Frontline equities add some more traction

Mirroring positive global cues, frontline equity indices enticing some more traction have added some more points on the streets. Banking, FMCG and Auto have also elevated with gains on their respective front line stocks. Traders remained optimistic with Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s (BofAML) report that it expects the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to cut key interest rates by 25 basis points either at the upcoming policy review in February or the one after that in April. Domestic sentiment was buoyed on report that Union Cabinet approves a pact between India and France in the field of energy efficiency and conservation. The pact involves knowledge exchange and cooperation in the nature of technical assistance only. Besides, a private report stated that the third round of talks for the free trade agreement (FTA) between India and the South American nation Peru is taking place in New Delhi, with the bilateral trade touching $1.60 billion.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading in green, after the strong selling of the past two days, there was some optimism after a report said the Federal Reserve could slow down its pace of interest rate hikes next year, providing some much-needed relief to under-pressure dealers. Back home, agriculture industry stocks were in focus, as Union Cabinet approved a maiden export policy for the farm sector that imposes no restrictions on export of all organic and processed products. The policy seeks to double agricultural export to $60 billion by 2022.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 35508.12, up by 195.99 points or 0.56% after trading in a range of 35415.71 and 35553.46. There were 21 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index slipped 0.12%, while Small cap index was down by 0.05%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Bankex up by 0.97%, FMCG up by 0.75%, Consumer Disc up by 0.42%, Auto up by 0.42% and Realty was up by 0.23%, while Metal down by 1.09%, Utilities down by 0.62%, Oil & Gas down by 0.58%, PSU down by 0.50% and Consumer Durables was down by 0.32% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 5.17%, Asian Paints up by 1.77%, Infosys up by 1.23%, ITC up by 1.14% and Power Grid was up by 1.12%. On the flip side, Wipro down by 1.42%, Yes Bank down by 1.28%, Tata Steel down by 0.96%, Sun Pharma down by 0.80% and Vedanta was down by 0.72% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Secretary of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), S K Gupta, has stated that the telecom industry will move to 5G by 2022 and access to digital platform will become highly advanced in the next five years. He also said that the use of artificial intelligence and big data analytics is going to modify the behaviour of consumers.

He further highlighted that there has been dramatic changes in media industry landscape and adoption of new technology will be key to success. He pointed out that, presently, 400 million people in India have good quality internet access. Hence, the probability of more usage of media content through digital platform is very high.

Besides, he added that the nature and form of media content development is likely to also change on account of the rise in smartphone consumption. Meanwhile, he exhorted the media industry to try to meet expectations of consumers, focus more on their demand and on contents they like; to boost the consumption of the media content.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10640.75, up by 39.60 points or 0.37% after trading in a range of 10619.40 and 10655.75. There were 29 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 7.20%, Zee Entertainment up by 2.92%, Asian Paints up by 1.89%, Dr. Reddy’s Lab up by 1.57% and Power Grid was up by 1.34%. On the flip side, HCL Tech down by 6.23%, GAIL India down by 4.48%, Indiabulls Housing Finance down by 2.32%, JSW Steel down by 1.98% and Yes Bank was down by 1.45% were the top losers.

All Asian markets were trading in green, Hang Seng increased 68.85 points or 0.26% to 26,225.23, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 87.30 points or 0.89% to 9,772.02, Nikkei 225 surged 154.12 points or 0.71% to 21,655.74, Straits Times advanced 12.91 points or 0.41% to 3,128.43, Jakarta Composite soared 20.35 points or 0.33% to 6,135.84, KOSPI rose 10.72 points or 0.52% to 2,079.41 and Shanghai Composite was up by 1.96 points or 0.08% to 2,607.14.