Local equities trim some initial gains

Local equity benchmarks trimmed some of their initial gains in morning session but managed to remain in green territory. Realty, Metal and Healthcare have elevated some gains on their respective front line stocks. Market participants remained enthusiastic ahead of the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) meeting, which may see a stormy session on a range of issues concerning capital framework. Some encouragement also came on the streets with a report stating that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will chair a meeting with top industrialists and policy makers to brainstorm on measures required to realize his vision of India breaking into the top 50 in the World Bank’s ease of doing business index. Some optimum came with a report that foreign investors have pumped in nearly Rs 8,285 crore into the Indian capital markets so far this month, after pulling out hefty funds in October, due to fall in crude oil prices, recovery in rupee and improvement in the liquidity situation. The recent infusion comes following a net outflow of more than Rs 38,900 crore in October, which was the steepest withdrawal in nearly two years.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed, as investors remained cautious amid tensions between the US and China after a pan-Pacific summit ended without consensus on trade issues. Back home, 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.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 35520.88, up by 63.72 points or 0.18% after trading in a range of 35516.56 and 35667.27. There were 18 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.04%, while Small cap index was up by 0.09%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.55%, Metal up by 0.68%, Basic Materials up by 0.59%, Healthcare up by 0.51% and Energy was up by 0.50%, while Telecom down by 1.69%, Oil & Gas down by 0.45%, PSU down by 0.21%, Utilities down by 0.07% and Bankex was down by 0.02% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Yes Bank up by 4.60%, Vedanta up by 1.62%, Sun Pharma up by 1.33%, Reliance Industries up by 1.11% and Tata Motors was up by 1.09%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 1.84%, ICICI Bank down by 1.32%, ONGC down by 1.05%, Axis Bank down by 0.88% and Wipro was down by 0.75% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, former Niti Aayog Vice Chairman Arvind Panagariya has said that the present 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 government should stick to the fiscal deficit target for current financial year (FY19) and continue with the reforms undertaken during the over four years.

He further stated that government should not shift its goal posts as far as fiscal deficit target is concerned. Fiscal consolidation has been a key achievement of the government and it has played a central role in macroeconomic stability that has characterised the economy during the last four years.  For the FY19, the government aims to strictly maintain 3.3 percent fiscal deficit target. Moreover, he pointed out that in the last four years of present NDA government, growth has averaged 7.3 percent compared with 5.9 percent during the last two years under the UPA.

Besides, the fiscal deficit for the first six months - April-September - of the current financial year had exceeded 95 percent of the Budget Estimate. Fiscal deficit for the period April-September crossed Rs 5.94 lakh crore which is 95.3 percent of the Budget Estimate (over Rs 6.24 lakh crore). The corresponding figure for the same period of the last fiscal was over 91 percent of the Budget Estimate.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10698.05, up by 15.85 points or 0.15% after trading in a range of 10691.95 and 10732.25. There were 24 stocks advancing against 26 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Yes Bank up by 5.10%, Grasim Industries up by 3.19%, Eicher Motors up by 1.75%, Vedanta up by 1.74% and Hindalco was up by 1.52%. On the flip side, GAIL India down by 1.46%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.38%, ICICI Bank down by 1.25%, ONGC down by 1.09% and Axis Bank was down by 1.05% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; Shanghai Composite gained 5.99 points or 0.22% to 2,685.10, Hang Seng surged 71.90 points or 0.27% to 26,255.43, Nikkei 225 soared 119.57 points or 0.55% to 21,799.91 and Taiwan Weighted was up by 0.05 points or 0% to 9,797.14.

On the other side, KOSPI slipped 0.66 points or 0.03% to 2,091.74, Straits Times slipped 19.30 points or 0.63% to 3,064.30, Jakarta Composite was down by 14.75 points or 0.25% to 5,997.60.