Indices pare some of gains in early noon session

Indian equity markets have pared some of initial gains in early noon session on the back of profit booking at higher levels. Selling pressure in Healthcare, Energy and Oil & Gas stocks kept a lid on the gains, while buying in Metal, Realty and Power stocks helped the Sensex and Nifty post gains of around 73 and 14 points respectively. Investors took encouragement with report that the country's manufacturing sector activity improved in November and touched an 11-month high as new order flows encouraged companies to lift production amid strong demand conditions. Traders also got some support with a report that the Foreign Portfolio Investors have returned to invest in equity and debt quite strongly in November. FPIs investment at Rs 4,786 crore in equity and Rs 6,139 crore in debt, together at Rs 10,925 crore, is the highest during the financial year. Meanwhile, a private report stated that government is set to unleash the next generation of changes to the customs duty architecture to speed up India’s trade and improve the ease of doing business.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading in green, as the US and Chinese leaders brokered a truce in their trade conflict, a relief for the global economic outlook and a tonic for emerging markets. Back home, in scrip specific developments, Bal Pharma gained on commencing commercial production of intermediates, API at Udaipur unit.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 36267.24, up by 72.94 points or 0.20% after trading in a range of 36267.24 and 36446.16. There were 25 stocks advancing against 6 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.78%, while Small cap index was up by 0.42%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 2.59%, Realty up by 2.07%, Power up by 1.47%, Basic Materials up by 1.42%, Utilities up by 1.29%, while Healthcare down by 0.92%, Energy down by 0.52%, Oil & Gas down by 0.45%, Auto down by 0.17% and Capital Goods was down by 0.12% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Vedanta up by 4.29%, Tata Steel up by 2.64%, Power Grid Corporation up by 2.14%, Tata Motors up by 2.01% and Coal India was up by 1.88%. On the flip side, Sun Pharma down by 7.78%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 2.11%, Hero MotoCorp down by 1.10%, Reliance Industries down by 0.65% and Larsen & Toubro was down by 0.61% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, India’s core sector output grew at a slower pace of 4.8% in October 2018, as compared to 5% in October 2017, due to contraction in the production of crude oil, natural gas and fertilizer. According to data released by the ministry of Commerce and Industry, the combined Index of eight core industries stood at 134.8 in October, 2018, which was 4.8% higher compared to the index of October, 2017. Its cumulative growth during April to October, 2018-19 was 5.4%. The Eight Core Industries - coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers, steel, cement and electricity - comprise 40.27% of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP). 

Among eight core sectors, Coal production having 10.33% weight rose 10.6% in October, 2018 over October, 2017, and its cumulative index increased by 9.8% during April to October, 2018-19 over corresponding period of the previous year. Petroleum Refinery production having 28.04% weight increased 1.3% in October, 2018 over October, 2017 and its cumulative index surged by 5.8% during April to October, 2018-19 over the corresponding period of previous year.

The Natural Gas production having 6.88% weight declined by 0.9% in October, 2018 over October, 2017, and its cumulative index was down by 0.8% during April to October, 2018-19 over the corresponding period of previous year. On the flip side, Steel production having 17.92% weight jumped by 2.2% in October, 2018 over October, 2017 and its cumulative index increased by 3.3% during April to October, 2018-19 over the corresponding period of previous year.

Fertilizer production having 2.63% weight declined by 11.5% in October, 2018 over October, 2017, and its cumulative index was down by 0.3% during April to October, 2018-19 over the corresponding period of previous year. Cement production having 5.37% weight jumped 18.4% in October, 2018 over October, 2017 and its cumulative index increased by 15.0% during April to October, 2018-19 over the corresponding period of previous year. On the other hand, Crude Oil production having 8.98% weight declined by 5.0% in October, 2018 over October, 2017 and its cumulative index fell by 3.6% during April to October, 2018-19 over the corresponding period of previous year.   

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10890.30, up by 13.55 points or 0.12% after trading in a range of 10887.25 and 10941.20. There were 31 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Indiabulls Housing up by 5.22%, Vedanta up by 4.08%, Hindalco up by 3.21%, Tata Steel up by 2.78% and Power Grid was up by 2.30%. On the flip side, Sun Pharma down by 7.87%, HPCL down by 2.82%, UPL down by 2.55%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 2.28% and BPCL was down by 1.43% were the top losers.

All Asian markets were trading in green; Nikkei 225 surged 240.99 points or 1.07% to 22,592.05, Taiwan Weighted advanced 249.84 points or 2.46% to 10,137.87, Hang Seng rose 650.27 points or 2.39% to 27,157.02, Straits Times soared 67.66 points or 2.12% to 3,185.27, Shanghai Composite gained 68.19 points or 2.57% to 2,656.38, KOSPI jumped 35.98 points or 1.69% to 2,132.84 and Jakarta Composite was up by 80.81 points or 1.32% to 6,136.93.