Markets hold gains in afternoon deals

Indian equity benchmarks held their gains in afternoon session, led by strong buying in Telecom, Energy and TECK counters amid easing crude oil prices and firm rupee. Sentiments remained positive with report that India’s exports rose by 17.86% to $26.98 billion in October 2018 as compared to $22.89 Billion in October 2017. Exports bounced back in October to high double-digit figures after the mild contraction in September as engineering goods, pharmaceutical and chemical shipments picked up the pace. Investors’ sentiment also got support with Fitch’s report stating that India’s real GDP growth is expected to be at 7.8% in FY19, up from 6.7% in FY18. On the sectoral front, telecom sector was in focus with industry body COAI stating that telecom companies have completed installation of 5 lakh mobile towers in the country till date with a total investment of Rs 10.44 lakh crore.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed, as hopes for a thaw in the Sino-U.S. trade standoff were tempered by disappointing results from U.S. chipmaker Nvidia Corp which slugged the tech sector. Back home, the BSE Sensex is currently trading at 35450.25, up by 189.71 points or 0.54% after trading in a range of 35324.37 and 35545.85. There were 21 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell 0.26%, while Small cap index was down by 0.19%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 3.49%, Energy up by 1.24%, TECK up by 0.78%, Healthcare up by 0.66% and FMCG up by 0.43%, while Metal down by 0.81%, PSU down by 0.67%, Realty down by 0.42%, Oil & Gas down by 0.37% and Industrials down by 0.20% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel up by 5.96%, Reliance Industries up by 2.19%, HDFC Bank up by 1.47%, Sun Pharma up by 1.43% and HDFC up by 1.34%. On the flip side, Yes Bank down by 7.09%, Tata Steel down by 2.20%, ONGC down by 2.17%, Indusind Bank down by 1.37% and Infosys down by 0.76% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, calling loan waiver and free power supply to the farm sector as mere ‘transitory and populist’ steps, Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu has said that the government should focus on long-term solutions such as remunerative price, infrastructure support and cheap credit to improve the agriculture sector. He also called for suitable changes in the laws governing the cooperative sector in view of changed techno-economic and business scenarios to make the cooperative institutions viable and vibrant.

Naidu has stated that since agriculture was becoming unviable, people were moving to urban areas from rural parts. He said “you cannot reverse urbanisation, even if you want to ... Even today, 56 per cent people depend on agriculture.” According to him, the best method of improving agriculture is the strengthening of the cooperative movement. Besides, he noted that this has to be understood by all including the planners, NITI Aayog, political parties, Parliament, people and media.

Vice-President further said that the prime minister promised to double farmers' income by 2022. He noted that this is a noble idea, but it is not simple. He also indicated that the government has raised the minimum support prices (MSPs) of most of the crops. He added that cooperatives can help small and marginal farmers in taking the benefits of higher MSPs.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10676.50, up by 59.80 points or 0.56% after trading in a range of 10633.80 and 10695.15. There were 33 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bharti Airtel up by 5.37%, HCL Tech. up by 3.84%, Eicher Motors up by 2.40%, Reliance Industries up by 2.34% and Cipla up by 1.97%.

On the flip side, Yes Bank down by 7.43%, Indiabulls Housing Finance down by 4.82%, JSW Steel down by 2.61%, ONGC down by 2.42% and Tata Steel down by 2.28% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; Straits Times increased 27.33 points or 0.89% to 3,081.86, KOSPI was up by 4.34 points or 0.21% to 2,092.40, Shanghai Composite added 13.89 points or 0.52% to 2,682.06 and Jakarta Composite surged 85.52 points or 1.42% to 6,041.26.

On the flip side, Hang Seng decreased 32.48 points or 0.12% to 26,070.86, Taiwan Weighted was down by 29.37 points or 0.3% to 9,797.09 and Nikkei 225 shed 123.28 points or 0.57% to 21,680.34.