Benchmarks trade with traction in early deals

Indian equity benchmarks are trading with traction in early deals on Monday with frontline gauges recapturing their crucial 36,600 (Sensex) and 10,950 (Nifty) levels, tracking positive global cues amid developments in the US-China trade relations. Traders took encouragement with Union Commerce and Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu’s statement that India has the potential to be a $5 trillion economy in the next 7-8 years. Prabhu said his department had prepared a road map to make this possible by focusing on manufacturing, service sector and agriculture. Traders got some support with central bank Governor Shaktikanta Das’ statement that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will make all efforts to maintain financial stability and to facilitate enabling conditions for sustainable and robust growth. Some support also came with a private report that India is likely to surpass the United Kingdom in the world’s largest economy rankings in 2019. The report projects real GDP growth of 1.6% for the UK, 1.7% for France and 7.6% for India in 2019.

Asian markets are trading mostly in green at this point of time as investors demonstrated continued confidence that trade tensions ultimately will subside and policy makers will refrain from growth-damaging monetary tightening. The US markets extended their gains for fourth session and settled higher on Friday as investors cheered potential progress in trade negotiations between China and the US.

Back home, banking sector stocks edged higher with RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das’ statement that efforts are being made to strengthen corporate governance in the public sector banks to effectively check incidence of financial frauds. However, coal sector stocks edged lower with a report that coal imports in India saw a surge of 6.7% to 171.81 million tonne (MT) in the April-December period of the ongoing financial year.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 36615.94, up by 229.33 points or 0.63% after trading in a range of 36351.77 and 36636.27. There were 21 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.16%, while Small cap index was up by 0.10%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Energy up by 1.88%, Healthcare up by 0.94%, Oil & Gas up by 0.80%, IT up by 0.80% and TECK was up by 0.73%, while Utilities down by 0.18%, Realty down by 0.10% and Power was down by 0.08% were the few losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Reliance Industries up by 2.62%, Sun Pharma up by 2.24%, Infosys up by 1.74%, Bajaj Finance up by 1.30% and Bharti Airtel up by 1.05%. On the flip side, HDFC down by 0.58%, Bajaj Auto down by 0.56%, Hero MotoCorp down by 0.50%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.42% and Power Grid Corporation down by 0.34% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, expressing confidence over growth of Indian economy, Union Commerce and Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu stated that India has potential to be a $5 trillion economy in the next 7-8 years. He added that the country definitely will be a $10 trillion economy before 2035.

Prabhu further said his department had prepared a road map to make this possible by focusing on manufacturing, service sector and agriculture. Manufacturing should lead to export. This will bring quality and competitiveness. He noted that the nation’s cumulative export stands at around half a trillion dollars and the challenge is to double it. He also said ‘Today, we have great opportunity to increase exports’.

The Minister highlighted that there are disruptions taking place in the world and India should take advantage of it. He said India can increase exports to Africa and Latin American countries. In order to boost air connectivity in the country, he said 100 new airports will come up in the near future with a cumulative investment of $65 billion.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10964.65, up by 57.70 points or 0.53% after trading in a range of 10885.75 and 10967.05. There were 29 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Reliance Industries up by 2.64%, Sun Pharma up by 2.37%, Infosys up by 1.92%, Bajaj Finance up by 1.26% and Dr. Reddys Lab up by 1.05%. On the flip side, Wipro down by 2.99%, Bharti Infratel down by 1.56%, Bajaj Auto down by 0.75%, Hero MotoCorp down by 0.73% and Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.70% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 rose 56.63 points or 0.27% to 20,722.70, Straits Times gained 15.47 points or 0.48% to 3,239.81, Hang Seng advanced 91.10 points or 0.34% to 27,181.91, Taiwan Weighted surged 69.85 points or 0.71% to 9,905.91, Jakarta Composite added 18.57 points or 0.29% to 6,466.73 and Shanghai Composite was up by 17.52 points or 0.67% to 2,613.53.