Sensex, Nifty remain in green in last of trade

Key equity benchmarks continued their trade in green terrain in late afternoon session, with Sensex holding more than 150 points, as Fitch indicated that India’s strong growth outlook continues to stand out among peers and upgraded its real GDP growth forecast at 7.8% for the current financial year ending March 2019 (2018-19) from 7.3% forecasted earlier in April this year. Sentiments were positive with Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu’s statement that huge opportunities exist for startups in agri sector to promote the growth of the segment. He also said that innovation in agri sector was important for reducing wastage, increase production, and cutting fertiliser use to enhance soil fertility. Traders took note of Secretary of the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) Ramesh Abhishek’s statement that the government will soon unveil a new industrial policy which may include a dedicated chapter on the importance of design. On the sectoral front, stocks related to jewellery industry remained in limelight, after Food and Consumers Affairs Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said that the government is planning to soon make hallmarking mandatory for gold jewellery sold in the country.

On the global front, European markets were trading in green, even though UK retail sales declined for a second straight month in October, defying expectations for an increase, amid a sharp decrease in sales of household goods. The preliminary data from the Office for National Statistics showed that sales volume including automotive fuel dropped 0.5% from September, when they fell 0.4%, revised from a 0.8% slump. On a year-on-year basis, retail sales volume grew 2.2% in October, which was the slowest pace in six months. Besides, investors remained focused on the political turmoil in the UK after four ministers, including Brexit Minister Dominic Raab resigned in protest to Prime Minister Theresa May's draft Brexit agreement. Asian markets were also trading in green.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 35420.74, up by 160.20 points or 0.45% 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 was down by 0.05%, while Small cap index was down by 0.34%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 4.74%, Energy up by 1.32%, TECK up by 0.58%, FMCG up by 0.56% and Healthcare up by 0.31%, while Metal down by 1.23%, Oil & Gas down by 0.69%, PSU down by 0.41%, Utilities down by 0.39% and Basic Materials down by 0.32% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel up by 7.26%, Reliance Industries up by 2.65%, SBI up by 1.95%, ITC up by 1.28% and HDFC Bank up by 1.18%. On the flip side, Yes Bank down by 7.45%, Tata Steel down by 2.49%, ONGC down by 2.14%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.74% and Infosys down by 1.08% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, reiterating the aim of demonetisation, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said that economies like India need a higher growth rate to pull people out of poverty and improve upon quality of life. Besides, he added that the penetration effect of growth will certainly take place but it will be a slow process and aspirational society is not willing to wait indefinitely.

The minister also underlined the objective of the financial inclusion drive initiated by the government since 2014, noting that the move was to bank the unbanked, secure the unsecured, fund the unfunded and service the unserviced areas. He also detailed that banks, especially public sector banks, opened 330 million accounts under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) in a few months and people have also started putting money in zero balance accounts.

Further, the minister pointed that noteban compelled people to put all their cash into the banking system, while the Goods and Services Tax (GST) brought many activities into the formal system. Finance Minister also highlighted the development schemes launched by the government to offer insurance at very affordable premium as part of the social security system through the PMJDY account.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10660.90, up by 44.20 points or 0.42% after trading in a range of 10633.80 and 10695.15. There were 28 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bharti Airtel up by 7.00%, Grasim Industries up by 3.04%, Reliance Industries up by 2.74%, HCL Tech up by 2.29% and Eicher Motors up by 2.22%. On the flip side, Yes Bank down by 7.77%, Indiabulls Housing Finance down by 5.20%, HPCL down by 2.97%, Tata Steel down by 2.70% and JSW Steel down by 2.64% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Straits Times increased 22.78 points or 0.74% to 3,077.31, KOSPI added 4.34 points or 0.21% to 2,092.40, Shanghai Composite gained 10.94 points or 0.41% to 2,679.11, Hang Seng soared 80.19 points or 0.31% to 26,183.53 and Jakarta Composite rose 41.29 points or 0.69% to 5,997.03. On the flip side, Taiwan Weighted decreased 29.37 points or 0.3% to 9,797.09 and Nikkei 225 was down by 123.28 points or 0.57% to 21,680.34.

All European markets were trading in green; UK’s FTSE 100 soared 45.88 points or 0.65% to 7,083.89, France’s CAC jumped 42.79 points or 0.84% to 5,076.41 and Germany’s DAX was up by 87.54 points or 0.77% to 11,441.21.