Sensex, Nifty turn green in early noon session

Key Indian benchmarks turned green in early noon session with Sensex and Nifty rising 31.64 points and 9.70 points respectively. Buying in frontline blue chip stocks such as Tata Motors, Axis Bank, Bharti Airtel and ONGC were aiding sentiment. Sentiment turned positive as Finance Minister Arun Jaitley stated that the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) has helped lenders get Rs 80,000 crore in 66 cases. It is expected that Rs 70,000 crore will be realised by end of current financial year (FY19). Besides, he asserted that the increase in conversion of NPAs into standard accounts and decline in new accounts falling in NPA category show a definite improvement in the lending and borrowing behaviour. The early harvest through the IBC process has been extremely satisfactory. It has changed the debtor - creditor relationship. The creditor no longer chases the debtor. However, gains remained limited with a report stating that the country's services sector activity slowed slightly in December, as new work orders and business activity moderated from November's recent high, while job creation saw a significant uptick. The seasonally adjusted Nikkei India Services Business Activity Index fell to 53.2 in December, from 53.7 in November, amid softer growth of activity and new business.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green, as Asian shares found a crumb of comfort on Friday as Beijing announced a new round of trade talks with Washington, though recession fears still had markets betting the next move in U.S. interest rates might be down. Back home, most PSU bank stocks were trading higher after a parliamentary panel asked the Reserve Bank to ease capital adequacy norms for banks and review supervisory framework PCA. In scrip specific development, Eris Lifesciences gained on joining hands with Medtronic for diabetes monitoring initiative.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 35545.35, up by 31.64 points or 0.09% after trading in a range of 35382.08 and 35704.85. There were 24 stocks advancing against 7 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.22%, while Small cap index was down by 0.15%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 1.46%, PSU up by 0.76%, Oil & Gas up by 0.75%, Auto up by 0.60% and Bankex up by 0.51%, while IT down by 1.73%, TECK down by 1.30%, Capital Goods down by 0.46%, Consumer Durables down by 0.38% and Industrials was down by 0.12% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Motors up by 2.53%, Tata Motors - DVR up by 2.24%, Axis Bank up by 1.51%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.36% and ONGC was up by 1.08%. On the flip side, TCS down by 2.22%, Infosys down by 1.67%, HCL Technologies down by 1.42%, Larsen & Toubro down by 0.67% and Hindustan Unilever was down by 0.47% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Indian defence sector has received Rs 1.21 crore as foreign direct investment (FDI) during the period 2014-2018. Minister of State for Commerce and Industry C R Chaudhary stated that defence sector has reported FDI equity inflows worth Rs 12,146,180.

In 2013-14, 2014-15 and 2015-16, defence industries had received $0.82 million, $0.08 million, and $0.10 million foreign inflows, respectively. In 2016-17, the industries had failed to attract any foreign direct investments. Besides, in 2017-18, the defence industries have attracted a meagre $10,000 (about Rs 7 lakh) FDI.

Foreign investment beyond 49% has been permitted in defence sector through approval route. FDI limit for the defence sector has also been made applicable to manufacturing of small arms and ammunitions covered under Arms Act, 1959.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10681.95, up by 9.70 points or 0.09% after trading in a range of 10628.65 and 10729.40. There were 35 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bharti Infratel up by 2.80%, Tata Motors up by 2.71%, ONGC up by 2.00%, BPCL up by 1.97% and Indian Oil Corporation was up by 1.51%. On the flip side, TCS down by 2.42%, Infosys down by 1.95%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.58%, HCL Technologies down by 1.41% and Titan was down by 0.77% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading in mostly in green; Hang Seng increased 361.08 points or 1.44% to 25,425.44, Shanghai Composite gained 38.32 points or 1.55% to 2,502.68, Jakarta Composite soared 35.48 points or 0.57% to 6,256.49, Straits Times advanced 32.31 points or 1.07% to 3,045.19 and KOSPI was upby 14.25 points or 0.71% to 2,007.95.

On the other hand, Taiwan Weighted dropped 129.76 points or 1.37% to 9,362.66 and Nikkei 225 was down by 533.30 points or 2.66% to 19,481.47.