Indian bourses continue to trade in positive territory

Key benchmark indices continued to trade in positive territory in afternoon session, on the back of widespread gains ahead of the Reserve Bank of India's board meet. Sentiments remained positive 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. Some relief also came in with a private report stating that corporate India reported a good set of numbers during the July-September 2018 quarter, thanks to gains from a low base during the corresponding quarter last fiscal year and a better-than-expected showing by metals and mining firms. Positive leads from other Asian markets too supported the markets. On the sectoral front, telecom sector was in focus with private report stating that the Telecom industry, which has attracted foreign direct investment of more than 32 billion dollars from April 2000 to June 2018, is expected to create an economic value of 217 billion dollars within next two years.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green, but investors were keeping a close eye on the China-US trade row after Donald Trump's optimistic comments on a possible deal were offset by a war of words between his vice president and Xi Jinping. Back home, the BSE Sensex is currently trading at 35581.07, up by 123.91 points or 0.35% after trading in a range of 35511.10 and 35667.27. There were 17 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.35%, while Small cap index was up by 0.30%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.70%, Metal up by 1.41%, Basic Materials up by 1.18%, Auto up by 0.81% and Healthcare up by 0.73%, while Oil & Gas down by 0.70%, Telecom down by 0.54%, Utilities down by 0.16%, TECK down by 0.15% and IT down by 0.12% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Yes Bank up by 5.80%, Tata Motors up by 2.70%, Vedanta up by 2.54%, Tata Motors - DVR up by 2.53% and Sun Pharma up by 1.61%. On the flip side, ONGC down by 1.60%, Axis Bank down by 1.42%, ICICI Bank down by 1.36%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.06% and Adani Ports &SEZ down by 0.79% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) Chairman K S Popli has said that the government is mulling incentives to promote renewable energy and has already issued tenders for setting up 26-GW clean energy capacities. He also said that efficiency of solar cell is going up and they will see commercial production in the next few years and policies are being relooked.

IREDA Chairman has stated that the payment security system needs to be enhanced and suggested that some financial institutions should tie up with state governments which would be a win-win situation for both. He pointed out that quality issues are prevalent in some projects and added that technology prices, however, have now become competitive.

Besides, International Solar Alliance (ISA) Director General Upendra Tripathy has said that ambassadors of 29 countries will be in Uttar Pradesh to present their views and discuss critical issues on solar panel and pricing, among others. He also said that finance will remain key challenge for the development of renewable power projects.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10709.30, up by 27.10 points or 0.25% after trading in a range of 10688.80 and 10732.25. There were 30 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Yes Bank up by 5.84%, Hindalco up by 2.74%, Grasim Industries up by 2.57%, Vedanta up by 2.49% and Tata Motors up by 2.42%. On the flip side, GAIL India down by 2.85%, Indiabulls Housing Finance down by 2.72%, ONGC down by 1.63%, ICICI Bank down by 1.50% and Axis Bank down by 1.46% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; KOSPI increased 8.16 points or 0.39% to 2,100.56, Shanghai Composite rose 18.64 points or 0.69% to 2,697.75, Hang Seng added 159.78 points or 0.61% to 26,343.31, Taiwan Weighted was up by 31.60 points or 0.32% to 9,828.69 and Nikkei 225 surged 140.82 points or 0.65% to 21,821.16.

On the flip side, Straits Times decreased 19.65 points or 0.64% to 3,063.95 and Jakarta Composite was down by 20.30 points or 0.34% to 5,992.05.