Indian equity benchmarks made a gap-up opening and are trading with traction in early deals on Wednesday, tracking firm cues from regional counterparts. The up-move is led by gains in financial and realty stocks, amid a firm rupee ahead of October F&O expiry. The rupee was trading at three-week higher at 73.16/$ vs its previous close of 73.57 per dollar. Traders shrugged off private report stating that liquidity crunch may hurt economic growth. The report penciling in a few basis points shave off in economic growth in the December quarter if the hoarding of cash by banks and mutual funds continue threatening on-lending non-banking finance companies, the lifeline of lakh of medium and small enterprises. Traders paid no heed towards a report stating that Private Equity (PE) investments moderated to $14.60 billion during January-September period, owing to macroeconomic concerns, market volatility and valuations of companies.
On the global front, Asian markets gained traction and all the regional counters trading in green at this point of time, recovering from initial weakness. However, gains remained capped as traders remained worried as concerns, ranging from worries about US corporate earnings to Middle East tensions, weighed on sentiments. The US markets ended lower on Tuesday as steep slide came after major US companies reported gloomy results and guidance.
Back home, stocks related to non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) edged higher despite report that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has cancelled the Certificate of Registration of 31 NBFCs. NBFCs have been under pressure recently due to fears of a liquidity crisis, high valuations and asset liability mismatches. Pharma sector stocks too remained in limelight with ICRA’s report that the domestic pharmaceutical industry is likely to register a moderate growth at 7-9 per cent in the period between FY18 and FY21.
The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 34093.21, up by 245.98 points or 0.73% after trading in a range of 34085.61 and 34300.97. There were 24 stocks advancing against 7 stocks declining on the index.
The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.97%, while Small cap index was up by 0.88%.
The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 2.28%, Oil & Gas up by 1.63%, Energy up by 1.31%, Auto up by 1.16% and Consumer Discretionary Goods & Services was up by 1.13%, while IT down by 1.04% and TECK was down by 0.85% were the only losing indices on BSE.
The top gainers on the Sensex were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.50%, Asian Paints up by 2.22%, HDFC up by 2.17%, Indusind Bank up by 1.77% and SBI up by 1.76%. On the flip side, Wipro down by 2.20%, TCS down by 1.63%, Sun Pharma down by 0.58%, Coal India down by 0.32% and Infosys down by 0.32% were the top losers.
Meanwhile, in order to boost trade and investment, the commerce ministry has said that it is important to resume long-stalled talks for the proposed free trade agreement (FTA) between India and the European Union (EU) at the earliest and without any pre-conditions. It added that any FTA has to be balanced and mutually beneficial. India has been sensitive to EU's concerns and has gone an extra mile to be accommodative.
The ministry said that the two sides reaffirmed their support to finalise an ambitious and balanced Broad Based Trade and Investment Agreement (BTIA) between India and the EU. BTIA is a kind of comprehensive free trade agreement. The Czech side noted that India is one of the most important partners for the EU and liberalisation of their markets would be beneficial in the long term for both sides. The India side stated that it is committed for an early and balanced outcome of the BTIA negotiations.
The negotiations for the pact have been held up since May 2013 as both the sides are yet to bridge substantial gaps on crucial issues. Launched in June 2007, the negotiations for the proposed BTIA have witnessed many hurdles with both sides having major differences on key issues like intellectual property rights, duty cut in automobile and spirits, and liberal visa regime. Besides, bilateral trade between the countries stood at $1.07 billion in 2017-18. It was same in the previous fiscal also.
The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10217.00, up by 70.20 points or 0.69% after trading in a range of 10216.25 and 10290.65. There were 34 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index, while 1 stock remained unchanged.
The top gainers on Nifty were Bajaj Finance up by 5.31%, Indiabulls Housing up by 3.80%, BPCL up by 3.47%, Hindalco up by 3.05% and HPCL up by 2.68%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finserv down by 3.33%, Tech Mahindra down by 3.11%, Wipro down by 2.10%, TCS down by 1.71% and Dr. Reddys Lab down by 0.95% were the top losers.
All the Asian markets are trading in green; Nikkei 225 increased 104.43 points or 0.47% to 22,115.21, Taiwan Weighted rose 8.34 points or 0.09% to 9,783.54, Straits Times jumped 18.04 points or 0.59% to 3,049.43, Jakarta Composite advanced 7.12 points or 0.12% to 5,805.01, Hang Seng surged 219.12 points or 0.86% to 25,565.67, KOSPI added 3.36 points or 0.16% to 2,109.46 and Shanghai Composite was up by 39.67 points or 1.51% to 2,634.50.
