Bourses hold gains in late afternoon session

Key Indian equity benchmarks were holding their heads above water in late afternoon session, aided by firm opening of European markets. Bharti Airtel emerged as top gainer among all other industry leaders on the BSE, while Telecom and Banking stocks retained gaining momentum in late noon deals. Relief came on the street, with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s statement that there would be no loss of jobs due to merger of public sector banks. Separately, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said 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).

On the sectoral front, sugar companies stocks were trading mixed, despite industry body ISMA said that India's sugar production increased by 7 percent to 110.52 lakh tonnes in the first quarter of 2018-19 marketing year that started in October, as mills in Maharashtra and Karnataka started operations early, while coal sector stocks were in focus with Coal Minister Piyush Goyal’s statement that the country faces no shortage of coal and its imports have declined to 208 million tonnes (MT) from 217 MT in 2014.

On the global front, European markets were trading in green, even though British construction sector growth was the weakest in three months in December amid a slower rise in commercial work. The survey data from IHS Markit showed that the CIPS Purchasing Managers' Index, or PMI, fell to 52.8 from 53.4 in November. Asian markets were also trading in green, although underlying sentiment likely remain cautious amid risk-off sentiment prevailing globally on worries over slowing global growth. After surprisingly weak reports on manufacturing, investors now eye the US December jobs report, due later in the day for clues to the future direction of the world's largest economy.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 35580.50, up by 66.79 points or 0.19% after trading in a range of 35382.08 and 35744.20. There were 22 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.21%, while Small cap index was down by 0.13%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 2.08%, PSU up by 1.07%, Bankex up by 0.69%, Oil & Gas up by 0.63% and Utilities up by 0.40%, while IT down by 1.43%, TECK down by 0.95%, Capital Goods down by 0.40%, FMCG down by 0.28% and Industrials down by 0.07% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel up by 2.73%, Tata Motors up by 2.20%, SBI up by 1.94%, Axis Bank up by 1.82% and Tata Motors - DVR up by 1.68%. On the flip side, HCL Tech. down by 1.67%, TCS down by 1.47%, Infosys down by 1.32%, Indusind Bank down by 0.84% and Larsen & Toubro down by 0.79% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in line with a bit slower growth of manufacturing sector, India’s services sector activity also fell in month of December, as growth of new work and activity moderated from November’s recent high. As per the survey report, the seasonally adjusted Nikkei Services Business Activity Index slipped to 53.2 in December from 53.7 in November. Further, the Nikkei India Composite PMI Output Index -- which measures both manufacturing and services -- too eased to 53.6 in December from 54.5 in November.

According to the report, during the reported month, Information & Communication remained the strongest performing category, posting the quickest increases in both new business and activity, while Real Estate & Business Services was the only segment to record contractions. Further, the accumulation in backlogs eased to the weakest in five months, with employment growth accelerating to the second quickest pace seen since last April.

On the price front, input cost inflation softened at services firms for the third straight month to the weakest since May 2017, however service providers lifted their charging prices again in the reported month. Meanwhile, business sentiment regarding the 12-month outlook for activity at service providers strengthened in December, boosted by advertising efforts, new service offerings and predictions of an improvement in market conditions after the elections.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10684.55, up by 12.30 points or 0.12% after trading in a range of 10628.65 and 10741.05. There were 34 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bharti Infratel up by 3.28%, Bharti Airtel up by 2.57%, Tata Motors up by 2.35%, BPCL up by 2.23% and SBI up by 1.96%. On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 2.17%, HCL Tech. down by 1.77%, TCS down by 1.76%, Infosys down by 1.67% and Larsen & Toubro down by 0.86% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading in mostly in green; Hang Seng increased 561.67 points or 2.24% to 25,626.03, Shanghai Composite gained 50.51 points or 2.05% to 2,514.87, Jakarta Composite soared 41.96 points or 0.67% to 6,262.97, Straits Times advanced 38.74 points or 1.29% to 3,051.62 and KOSPI was up by 16.55 points or 0.83% to 2,010.25. On the other hand, Taiwan Weighted dropped 109.91 points or 1.16% to 9,382.51 and Nikkei 225 was down by 452.81 points or 2.26% to 19,561.96.

All European markets were trading in green; UK’s FTSE 100 gained 40.87 points or 0.61% to 6,733.53, Germany’s DAX rose 90.12 or 0.87% points to 10,506.78 and France’s CAC was up by 37.14 points or 0.81% to 4,648.63.