Markets remain firm at higher levels

Indian equity benchmarks remained firm at higher levels in late afternoon session, with Sensex gaining more than 250 points. Gaining momentum also witnessed among all the sectoral indices, with Oil & Gas index emerging as top gainer on the BSE. Optimism remained among traders, with a private report stating that strong earnings, promising demographics and big ticket deals drove the M&A activity, clocking deals worth $76 billion in January-September from over 350 transactions. Some support also came with reports that India and the UAE deliberated on opportunities for cooperation and investment in both the countries, in order to drive investments in areas including highways, airports and infrastructure. The street took note of Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s statement that India needs a strong and decisive leadership at the Centre to continue its high growth path and take swift decisions.

On the sectoral front, oil companies stocks were trading higher, aided by OPEC’s secretary general’s statement that India’s oil demand is expected to rise by 5.8 million barrels per day (bpd) by 2040, accounting for about 40% of the overall increase in global demand during the period. Metal stocks also gained after global industry body World Steel Association said that India’s steel demand is expected to move back to a higher growth track as the country recovers from twin shocks of demonetisation and GST implementation. In scrip specific development, Alembic Pharmaceuticals surged after the company received tentative approval from the US Food & Drug Administration (USFDA) for its Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) Alogliptin Tablets, 6.25 mg, 12.5 mg and 25mg.

On the global front, European markets were trading in green, amid reports that German manufacturers added more employees during August compared to a year ago. The preliminary figures the Federal Statistical Office showed that the number of employees in the manufacturing units with 50 or more persons grew by about 149,000 persons or 2.7% from the same period last year to 5.7 million. Asian markets were trading in green, as China's factory-gate inflation cooled for a third straight month in September, pointing to softening domestic demand but giving the country's central bank plenty of room for adjustments in interest rates.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 35152.21, up by 287.11 points or 0.82% after trading in a range of 34913.06 and 35215.79. There were 24 stocks advancing against 7 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 1.61%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 2.05%, Energy up by 1.95%, Industrials up by 1.31%, Bankex up by 1.30% and PSU up by 1.27%, while there were no losing sectoral indices on the BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ONGC up by 4.03%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 3.44%, ICICI Bank up by 2.60%, Axis Bank up by 2.53% and SBI up by 2.49%. On the flip side, Power Grid Corporation down by 0.82%, Bajaj Auto down by 0.52%, HDFC Bank down by 0.52%, Sun Pharma down by 0.43% and Maruti Suzuki down by 0.18% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in order to drive investments in areas including highways, airports and infrastructure, India and the UAE have deliberated on opportunities for cooperation and investment in both the countries.

Both the sides also discussed a number of potential investment projects in India, in the highways sector; infrastructure corridor projects; Sagar Mala projects and New Greenfield Airports. Besides this, a fast track mechanism has been announced between India and the UAE to attract investments.

Meanwhile, the bilateral trade between India and the UAE stood at $49.88 billion in 2017-18, as against $52.7 billion in the previous fiscal and the UAE is the tenth largest investor in India. The country received $1.05 billion foreign direct investment from the UAE in 2017-18.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10589.35, up by 76.85 points or 0.73% after trading in a range of 10525.30 and 10604.90. There were 34 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ONGC up by 4.21%, Tech Mahindra up by 3.66%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 3.44%, SBI up by 2.75% and BPCL up by 2.62%. On the flip side, Indiabulls Housing Finance down by 2.83%, Cipla down by 1.32%, Power Grid Corporation down by 1.04%, Eicher Motors down by 1.00% and Zee Entertainment down by 0.89% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 soared 277.94 points or 1.23% to 22,549.24, Hang Seng increased 17.20 points or 0.07% to 25,462.26, Taiwan Weighted added 79.98 points or 0.8% to 9,981.10 and Jakarta Composite gained 27.21 points or 0.47% to 5,754.47. On the flip side, Shanghai Composite decreased 21.77 points or 0.85% to 2,546.33 and Straits Times was down by 11.24 points or 0.37% to 3,034.73.

European markets were trading mostly in green; France’s CAC added 6.57 points or 0.13% to 5,101.64 and Germany’s DAX increased 29.51 points or 0.25% to 11,643.67. On the flip side, UK’s FTSE 100 was down by 18.60 points or 0.27% to 7,010.62.