Markets off day’s high

Indian equity benchmarks came off their intraday high points in late afternoon session, amid mixed cues from other Asian markets. Cautions spread on the street, as Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said crude prices are not under the control of the Indian government and are determined by international forces. The slight cut in gains also due to a private report stating that India’s foreign-exchange reserves are shrinking fast and may soon reach a level that could hamper the central bank’s ability to defend the rupee. Traders were taking note of Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s statement that as an economy evolves, regulation needs to be relaxed or altered keeping in the mind the ground situation. However, the trade remained positive, buoyed by Union Minister of Commerce & Industry and Civil Aviation, Suresh Prabhu’s statement that India’s export surged to a six-year high of 9.8% in the financial year 2017-18. On the sectoral front, metals stocks were trading higher, aided by the World Steel Association’ (worldsteel) report showing that India's crude steel production rose 2.1% to reach 8.520 million tonnes (MT) in September 2018. The country had produced 8.345 MT steel during the same month last year.

On the global front, European markets were trading in green, as French consumer confidence improved in October. The survey data from the statistical office Insee showed that the consumer sentiment index rose to 95 in October from 94 in September. The score came in line with expectations. The street also got relief after Germany's consumer confidence is set to remain stable in November, despite Brexit and trade disputes weighing on economic and income expectations. As per survey data from the market research group GfK, the forward-looking consumer sentiment index came in at 10.6 in November, the same as seen in October. The score was forecast to drop to 10.5. However, Asian markets were trading mixed. Back home, in scrip specific development, Vikas Ecotech traded jubilantly after the company received the ‘Authorized Economic Operator’ (AEO-T1) certificate from the Central Board of Indirect Taxes& Customs (CBIC), Ministry of Finance, Government of India.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 33788.88, up by 439.57 points or 1.32% after trading in a range of 33341.80 and 33917.01. 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 2.32%, while Small cap index was up by 1.74%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Healthcare up by 3.78%, Realty up by 3.68%, PSU up by 3.14%, Capital Goods up by 3.02% and Industrials up by 2.73%, while Telecom down by 0.09% was the lone losing index on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ICICI Bank up by 9.79%, SBI up by 7.86%, Adani Ports & SEZ up by 6.70%, Tata Motors - DVR up by 4.98% and Axis Bank up by 4.79%. On the flip side, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 2.97%, HDFC Bank down by 2.51%, Indusind Bank down by 2.43%, HDFC down by 2.02% and Bharti Airtel down by 1.71% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, continuing rising trend, bank credit has gone up by 14.35 per cent in the fortnight ended October 12, 2018. According to the data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), bank credit stood at Rs 89.93 lakh crore during the reported period as against Rs 78.64 lakh crore reported in the year-ago period.

The report also showed an increase of 8.86 percent in the deposits of the bank in the fortnight ended October 12, 2018. During the reported period, deposits stood at Rs 117.85 lakh crore as against Rs 108.25 lakh crore in the year-ago period.

In the previous fortnight ended September 28, Bank credit grew by 12.51 percent to Rs 89.82 lakh crore, while the deposits rose by 8.07 percent to Rs 117.99 lakh crore. Meanwhile, in August 2018, non-food credit rose by 12.4 percent, compared with an increase of 5.5 percent in the same month last year.

Besides, advances to industry rose by 1.9 percent in August 2018, against a contraction of 0.3 percent in August 2017. Bank loans to agriculture and allied activities were up by 6.6 percent, compared with an increase of 6.5 percent last year, while credit to the services sector expanded by 26.7 percent, against 5 percent. Personal loans rose by 18.2 percent in August 2018, up from an increase of 15.7 percent in August 2017.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10160.45, up by 130.45 points or 1.30% after trading in a range of 10020.35 and 10200.20. There were 37 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining, while 1 index remained unchanged on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Indiabulls Housing Finance up by 10.56%, ICICI Bank up by 9.39%, SBI up by 7.82%, Adani Ports & SEZ up by 6.51% and Dr. Reddy’s Lab up by 4.98%. On the flip side, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 2.81%, Indusind Bank down by 2.60%, HDFC Bank down by 2.46%, HDFC down by 2.03% and Bharti Airtel down by 1.88% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; Nikkei 225 decreased 34.80 points or 0.16% to 21,149.80, KOSPI dropped 31.10 points or 1.56% to 1,996.05, Shanghai Composite fell 56.75 points or 2.23% to 2,542.10 and Jakarta Composite lost 27.15 points or 0.47% to 5,757.77. On the flip side, Straits Times increased 11.23 points or 0.38% to 2,983.25, Taiwan Weighted gained 27.14 points or 0.29% to 9,516.32 and Hang Seng was up by 94.41 points or 0.38% to 24,812.04.

European markets were trading in green; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 59.67 points or 0.85% to 6,999.23 and Germany’s DAX was up by 42.49 points or 0.38% to 11,243.11.