Firm trade persists on Dalal Street

Firm trade continued on Dalal Street in late afternoon session, tracking positive European markets. Optimism remained among the traders, amid reports that the government is considering credit guarantee for term loans of up to Rs 100 crore as well as interest subsidy on loans up to Rs 1,000 crore for electronic manufacturing companies under the new policy in works. The sentiments were also positive with a report that the total of investments during 2018 by private equity (PE) and venture capital (VC) companies was $35.1 billion (nearly Rs 2.5 trillion), surpassing the previous high of $26.1 billion (Rs 1.8 trillion) in 2017 by 35 per cent. The report further said that start-ups rebounded in 2018, attracting $6.4 billion (Rs 45,000 crore) or 83 per cent higher than in 2017. Some support also came with UN report showing that India's creative goods exports nearly tripled from $7.4 billion in 2005 to $20.2 billion in 2014, making it one of the world's leading exporters of such products in the top 10 developing economies.

On the sectoral front, telecom stocks were ringing loud, buoyed by report that telecom companies saw a rise of 1.99 per cent - 22.80 million subscribers - in wireless users in the July-September period, while banking stocks were in focus, as the Finance Ministry has asked the public sector banks (PSBs) to slowly bring down the government's equity to 52 percent in the first phase, in order to align with the best corporate practices. Auto stocks also remained in limelight, as automobile industry body SIAM said that vehicle manufacturers are staring at production stoppage if there is no resolution of the issues over restrictions imposed on domestic manufacturers using imported steel.

On the global front, European markets were trading in green, even though Eurozone's industrial production decreased at a faster-than-expected pace in November. Industrial production decreased a seasonally adjusted 1.7% from October, when it edged up 0.1%, revised from 0.2%. On a year-on-year basis, industrial production fell a calendar adjusted 3.3% in November after a 1.2% increase. Street had predicted a 2.1% slump. Asian markets were also trading in green.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 36237.73, up by 384.17 points or 1.07% after trading in a range of 35950.08 and 36272.89. There were 26 stocks advancing against 5 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.53%, while Small cap index was up by 0.70%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 2.53%, Energy up by 2.30%, TECK up by 2.28%, Realty up by 1.81% and Oil & Gas up by 1.54%, while there were no losing sectoral indices on the BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Yes Bank up by 3.68%, Infosys up by 3.07%, Vedanta up by 2.87%, Reliance Industries up by 2.71% and TCS up by 2.29%. On the flip side, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.05%, ICICI Bank down by 0.67%, Axis Bank down by 0.14%, Power Grid down by 0.10% and NTPC down by 0.07% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in order to boost electronics manufacturing ecosystem in the country, the Ministry of Electronics and IT has proposed two schemes such as credit guarantee fund (CGF) scheme and interest subvention scheme (ISS) under the new policy in works.

The Ministry has a made proposal to provide credit guarantee on term loans for projects up to Rs 100 crore per borrowing unit and this will not require any collateral security and third party guarantee, for setting up a new electronics manufacturing unit or considerable expansion of an existing electronics manufacturing plant. Besides, the cover will vary on case to case basis, depending upon investments.

Under the proposal, ISS scheme will promote electronics manufacturing by partially reimbursing the interest of the term loan availed by the industry for plant and machinery. The scheme will include all stages of the value chain starting from raw-materials. It will also include assembly, testing and packaging. Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) companies like Foxconn, Flex etc will also be eligible under the scheme.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10856.15, up by 118.55 points or 1.10% after trading in a range of 10777.55 and 10867.75. There were 41 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Wipro up by 5.38%, Yes Bank up by 3.51%, Tech Mahindra up by 3.05%, Infosys up by 2.99% and Reliance Industries up by 2.77%. On the flip side, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.04%, ICICI Bank down by 0.64%, GAIL India down by 0.38%, NTPC down by 0.34% and Bharti Infratel down by 0.20% were the top losers.

All Asian markets were trading in green; Nikkei 225 surged 195.59 points or 0.96% to 20,555.29, Hang Seng increased 531.96 points or 2.02% to 26,830.29, KOSPI rose 32.66 points or 1.58% to 2,097.18, Jakarta Composite soared 72.66 points or 1.15% to 6,408.78, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 97.82 points or 1.01% to 9,806.04, Shanghai Composite gained 34.57 points or 1.36% to 2,570.34 and Straits Times advanced 47.53 points or 1.5% to 3,220.99.
All European markets were trading in green; UK’s FTSE 100 rose 8.62 points or 0.13% to 6,863.64, France’s CAC gained 25.19 points or 0.53% to 4,787.94 and Germany’s DAX was up by 33.64 points or 0.31% to 10,889.55.