Sensex, Nifty add gains to reach at day’s high points

Key Indian benchmarks added gains in late afternoon session to reach at their day’s high points, amid firm opening in European markets. Sentiments were upbeat with a private report stating that in the next 16 years, India will dominate the list of fastest growing cities in the world. Some optimism also came with another private report that the investment of $100 billion in the Indian telecom industry as envisioned in the National Digital Communications Policy 2018 (NDCP) would result in an increase of $1.21 trillion in India's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on a cumulative basis. Adding more comfort, the Cabinet raised the government's contribution to National Pension Scheme (NPS) to 14% of basic salary from the current 10%. Domestic sentiments got boost, with reports that the total wealth held by individuals in the country is expected to touch Rs 517.88 lakh crore by FY23, growing at an annual rate of 16.99%. Direct equity and mutual funds are expected to be the growth drivers of this northward trend, growing at a CAGR of 24.41% and 21.04%, respectively, over the next five years. Meanwhile, Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu sought investments from global funds in startups from different sectors including infrastructure, agriculture and healthcare.

On the sectoral front, selected stocks of healthcare sector were trading higher, after the Cabinet gave ex-post facto approval to the Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) between India and Japan in the field of healthcare and wellness, while consumer durable stocks were buzzing, amid private report that a range of goods from air conditioners to dishwashers, from television sets to digital cameras, will likely become cheaper, with the Goods and Service Tax (GST) Council expected to slash rates to 18% on all products in the 28% slab, except demerit goods, cement and automobiles.

On the global front, European markets were trading in green, as Germany's manufacturing orders increased for a third straight month in October, defying expectations for a decline, led by strong foreign demand despite the global trade uncertainties. The preliminary data from the Federal Statistical Office showed that factory orders grew 0.3% from September, while the street had forecast a 0.4% fall. Asian markets were also trading in green.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 35623.92, up by 311.79 points or 0.88% after trading in a range of 35378.27 and 35648.67. There were 19 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining, while 1 stock remained unchanged on the index.

The broader indices were trading in mixed; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.08%, while Small cap index was down by 0.30%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Bankex up by 1.31%, Capital Goods up by 1.00%, FMCG up by 0.84%, Auto up by 0.70% and Consumer Disc up by 0.61%, while Utilities down by 1.07%, Telecom down by 0.73%, Metal down by 0.70%, Oil & Gas down by 0.69% and PSU down by 0.67% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 6.64%, Adani Ports & SEZ up by 2.35%, Infosys up by 2.20%, Asian Paints up by 1.93% and Bajaj Auto up by 1.93%. On the flip side, Sun Pharma down by 1.62%, Coal India down by 1.18%, Indusind Bank down by 0.94%, Yes Bank down by 0.86% and NTPC down by 0.83% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, underlining the need to make the entire refund process available online like the IGST process, the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) has said that input tax credit (ITC) refunds worth Rs 6,000 crore still remain unpaid to exporters.

FIEO president Ganesh Kumar Gupta pointed out that the current system of manual submission in certain cases delays the refund process, blocking the capital of exporters. Even officials of some states cause unnecessary delay in accepting manual submissions.

Ganesh Kumar Gupta also expressed need of greater flow of credit to exporters. Meanwhile, export credit provided by banks declined sharply by about 51.3% to Rs 22,300 crore as of September 28, from a year earlier, despite the fact that total lending to the priority-sector rose 6.6%. However, overall non-food credit witnessed a rise of 11.3% up to September 28.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10672.85, up by 71.70 points or 0.68% after trading in a range of 10599.35 and 10684.55. There were 28 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 6.38%, Bajaj Finserv up by 2.93%, Adani Ports & SEZ up by 2.57%, Bajaj Finance up by 2.37% and Bajaj Auto up by 2.35%. On the flip side, HCL Tech down by 5.03%, GAIL India down by 4.07%, Indiabulls Housing Finance down by 2.18%, Sun Pharma down by 1.70% and Coal India down by 1.45% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Straits Times increased 2.02 points or 0.06% to 3,117.54, Nikkei 225 added 177.06 points or 0.82% to 21,678.68, Taiwan Weighted surged 76.16 points or 0.78% to 9,760.88, KOSPI rose 7.07 points or 0.34% to 2,075.76, Shanghai Composite gained 0.71 points or 0.03% to 2,605.89 and Jakarta Composite increased 12.88 points or 0.21% to 6,128.37. On the flip side, Hang Seng was down by 92.62 points or 0.36% to 26,063.76.

All European markets were trading in green; UK’s FTSE 100 jumped 104.50 points or 1.53% to 6,808.55, France’s CAC zoomed 63.95 points or 1.32% to 4,844.41 and Germany’s DAX was up by 85.42 points or 0.78% to 10,896.40.