Barometer gauges maintain gains

Stock markets were trading in fine fettle in the early noon session due to heavy buying in Bankex, FMCG and Capital Goods sectors. Besides, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Asian Paints and Infosys were contributing the most to Sensex, while Zee Entertainment, Adani Ports &Special and ITC were contributing the most to Nifty. Further, some support came in after a private report which stated that the government is likely to come out with a proposal for recapitalisation of loss-making public sector non-life insurance companies by infusing about Rs 2,000-crore in near future. Meanwhile, following the US waiver to India to import a restricted quantity of crude oil from Iran for the next six months, the Persian Gulf nation has signed a memorandum of understanding with India to accept payments in rupee. In stock specific movement, shares of L&T were up as its construction arm has won orders worth Rs 2,547 crore and Gujarat Alkalies also gained on planning to expand existing Caustic Soda Plant at Dahej.

On the global front, all the Asian markets were trading in green, as investors battled to finish a volatile week with some stability on Friday as they weigh the outlook for China-US trade talks and uncertainty in oil markets, while looking ahead to the release of key US jobs data. On sectoral front, Power stocks are trading in red despite the country’s electricity requirement registered a 5.5% y-o-y growth in November. Power generation from conventional sources such as thermal, nuclear and hydro went up by 4.6% y-o-y in the month to 99.9 billion units (BUs).

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 35500.73, up by 188.60 points or 0.53% after trading in a range of 35415.71 and 35553.46. There were 15 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index lost 0.43%, while Small cap index down by 0.39%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Bankex up by 1.13%, FMCG up by 0.81%, Consumer Disc up by 0.13%, Capital Goods up by 0.05% and Auto was up by 0.03%, while Metal down by 1.27%, Utilities down by 1.05%, PSU down by 0.94%, Oil & Gas down by 0.90% and Basic Materials was down by 0.43% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 11.21%, Asian Paints up by 1.98%, Infosys up by 1.44%, ITC up by 1.16% and Adani Ports &Special was up by 0.99%. On the flip side, Yes Bank down by 3.18%, Indusind Bank down by 1.90%, Coal India down by 1.45%, Tata Steel down by 1.36% and NTPC was down by 1.29% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, with an aim to boost exports of agriculture commodities, the Union Cabinet has given green signal to a maiden export policy for the farm sector that imposes no restrictions on export of all organic and processed products. The policy also aims to double agricultural export to $60 billion by 2022. However, export policy for primary agricultural products, like onion, would reviewed periodically on a case-to-case basis depending on price-supply situation. The implementation of the policy will have an estimated financial implication of over Rs 1,400 crore.

The objective of the policy is to diversify export basket, destinations and boost high value and value added agricultural exports. The policy would focus on all aspects of agricultural exports including modernising infrastructure, standardisation of products, streamlining regulations, curtailing knee-jerk decisions, and focusing on research and development activities. It is aimed at boosting exports of agriculture commodities such as tea, coffee and rice and increase the country's share in global agri-trade. It will also seek to remove all kinds of export restrictions on organic products.

The Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu has said that achieving the target of $60 billion export by 2022 will be ‘doable’. He said the farm exports have grown by 20% in a year. Agricultural exports are currently estimated at $30 billion. Prabhu said there was a time when India used to import agricultural products, but now it is exporting in a big way. He further said the first ever ‘Agriculture Export Policy, 2018′ would help the government in achieving the target of doubling farmers’ income.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10631.95, up by 30.80 points or 0.29% after trading in a range of 10619.40 and 10655.75. There were 22 stocks advancing against 28 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 13.29%, Zee Entertainment up by 1.96%, Asian Paints up by 1.90%, Infosys up by 1.38% and Adani Ports &Special was up by 0.98%. On the flip side, HCL Tech down by 6.17%, GAIL India down by 4.41%, Yes Bank down by 3.59%, Indiabulls Housing down by 2.33% and Indusind Bank was down by 2.00% were the top losers.

All Asian markets were trading in green, Nikkei 225 increased 180.56 points or 0.83% to 21,682.18, Taiwan Weighted surged 76.16 points or 0.78% to 9,760.88, Hang Seng gained 20.88 points or 0.08% to 26,177.26, Straits Times advanced 9.33 points or 0.3% to 3,124.85, Shanghai Composite soared 0.23 points or 0.01% to 2,605.41, KOSPI rose 10.59 points or 0.51% to 2,079.28 and Jakarta Composite was up by 20.35 points or 0.33% to 6,135.84.