Local bourses hold gains in afternoon deals

Indian equity benchmarks held their gains in afternoon session, on sustained buying by domestic institutional investors. Sentiments remained positive with private report stating that the Reserve Bank’s move to extend the deadline for meeting the capital conservation buffer (CCB) norms by one year would help increase lending capacity of banks by over Rs 3.5 lakh crore. The additional amount will help provide much-needed fund for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) that are facing cash crunch. Trader also took note of a report that European Union has unveiled a 'strategy paper' outlining the broad roadmap for stepping up cooperation with India in a range of key sectors, including trade, investment, Defence and security, innovation, and on dealing with various global challenges. Moreover, strengthening rupee against the US dollar and falling global crude oil prices, too supported the markets. On the sectoral front, telecom sector was in focus with private report stating that the hyper-competition in the telecom sector is expected to spill over to the coming year as Reliance Jio will continue to dominate the 4G space for next six to twelve months.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed, after a modest rebound in technology and energy shares underpinned gains in US equities. Back home, the BSE Sensex is currently trading at 35275.49, up by 75.69 points or 0.22% after trading in a range of 35225.63 and 35364.50. There were 13 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.17%, while Small cap index was up by 0.42%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 0.85%, TECK up by 0.68%, Capital Goods up by 0.44%, FMCG up by 0.42% and Industrials up by 0.33%, while Metal down by 0.80%, Telecom down by 0.79%, PSU down by 0.42%, Consumer Durables down by 0.41% and Power down by 0.32% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were TCS up by 1.45%, Adani Ports &SEZ up by 1.25%, ONGC up by 1.19%, Yes Bank up by 1.11% and Larsen & Toubro up by 0.81%. On the flip side, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.27%, Tata Steel down by 1.23%, Power Grid down by 1.12%, Coal India down by 0.98% and Bharti Airtel down by 0.81% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Finance Ministry has sought different ministries to send information related to their departments for finance minister Arun Jaitley’s Union Budget speech by November 30, 2018. The budget which would be presented on February 1, 2019 will be the last budget of the current BJP-led NDA government before the next general polls.

Last month, the ministry of finance began the budgetary exercise for 2019-20. During the process, meetings were being held with steel, power, and housing and urban development ministries, among others, to finalize revised expenditure for the current fiscal and projections for the coming fiscal year.

In view of the upcoming general elections, the Indian government is likely to come out with an interim budget, also referred to as vote-on-account. As per the practice, a vote-on-account or approval for essential government spending for a limited period is taken in an election year and a full-fledged budget is presented by the new government.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10614.45, up by 14.40 points or 0.14% after trading in a range of 10605.70 and 10646.25. There were 21 stocks advancing against 29 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Zee Entertainment up by 2.75%, Indiabulls Housing Finance up by 1.74%, TCS up by 1.43%, Adani Ports &SEZ up by 1.27% and ONGC up by 1.22%. On the flip side, HPCL down by 1.99%, Ultratech Cement down by 1.80%, Indian Oil Corp. down by 1.77%, BPCL down by 1.47% and Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.23% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; Nikkei 225 increased 139.01 points or 0.64% to 21,646.55, Jakarta Composite rose 40.44 points or 0.68% to 5,988.49, Hang Seng was up by 83.73 points or 0.32% to 26,055.20 and Straits Times added 6.48 points or 0.21% to 3,045.13.

On the flip side, KOSPI decreased 6.60 points or 0.32% to 2,069.95, Shanghai Composite fell 4.44 points or 0.17% to 2,647.07 and Taiwan Weighted was down by 26.81 points or 0.28% to 9,714.71.