Markets extend gains; Sensex, Nifty hover at intra-day high points

Indian markets extended their gains with Sensex and Nifty hovering at intra-day high points in the early noon session supported by gains in frontline blue chip stocks such as Adani Ports, Tata Motors and Hero MotoCorp among others. Besides, Consumer Durables, IT and TECK stocks were on buying spree. Sentiments remained up-beat on report that Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought shares worth Rs 277.38 crore on November 14, 2018, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges. Strong rupee too provided some support to the markets. Investors took some encouragement with a report stating that the government will seek immediate relief on liquidity and credit availability at the board meeting of the Reserve Bank of India on November 19. Sentiments remained upbeat with top banker Uday Kotak’s statement that India has been under a lot of pressure due to higher-than-$60 a barrel oil price in last one year but the latest retreat is giving a lot of comfort to India.

On the global front, Asian stocks were trading mostly in green as a steep slide in crude oil prices which had chilled investors’ sentiments slowed, while the pound and euro were supported after British Prime Minister Theresa May gained cabinet support for a Brexit deal. Back home, infrastructure stocks remained in focus with report that for 2019-20, the ministry of road transport and highways is likely to seek nearly 25 per cent higher budgetary allocation from the finance ministry compared to last year.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 35276.72, up by 134.73 points or 0.38% after trading in a range of 35118.42 and 35277.83. There were 24 stocks advancing against 7 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose by 0.36%, while Small cap index was up by 0.06%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 1.33%, IT up by 0.97%, TECK up by 0.84%, Industrials up by 0.72% and Auto up by 0.67%, while Basic Materials down by 0.51%, Oil & Gas down by 0.37%, Telecom down by 0.34%, Energy down by 0.24% and Utilities down by 0.05% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Adani Ports up by 3.08%, Tata Motors up by 2.38%, Tata Motors - DVR up by 2.16%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.94% and Hero MotoCorp up by 1.84%. On the flip side, Yes Bank down by 7.87%, Sun Pharma down by 1.27%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.44%, ICICI Bank down by 0.34% and Tata Steel down by 0.27% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the government and Reserve Bank of India (RBI) are working towards reaching an agreeable solution particularly with respect of relaxation of the Prompt Corrective Action (PCA) framework and easing of lending norms for the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) sector including strict rating criteria to improve credit flow to this sector, ahead of the central bank's board meeting on November 19. Even if no decision on the issue of relaxation of PCA framework which the finance ministry has been pitching is taken during the board meeting, steps are likely to taken in the next few weeks. 

As a result of relaxation, some banks may come out of the PCA framework by the end of 2018-19. The PCA framework kicks in when banks breach any of the three key regulatory trigger points namely capital to risk weighted assets ratio, Net non-performing assets (NPA) and return on assets (RoA). Besides, the central bank is expected to consider special dispensation for MSME sector and non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) which have been facing liquidity squeeze.

The government feels that the MSME sector which employs about 12 crore people plays a critical role in the economy, and the sector hit by note ban and roll out of Goods and Services Tax (GST) needs support. However, the central bank has been averse to government demand for special dispensations for MSME and NBFC sectors as it considers them vulnerable

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10611.95, up by 35.65 points or 0.34% after trading in a range of 10557.50 and 10612.45. There were 36 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Adani Ports up by 3.19%, Titan Co up by 2.73%, Tata Motors up by 2.52%, Eicher Motors up by 2.21% and Hero MotoCorp up by 2.12%. On the flip side, Yes Bank down by 7.82%, Grasim Industries down by 7.15%, Indiabulls Housing down by 4.62%, Ultratech Cement down by 2.00% and Sun Pharma down by 1.14% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Straits Times increased 9.61 points or 0.31% to 3,052.80, KOSPI increased 8.15 points or 0.39% to 2,076.20, Hang Seng increased 255.230 points or 0.99% to 25,909.66, Shanghai Composite increased 21.35 points or 0.8% to 2,653.59, Taiwan Weighted increased 34.58 points or 0.35% to 9,826.46 and Jakarta Composite increased 48.48 points or 0.82% to 5,906.77.

On the other hand, Nikkei 225 decreased 42.86 points or 0.2% to 21,803.62.