about festivals in India and accordingly, cater to demands of consumers here.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11306.90, up by 72.55 points or 0.65% after trading in a range of 11263.60 and 11346.80. There were 36 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining, while 1 stock remain changed on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Axis Bank up by 3.34%, ICICI Bank up by 3.29%, IOC up by 3.03%, HPCL up by 2.88% and Tata Steel was up by 2.80%. On the flip side, Yes Bank down by 20.05%, Indiabulls Housing Finance down by 1.62%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.35%, Infosys down by 1.31% and Bharti Airtel was down by 0.73% were the top losers.

All Asian markets were trading in green, Taiwan Weighted gained 107.44 points or 0.98% to 10,938.85, Straits Times surged 31.28 points or 0.97% to 3,211.71, Shanghai Composite soared 26.77 points or 0.97% to 2,756.01, Jakarta Composite advanced 4.05 points or 0.07% to 5,935.32, Hang Seng rose 255.86 points or 0.92% to 27,733.53, Nikkei 225 moves up 226.23 points or 0.95% to 23,901.16 and KOSPI was up by 8.41 points or 0.36% to 2,331.86.