Bourses maintain upbeat mood in afternoon deals

Indian equity indices maintained their upbeat mood in afternoon session, as buying momentum in the equities persisted amid strengthening of rupee and low crude oil prices. Domestic sentiments remained firm with a report stating that the finance ministry assured investors of the exchange rate and liquidity issues in non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) after markets came under heavy spell of selling. The report further noted that the finance ministry is confident that crude oil prices will move only down south hereon and the government is expecting the rupee to gain against the dollar in coming weeks.  Some solace also came with FICCI’s latest quarterly survey showing that India’s manufacturing sector output is expected to register robust growth in the July-September quarter on account of higher production even as the hiring outlook for the sector remains subdued. The survey also revealed that exports to rise in the second quarter. However, there was some cautiousness too ahead of key economic data -- August IIP and September CPI, to be announced after the market hours. On the sectoral front, shipping sector remained in focus with the shipping ministry indicating that major ports in the country witnessed 5.12 percent rise in cargo traffic to 343.26 million tonne (MT) in the April-September period of the ongoing financial year.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 34671.09, up by 669.94 points or 1.97% after trading in a range of 34279.78 and 34727.03. There were 28 stocks advancing against 3 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index surged 2.28%, while Small cap index was up by 2.42%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Auto up by 3.81%, Realty up by 3.02%, Energy up by 2.91%, Consumer Disc up by 2.86% and Oil & Gas up by 2.82%, while IT down by 1.02% and TECK down by 0.74% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 5.61%, Maruti Suzuki up by 5.01%, Bajaj Auto up by 4.39%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 3.71% and ITC up by 3.58%. On the flip side, TCS down by 3.33%, Wipro down by 0.13% and Tata Motors - DVR down by 0.05% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu has said the Union Cabinet may soon approve the new industrial policy that aims at promoting manufacturing, attracting investments and creating jobs. He also said that the policy is in sync with the challenges and opportunities to be brought up by the 'fourth industrial revolution'.

The minister observed that with changing technologies in the manufacturing sector, the world is talking about the fourth industrial revolution which includes artificial intelligence, robotics, internet of things, blockchain and machine learning.  He said that India too is gearing itself to use these modern technologies to boost its manufacturing sector and increase its share in the country's gross domestic product (GDP). Besides, he noted that the proposed policy would look at ways to reduce regulatory hurdles and encourage adoption of frontier technologies such as robotics and artificial intelligence.

In August last year, the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), under the commerce and industry ministry, floated a draft industrial policy with an aim to create jobs for the next two decades, promote foreign technology transfer and attract $100 billion FDI annually. The new industrial policy will replace the policy of 1991, which was prepared on the backdrop of India's balance of payment crisis.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10443.10, up by 208.45 points or 2.04% after trading in a range of 10322.15 and 10459.10. There were 45 stocks advancing against 5 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 5.59%, Bajaj Finance up by 5.37%, Maruti Suzuki up by 5.11%, Bajaj Auto up by 4.49% and Eicher Motors up by 4.48%. On the flip side, TCS down by 3.31%, HCL Tech. down by 1.86%, Dr. Reddys Lab down by 0.22%, Wipro down by 0.16% and Infosys down by 0.01% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading in green; Nikkei 225 increased 103.80 points or 0.46% to 22,694.66, KOSPI added 32.18 points or 1.49% to 2,161.85, Straits Times increased 23.92 points or 0.78% to 3,071.31, Shanghai Composite rose 26.04 points or 1% to 2,609.50, Hang Seng surged 461.24 points or 1.79% to 25,727.61, Taiwan Weighted soared 239.70 points or 2.39% to 10,045.81 and Jakarta Composite jumped 71.75 points or 1.24% to 5,774.57.