Markets off day’s high

Key Indian equity benchmarks pared most off their gains in late afternoon session to come off their intraday high points, despite firm opening in European markets. Huge losses led by Metal, Energy and Telecom stocks, dragged the markets. Adding some concerns, as many as 358 infrastructure projects worth Rs 150 or above, entailing a total investment of Rs 3.53 lakh crore, reported cost overruns as on August 1, 2018. Traders took note of DIPP Secretary Ramesh Abhishek’s statement that the government has no proposal to change the existing foreign direct investment (FDI) policy in the multi-brand retail trading sector. However, positive microeconomic data helped the key indices to keep their heads above water in late noon deals. India’s industrial production measured by Index of Industrial Production (IIP) surged to 11-month high of 8.1% in the month of October 2018 as against 4.5% in September 2018 and 1.8 percent in October 2017, while India’s retail inflation based on Consumer Price Index (CPI) cooled down to a 17-month low of 2.33% in the month of November 2018, as compared to 4.88% in the same month of previous year.

On the sectoral front, agri stocks were in limelight, as President of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI), Rashesh Shah said the government needs to remove pressure from rural and agriculture sectors, while stocks related to oil industry remained in focus with former Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor, Raghuram Rajan’s statement that  India needs to have a good oil hedging policy as the volatility will continue to rise, with geo-political factors impacting crude prices.

On the global front, European markets were trading in green, as Eurozone's industrial production grew in October after a slump in the previous month, suggesting that economic growth may gain some steam towards the end of the year, yet remain sluggish. The figures from Eurostat showed that industrial production rose 0.2 percent from September, when it declined 0.6 percent, which was revised from 0.3 percent. The growth was in line with the street expectations. Asian markets were also trading in green.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 35807.86, up by 28.79 points or 0.08% after trading in a range of 35794.51 and 36095.56. There were 15 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.52%, while Small cap index was up by 0.45%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 1.51%, Capital Goods up by 0.93%, Realty up by 0.90%, IT up by 0.64% and Industrials up by 0.63%, while Metal down by 1.00%, Energy down by 0.50%, Telecom down by 0.26%, Power down by 0.20% and Basic Materials down by 0.17% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Wipro up by 2.71%, Maruti Suzuki up by 2.18%, Infosys up by 2.08%, Tata Motors up by 1.77% and Indusind Bank up by 1.54%. On the flip side, Yes Bank down by 2.62%, Sun Pharma down by 2.19%, TCS down by 1.28%, Coal India down by 0.93% and Asian Paints down by 0.66% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, underlining the need of efforts towards creating the necessary ecosystem to boost entrepreneurship, World Economic Forum (WEF) founder and executive chairman Klaus Schwab has said that India is still in the middle class in ease of doing business.

WEF chief further highlighted India’s improved ranking in the ease of doing business but noted that it is far from being perfect. He said that it is very important for young entrepreneurs to be able to create companies faster because the jobs of the future will not be created by large companies. It will be created by young entrepreneurs who have the courage to create an enterprise.

Besides, Klaus Schwab mentioned that country’s future richness will not only be measured by the potential of its young generation, but data will also be a key factor. Moreover, Schwab expressed need for more technological development, as he believes that the most innovative country will be the most competitive and ultimately the most wealthy and most powerful one in the future and added that India has to make efforts to keep up, particularly with the US and China.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10759.50, up by 21.90 points or 0.20% after trading in a range of 10749.50 and 10838.60. There were 27 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Indiabulls Housing Finance up by 6.78%, Bajaj Finserv up by 3.10%, Wipro up by 2.88%, Titan Co up by 2.78% and HPCL up by 2.53%. On the flip side, Sun Pharma down by 2.19%, Yes Bank down by 2.01%, UPL down by 1.79%, Eicher Motors down by 1.73% and TCS down by 1.25% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading in green; Nikkei 225 surged 213.44 points or 0.99% to 21,816.19, Jakarta Composite soared 55.33 points or 0.90% to 6,170.91, Straits Times advanced 15.50 points or 0.50% to 3,115.49, KOSPI rose 12.98 points or 0.62% to 2,095.55, Shanghai Composite gained 32.36 points or 1.24% to 2,634.51, Hang Seng increased 337.64 points or 1.29% to 26,524.35 and Taiwan Weighted was up by 42.31 points or 0.43% to 9,858.76.

All European markets were trading mostly in green; UK’s FTSE 100 gained 4.02 points or 0.06% to 6,884.21, Germany’s DAX was up by 0.29 points to 10,929.72. On the flip side, France’s CAC was down by 2.70 points or 0.05% to 4,906.75.