Barometer gauges continue to display splendid performance

Indian equity markets continued to display splendid performance in early noon session on the back of rupee appreciation and sharp recovery in oil prices after positive US-China talks over trade. Besides, earnings and easing tensions between the government and the central bank over the monetary authority’s independence, also boosted sentiments. Sentiments remained up-beat on report that Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought shares worth Rs 348.75 crore on November 1, 2018, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges. Some support came with Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion Secretary Ramesh Abhishek stating that India hopes to rise up the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business index further next year by improving its performance in categories such as paying taxes and insolvency recovery. Adding to the optimism, finance minister Arun Jaitely stated that India’s target of being among the top 50 countries in World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Rankings looks plausible.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green as China and the United States expressed optimism about resolving their bruising trade war, though a warning from tech giant Apple Inc on holiday sales amid emerging market weakness could weigh on technology shares. Back home, oil & gas sector was amongst the top gainers on the BSE with a report stating that India, which is heavily dependent on Iran for crude oil supplies, is close to sealing a deal with the United States, which will allow the country to continue trade with Iran. Oil marketing companies (OMCs) were gaining as they cut petrol and diesel prices. The petrol and diesel prices in Delhi are Rs 79.18 per litre (decrease by Rs 0.19) and Rs 73.64 per litre (decrease by Rs 0.14), respectively. Stocks related to Auto sector were gaining despite report stating that a delayed festival season, coupled with high fuel prices and increase in total cost of ownership, led automobile companies to report only marginal sales growth in October 2018 against the same month in the previous year.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 34993.13, up by 561.16 points or 1.63% after trading in a range of 34649.80 and 35029.28. There were 28 stocks advancing against 3 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 1.59%, while Small cap index up by 1.38%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Auto up by 3.69%, Metal up by 3.51%, Oil & Gas up by 3.07%, Basic Materials up by 2.95%, Consumer Disc up by 2.72% while, IT down by 0.35% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Vedanta up by 6.13%, Hero MotoCorp up by 4.93%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 4.87%, Adani Ports &Special up by 4.75% and Yes Bank up by 4.66%. On the flip side, Wipro down by 1.41%, TCS down by 0.24% and Infosys down by 0.17% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has said that India must focus on areas such as registering property and enforcing contracts among others, to get even better ranking in the World bank's ease of doing business index in the years to come. According to the World bank's doing business report 2019 based on 10 parameters, India jumped 23 places to rank 77th position on the back of reforms related to insolvency, taxation and other areas. 

The chamber's President Rakesh Bharti Mittal has said that the improvement in the ranking is an achievement and was expected due to government’s transformational reforms over the last year. He also said that the revised position will add to the investment attractiveness and competitiveness of the Indian economy.

Mittal further said that the overall jump in the country's position is led by improvement in several indicators of ease of doing business, including dealing with construction permits, trading across border, and starting a business. He also noted that the latest doing business ranking is testimony to the continuously improving business climate in India, which augurs well for new investments in the country.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10562.35, up by 181.90 points or 1.75% after trading in a range of 10457.70 and 10569.05. There were 42 stocks advancing against 8 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were BPCL up by 7.64%, Vedanta up by 6.18%, Yes Bank up by 5.34%, Indian Oil Corp. up by 5.32% and HPCL up by 5.19%. On the flip side, Wipro down by 1.53%, Dr. Reddys Lab down by 1.18%, Cipla down by 0.82%, HCL Tech. down by 0.73% and Tech Mahindra down by 0.37% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Hang Seng increased 1001.340 points or 3.79% to 26,417.34, Shanghai Composite increased 62.71 points or 2.35% to 2,668.95, Straits Times increased 39.36 points or 1.27% to 3,100.21, Taiwan Weighted increased 61.85 points or 0.62% to 9,906.59, Nikkei 225 increased 556.01 points or 2.5% to 22,243.66 and KOSPI increased 69.40 points or 3.31% to 2,093.86. On the flip side, Jakarta Composite decreased 5.72 points or -0.1% to 5,830.20.