Bourses reverse losses in afternoon session

Indian equity benchmarks reversed all of their losses in late afternoon session to return in green terrain, on the back of gains led by Realty, Telecom and Consumer Durables stocks. Trade turned positive, amid reports that India remained ahead of China to retain the tag world's fastest growing large economy withstanding several ups and downs, spike in oil prices and global trade war like situation during 2018. Some relief also came with Sebi’s data report showing that Indian companies raised over Rs 29,300 crore by issuing non-convertible debentures (NCDs) to retail investors in 2018 to meet their business requirements, representing a three-fold surge compare to the preceding year. Traders took a note of a report stating that the country's external debt fell by $19.3 billion, or 3.6 per cent, to $510.4 billion during the six-month period ended September, due to a decrease in commercial borrowings, non-resident Indian (NRI) deposits and valuation effect.

On the global front, European markets remain closed on account of New Year holiday. Back home, on the sectoral front, healthcare stocks were in focus, after the Indian government has decided to set up a National Medical Devices Promotion Council under the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) to boost domestic manufacturing and exports, while metal stocks fell, despite ICRA’s report showing that the domestic steel consumption growth is expected to grow by 7 per cent during this fiscal and the trend is likely to continue in the next financial year as well, largely driven by the government’s focus on the infrastructure sector. Further, stocks related to agri sector were buzzing, buoyed by Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh’s statement that in its last four and half years, the NDA government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken several measures to boost farmers’ income and will take more steps in the coming days.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 36095.76, up by 27.43 points or 0.08% after trading in a range of 35888.62 and 36224.00. There were 15 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining, while 1 stock remained unchanged on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.11%, while Small cap index was up by 0.31%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 2.06%, Telecom up by 0.58%, Consumer Durables up by 0.44%, Bankex up by 0.34% and Healthcare up by 0.32%, while Metal down by 0.77%, Auto down by 0.70%, FMCG down by 0.49%, Basic Materials down by 0.35% and Consumer Disc down by 0.28% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Yes Bank up by 1.49%, Axis Bank up by 1.31%, Sun Pharma up by 0.99%, Bharti Airtel up by 0.83% and HDFC up by 0.80%. On the flip side, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 3.66%, Tata Steel down by 1.12%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.00%, Indusind Bank down by 0.96% and NTPC down by 0.84% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, driven by the government’s focus on the infrastructure, affordable housing, power transmission and the Railways, credit rating agency, ICRA in its latest report has said that the domestic steel consumption is likely to surge 7% during current fiscal year (FY19) as well as in the next fiscal year (FY20).

However, the rating agency noted that domestic steel production growth is likely to remain low at about 2.5 to 3% in the ongoing fiscal due to increased threat from cheaper imports combined with a considerable de-growth in steel exports because of rising trade tensions globally.

Further, ICRA said that the domestic steel companies are expected to increase the capacity further by about 16 million tonne over FY2019 - FY2021, while capacity utilisation level is also expected to remain at a healthy 82-83% between FY2019 and FY2021, supported by a favourable domestic demand and low greenfield capacities coming up in the medium term.

As per the report, export volumes are likely to stabilise however in FY2020, albeit at a lower level, with domestic steel production slated to grow at a higher rate of around 5.5-6%, supported by healthy domestic demand.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10864.60, up by 2.05 points or 0.02% after trading in a range of 10807.10 and 10885.30. There were 22 stocks advancing against 27 stocks declining, while 1 stock remain unchanged on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Yes Bank up by 1.40%, Axis Bank up by 1.27%, Sun Pharma up by 0.95%, Grasim Industries up by 0.90% and HDFC up by 0.86%. On the flip side, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 3.64%, Hindalco down by 1.44%, Indiabulls Housing Finance down by 1.21%, JSW Steel down by 1.03% and Indusind Bank down by 1.02% were the top losers.