Benchmarks trade in fine fettle in early deals

Indian equity benchmarks made an optimistic start and are trading in fine fettle in early deals, as traders took some encouragement with former Niti Aayog Vice Chairman Arvind Panagariya’s statement that the government has made a huge progress in implementing reforms including some difficult structural ones such as the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) that previous governments had difficulty in introducing. He also said that the Centre should stick to the fiscal deficit target for 2018-19. Investors took note of report stating that the government may push the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to allow more active participation by government nominees to the central board in the decision-making process and keep them informed about key regulatory issues. Meanwhile, the government expects to garner at least Rs 50 billion through share buyback offers of state-run companies, including Coal India, in the current financial year.

Global cues too remained supportive with most of the Asian counters trading in green at this point of time after a buying spree on Wall Street kept up investor optimism into a new week. The US markets closed mostly in green on Friday as President Donald Trump said China wants to make a deal on trade. He stated China has provided a large list of trade items the communist country is willing to compromise on but argued any trade deal has to be reciprocal.

Back home, textiles and apparel sector’s stocks remained in action on report that textiles and apparel exports jumped by a staggering 33% in October on account of higher overseas demand. The country's textile and apparel exports stood at Rs 1,986 billion for October 2018 as against Rs 1,489 billion in the corresponding month last year. Stocks related to Renewable Energy space remained in limelight as Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) said the government is planning incentives to promote renewable power and it has already issued tenders for setting up 26-GW clean energy capacities. IREDA Chairman K S Popli said India is planning to produce 50 GW (from clean energy sources) in the next few years.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 35563.07, up by 105.91 points or 0.30% after trading in a range of 35516.56 and 35667.27. There were 20 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.26%, while Small cap index was up by 0.19%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.75%, Metal up by 1.20%, Basic Materials up by 0.87%, Auto up by 0.64% and Energy was up by 0.59%, while Telecom down by 1.55% and TECK was down by 0.11% were the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Yes Bank up by 6.19%, Vedanta up by 2.08%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.48%, Tata Steel up by 1.25% and Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.14%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 2.35%, Wipro down by 1.26%, ICICI Bank down by 0.84%, Asian Paints down by 0.80% and Axis Bank down by 0.76% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, with a dedicated chapter on the importance of design, the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) Secretary, Ramesh Abhishek has said that the government will soon unveil a new industrial policy. He emphasized the significance of design and innovation in India's economic progress and also extended his ‘full support’ to the setting up of a National Design Centre as early as possible.

Abhishek said “We are also bringing out a new industrial policy soon and we are proposing to include a substantial chapter and paragraphs on the importance of design, and how it should be taken forward”. The DIPP Secretary also said that enforcement of intellectual property rights was being improved through better training of police officers and judiciary. He further said “In principle the department (DIPP) would like to fully support the setting up of a National Design Centre. We can see how it can be done, it can be done through the mechanism of the India Design Council”.

With an aim to create jobs for the next two decades, promote foreign technology transfer and attract $100 billion foreign direct investment (FDI) annually, DIPP had floated a draft industrial policy in August last year. The proposed policy will completely revamp the Industrial Policy of 1991. Among other things, the policy would endeavour to reduce regulations and bring new industries in focus.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10710.40, up by 28.20 points or 0.26% after trading in a range of 10691.95 and 10732.25. There were 28 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Yes Bank up by 6.65%, Grasim Industries up by 2.99%, Eicher Motors up by 2.00%, Vedanta up by 1.89% and Hindalco up by 1.52%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 1.52%, Wipro down by 1.09%, Axis Bank down by 0.88%, ICICI Bank down by 0.84% and Asian Paints down by 0.62% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 gained 116.72 points or 0.54% to 21,797.06, Taiwan Weighted rose 7.10 points or 0.07% to 9,804.19, Hang Seng jumped 106.57 points or 0.41% to 26,290.10, KOSPI added 1.39 points or 0.07% to 2,093.79 and Shanghai Composite was up by 5.99 points or 0.22% to 2,685.10.

On the flip side, Straits Times decreased 19.23 points or 0.63% to 3,064.37 and Jakarta Composite was down by 10.09 points or 0.17% to 6,002.26.