Indian equities hover near day's high

Indian equities were hovering near intraday high in the early noon session, on the back of buying in IT and Energy stocks. Yes Bank, Infosys and Reliance Industries were amongst the top gainers. Broader indices were also trading in green with mid cap and small cap index gaining over 0.64% and 0.68% respectively. Positive cues from other Asian markets and encouraging macroeconomic numbers released on Monday boosted the investor’s mood. Retail inflation dropped to an 18-month low of 2.19% in December 2018, creating headroom for the RBI to cut interest rate in its monetary policy review next month. Besides, Some support also came with report that India is likely be a larger economy than the US by 2030, while China will top the list and Indonesia will figure among the top five. India will likely be the main mover, with its trend growth accelerating to 7.8% by 2020s, partly due to ongoing reforms, including introduction of GST and the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC).

On the global front, Asian markets were trading in green, led by a bounce in Chinese shares as Beijing signaled more supportive measures to stabilize a slowing economy, while the British pound braced for a showdown in parliament over the government's Brexit plan. Back on street, Commerce and industry minister Suresh Prabhu has launched the second phase of the district development plan (DDP) for Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg in the Konkan region of Maharashtra. The first phase of the plan involved identifying growth areas and mapping and determining the baseline for each of the earmarked districts, and aimed to increase GDP growth by 2-3 per cent annually, thereby helping boost national GDP.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 36230.31, up by 376.75 points or 1.05% after trading in a range of 35950.08 and 36232.88. There were 24 stocks advancing against 7 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.64%, while Small cap index up by 0.68%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 2.63%, Energy up by 2.26%, TECK up by 2.25%, Realty up by 1.68% and Oil & Gas was up by 1.13%, while Telecom was down by 0.61% was the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Yes Bank up by 4.02%, Infosys up by 3.60%, Reliance Industries up by 2.83%, TCS up by 2.21% and Asian Paints was up by 1.42%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 1.24%, Power Grid Corporation down by 0.68%, Tata Motors - DVR down by 0.57%, NTPC down by 0.28% and Tata Motors was down by 0.14% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the rating agency ICRA in its latest report has recommended the government to revisit its restrictive retail foreign direct investment (FDI) policy as India has not been able to get sizeable investments despite opportunities. Citing examples of other emerging geographies to allay concerns, it said both organised and unorganised retail sectors can co-exist. It pointed out that, currently, the multi-brand retail sector remains most restrictive to FDI with a cap of 51 percent ownership and guidelines relating to mandatory investments in back-end infrastructure and local sourcing norms.

ICRA has stated that data released by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion showed that between 2000 to 2018, Indian retail attracted about $1.4 billion in foreign direct investment, which was only 0.36 percent of the overall FDI inflows. It also said that a population of over 1.3 billion with favourable demographics and a rising middle class present a big opportunity for foreign retailers, who have actually evinced interest. It added that restrictive nature of the retail FDI policy has curtailed the foreign retailers' operations.

According to the report, there remains on-ground opposition for multi-brand retail from local traders, who fear risk of being thwarted by the deep pockets and increased competition from foreign players. Pitching for relaxation in inter-segmental restrictions for multi-brand retail, it said India needs to up the caps on foreign ownership in the segment. It added that there is limited domestic capital being invested in the sector and FDI flows can bridge capital deficit and remove the supply chain inefficiencies. 

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10849.70, up by 112.10 points or 1.04% after trading in a range of 10777.55 and 10849.80. There were 41 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Wipro up by 4.40%, Yes Bank up by 4.02%, Infosys up by 3.45%, Reliance Industries up by 2.84% and Zee Entertainment was up by 2.67%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 1.07%, Power Grid Corporation down by 0.78%, NTPC down by 0.38%, GAIL India down by 0.28% and Tata Steel was down by 0.25% were the top losers.

All Asian markets were trading in green, Hang Seng increased 441.82 points or 1.68% to 26,740.15, Jakarta Composite soared 15.67 points or 0.25% to 6,351.79, Straits Times advanced 42.86 points or 1.35% to 3,216.32, Shanghai Composite gained 21.18 points or 0.84% to 2,556.95, KOSPI rose 31.85 points or 1.54% to 2,096.37, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 97.82 points or 1.01% to 9,806.04 and Nikkei 225 was up by 171.67 points or 0.84% to 20,531.37.