Markets continue to move in northward direction

Indian markets continued to move in the northward direction in the early noon session, with Nifty and Sensex hovering near intra-day high points tracking positive global cues. Strong rupee and fresh foreign fund inflows has enthused the markets to extend their gains. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought shares worth Rs 811.52 crore on November 27, 2018, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges.  Widespread buying by investors in IT, TECK and Consumer Durables counters also strengthened the benchmarks. TCS and Infosys were amongst the top gainers on both the indices. Besides, the broader indices were too trading in green. Some support came with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley stating that as many as 3 lakh poor people have benefited from Ayushman Bharat health scheme in the last one-and-a-half months. Meanwhile, Union Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari, highlighting India’s strategic advantages in the Indian Ocean Region, has said the blue economy is crucial for the country’s economic development.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green as they await this weekend's high-stakes meeting between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping. Wall Street provided a positive lead following soothing comments from top White House economic advisor Larry Kudlow on the chances of a trade deal when the leaders of the world's top two economies meet on Saturday.

Back home, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is travelling to Buenos Aires to attend the 13th G20 summit, has said that he would be discussing ways to meet the new and upcoming challenges of the coming decade with world leaders there. On the sectoral front, Steel sector was in focus with report that the Steel Ministry is in talks with the Karnataka government to resolve the issue of Donimalai iron ore block where NMDC suspended operations after the state decided to impose 80 per cent premium on sales from the mine.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 35749.01, up by 235.87 points or 0.66% after trading in a range of 35605.34 and 35758.87. 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 by 0.12%, while Small cap index was up by 0.11%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 2.38%, TECK up by 1.99%, Consumer Durables up by 0.92%, Bankex up by 0.44% and Energy up by 0.42%, while Realty down by 1.42%, Telecom down by 0.81%, Oil & Gas down by 0.26%, PSU down by 0.26% and Power down by 0.17% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Infosys up by 3.30%, TCS up by 2.26%, Power Grid up by 1.43%, Reliance Industries up by 1.06% and HDFC Bank up by 0.97%. On the flip side, Yes Bank down by 5.60%, Tata Motors - DVR down by 1.38%, Tata Motors down by 1.31%, NTPC down by 1.27% and Adani Ports down by 1.06% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in order to ensure adequate availability of funds to exporters, Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu stated that he has taken up the issue of declining credit to exporters with the finance ministry. He added that exports are growing and the ministry is taking steps to further accelerate the growth rate.
He said “One of the main challenges for export is finance. There is a decline in (export) finance, so we have taken up the issue with the finance ministry…I think, the finance minister is also looking into this (as in) how we can improve the credit flow into the export sector”.

Prabhu also said that to boost shipments, exporters should explore new markets including in Africa, Latin America, East Asia, south Asia, and the Middle East. He said logistics sector will play a key role in enhancing the competitiveness of Indian goods in the global markets.

India’s exports have been hovering at around $300 billion since 2011-12. The shipments grew to $303 billion during 2017-18. Besides, promoting exports helps a country to create jobs, boost manufacturing and earn more foreign exchange.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10739.40, up by 53.80 points or 0.50% after trading in a range of 10699.85 and 10742.40. There were 26 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Infosys up by 3.12%, Zee Entertainment up by 3.08%, TCS up by 2.49%, Titan Co up by 1.62% and Hero MotoCorp up by 1.25%. On the flip side, Yes Bank down by 5.45%, BPCL down by 2.25%, Indian Oil Corp. down by 2.09%, Bharti Infratel down by 1.95% and NTPC down by 1.41% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 increased 224.62 points or 1.01% to 22,177.02, Straits Times increased 3.62 points or 0.12% to 3,094.02, KOSPI increased 7.88 points or 0.37% to 2,107.30, Taiwan Weighted increased 105.69 points or 1.07% to 9,884.31, Hang Seng increased 284.010 points or 1.07% to 26,615.97 and Shanghai Composite was up 18.01 points or 0.69% to 2,592.69.

Bucking the trend, Jakarta Composite was down 10.62 points or 0.18% to 6,002.97.