Bourses continue to move in green territory

Key benchmark indices continued to move in green territory in afternoon session, led by buying in Realty, Oil & Gas and Capital Goods counters. Sentiments on the street remained positive with report stating that government is responding well to the rising trade tensions between the world's two largest economies, maintaining a stance that serves the cause of Indian exporters best. Moreover, optimism over corporate earnings along with recovery in the rupee value against dollar too boosted domestic sentiments. Investors paid no heed towards 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. On the sectoral front, steel sector remained in focus with private report stating that thirty-eight pacts worth $5 billion were signed among 20 technology providers, capital goods manufacturers and steel producers, which will give impetus to the manufacturing of capital goods for iron and steel industry.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red, as traders mulled over the impact of tariffs on corporate America, after big industrial companies admitted that they were facing rising costs. Back home, the BSE Sensex is currently trading at 33999.97, up by 152.74 points or 0.45% after trading in a range of 33895.01 and 34300.97. There were 16 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.41%, while Small cap index was up by 0.36%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.94%, Oil & Gas up by 1.17%, Capital Goods up by 0.93%, Telecom up by 0.76% and Bankex up by 0.64%, while Healthcare down by 0.57%, Power down by 0.25%, Utilities down by 0.24%, IT down by 0.17% and Auto down by 0.08% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Asian Paints up by 2.67%, Indusind Bank up by 2.21%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.94%, HDFC up by 1.69% and Larsen & Toubro up by 1.56%. On the flip side, Yes Bank down by 2.76%, Adani Ports &SEZ down by 2.40%, Sun Pharma down by 1.75%, Wipro down by 1.42% and NTPC down by 1.33% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Union Steel Minister Chaudhary Birender Singh has said that foreign firms can immensely benefit by setting up manufacturing units in India, as the country has set up a target to ramp up its steel-making capacity to 300 million tonne (MT) by 2030-31. He also said that Indian steel industry is expected to invest $128 billion in next 10-12 years for adding the new capacity, for this, he pointed out that India will have to import a large number of critical plants and equipment worth almost $25 billion to meet the needs of domestic steel industry by 2030-31.

The minister said that spares worth over $500 million will have to be imported every year to meet the needs of India's steel industry by 2030-31. He noted that the opportunity offered by Indian steel industry must be utilised by the capital goods manufacturers, foreign technology providers and equipment manufacturers. Besides, he noted that foreign companies can set up manufacturing facilities in India on their own or through joint venture/ collaboration with Indian capital goods manufacturers. Stating that it will be a win-win situation, he said the multinational companies will bring fresh investments and latest technology to produce equipment and spares of world class quality at a global competitive rate.

Singh further stated that India can also save a lot of foreign exchange if the steel industries get their required machines and equipment from within the country instead of depending on the foreign based industries. He also said that the foreign manufacturers will enter into a JV with an Indian firm can get advantage of purchase preference. He noted that Indian manufacturers will also benefit from foreign investment and technology and also get to fulfil the eligibility condition of experience.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10196.55, up by 49.75 points or 0.49% after trading in a range of 10159.90 and 10290.65. There were 28 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bajaj Finance up by 5.98%, BPCL up by 3.95%, HPCL up by 3.03%, Indian Oil Corp. up by 2.85% and Asian Paints up by 2.75%. On the flip side, Yes Bank down by 2.81%, Adani Ports &SEZ down by 2.70%, Grasim Industries down by 2.41%, Zee Entertainment down by 1.94% and Sun Pharma down by 1.80% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; KOSPI decreased 8.52 points or 0.41% to 2,097.58, Hang Seng was down by 127.07 points or 0.5% to 25,219.48, Jakarta Composite fell 28.95 points or 0.5% to 5,768.94 and Taiwan Weighted shed 15.80 points or 0.16% to 9,759.40.

On the flip side, Straits Times increased 12.01 points or 0.39% to 3,043.40, Shanghai Composite was up by 4.86 points or 0.19% to 2,599.69 and Nikkei 225 added 80.40 points or 0.36% to 22,091.18.