Benchmarks remain in positive terrain

Local equity benchmarks trimmed some of their initial gains but remained in positive terrain in the early noon session with Nifty and Sensex posting gains of 37 and 142 points respectively, following gains in Realty, Healthcare and IT counters. Increase in foreign buying due to strengthening of local currency and softening price of crude oil also supported the indices. Investors took some support from NCAER report that Indian economy is projected to grow at 7 to7.4 per cent in the current fiscal. According to report the real agriculture Gross Value Added (GVA) is envisaged to grow at 3 per cent and real industry GVA at 7 per cent in 2018-19. Sentiments remained up-beat with a private report stating that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has plans to unveil a long-awaited industrial policy soon to boost domestic manufacturing and accelerate economic growth before federal polls next year. Besides, NBFC stocks were in focus with a private report stating that Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has relaxed rules for non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) to sell or securitise their loan books, in a bid to ease persistent stress in the sector. NBFCs can now securitise loans of more than five-year maturity after holding those for six months on their books. However, markets pared some of their gains due to selling in PSU, Oil & Gas and Metal stocks.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green, as the investors focus turned to the much-anticipated meeting between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping. Back home, in scrip specific development, Paul Merchants soared on increasing stake in Paul Merchants Finance. Besides, INOX Leisure gained on getting nod to raise funds worth Rs 160 crore.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 36312.63, up by 142.22 points or 0.39% after trading in a range of 36250.36 and 36389.22. 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 0.51%, while Small cap index was up by 0.64%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.99%, Healthcare up by 1.14%, IT up by 1.03%, TECK up by 0.93% and Auto was up by 0.90%, while PSU down by 0.42%, Oil & Gas down by 0.35%, Metal down by 0.29%, Bankex down by 0.21% and Power was down by 0.16% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Yes Bank up by 4.46%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.41%, Wipro up by 2.19%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.84% and Bharti Airtel was up by 1.47%. On the flip side, Tata Motors down by 1.92%, Tata Motors - DVR down by 1.61%, NTPC down by 1.55%, ICICI Bank down by 1.26% and ONGC was down by 1.10% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Niti Aayog Vice-Chairman Rajiv Kumar has said that India needs more economic reforms, low interest rates and greater availability of funds to achieve its potential Gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate of over 8 percent. He indicated that the country’s economy grew by 7.1 percent in 2016-17 and 6.7 percent in 2017-18. He said “breaching the 8 percent growth ceiling is not easy, we have to try much harder and undertake the reforms at the level where it matters.”

Kumar has pointed out that the two major constraints being faced by the investors are less availability of finance and high interest rates. He observed that while the inflation is hovering around 4 percent, the marginal credit rate of banks is over 7 percent. He said “the cost of capital can not be equal to rate of returns, it (rate of returns) must be higher than cost of capital in the long run. So, this is where I think we need to have a very good look.”

The vice-chairman also pointed out that the government needs to invest more in the country’s statistical system. He stressed that the allocations to statistical systems must increase many folds. Noting that invest climate and capacity utilisations are improving, he said domestic investments is going to drive the Indian economy. He also stressed on need of improving competitiveness of India’s production units by the government and industry working together.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10895.20, up by 36.50 points or 0.34% after trading in a range of 10882.45 and 10922.45. There were 27 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining, while 1 stock remained unchanged on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Yes Bank up by 4.43%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.54%, Wipro up by 2.46%, Zee Entertainment up by 2.03% and Maruti Suzuki was up by 1.96%. On the flip side, Bharti Infratel down by 2.09%, Tata Motors down by 1.92%, HPCL down by 1.63%, NTPC down by 1.58% and Indian Oil Corporation was down by 1.33% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 surged 88.46 points or 0.4% to 22,351.06, Taiwan Weighted jumped 2.67 points or 0.03% to 9,888.03, Hang Seng rose 91.84 points or 0.35% to 26,542.87, Straits Times advanced 15.67 points or 0.5% to 3,125.11, Shanghai Composite was up by 2.37 points or 0.09% to 2,569.81.

On the flip side, KOSPI fell 18.85 points or 0.9% to 2,095.25, Jakarta Composite was down by 24.33 points or 0.4% to 6,082.84.