Bourses maintain upbeat mood in afternoon deals

Indian equity indices maintained their upbeat mood in afternoon session, tracking strong gains in Asian peers amid heavy buying by domestic institutional investors. Sentiments remained up-beat with SBI Research’s report that the government meeting the fiscal targets this year and for FY20, fiscal deficit is likely to be Rs 6.72 trillion or 3.2 percent of GDP, assuming a modest 11.7 percent of nominal GDP growth. It added that for FY19 the fiscal gap will be met at the budgeted 3.3 percent. Investor sentiment was also buoyed by a report that the GST officials are working out mechanism to prompt taxmen to initiate profiteering complaints, which could be taken up for further investigation by the Directorate General of Anti-Profiteering. Besides, short-covering by participants with Thursday being the last trading session of the January series of derivative contracts also supported the sentiments. In the currency front, the rupee emerged strong, and was trading at 71.02 against US Dollar, higher by 10 paise.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading in green, after the Federal Reserve pledged to be patient with further interest rate hikes, signalling a potential end to its tightening cycle amid signs of slowing global growth. However, activity in China’s vast manufacturing sector shrank for the second straight month in January, pointing to further strains on the economy that could heighten risks to global growth.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 36002.57, up by 411.32 points or 1.16% after trading in a range of 35740.07 and 36027.65. There were 24 stocks advancing against 7 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.03%, while Small cap index rose 0.47%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 1.82%, Energy up by 1.71%, TECK up by 1.50%, Oil & Gas up by 1.26% and Utilities up by 1.06%, while there were no losing indices on BSE sectoral front.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Infosys up by 3.46%, Axis Bank up by 2.29%, Reliance Industries up by 2.23%, Hindustan Unilever up by 2.12% and Indusind Bank up by 1.95%. On the flip side, HCL Tech. down by 2.56%, Yes Bank down by 2.51%, Hero MotoCorp down by 0.93%, Bajaj Finance down by 0.63% and Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.26% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Indian companies’ foreign borrowing nearly trebled to $3.81 billion in December 2018 as compared to the same period last year. According to data from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), of the total borrowing amount in December, $3.77 billion was mobilised through external commercial borrowings (ECBs) in the overseas markets, while $37.04 million was through rupee-denominated bonds (RDBs).

Data indicated that the domestic firms had raised $1.31 billion through the ECB route in December 2017. In the ECB category, $3.30 billion was raised through the automatic route and the rest of $473.56 million was mopped up through the approval route. Among the major borrowers, Indian Oil Corporation raised $1.3 billion as a working capital loan; Bharat Oman Refineries $125 million for refinancing of earlier ECB; and Power Grid Corporation of India $195.83 million for power projects.

It further showed that NTPC and Hindustan Petroleum Corp raised $300 million each for power projects and working capital needs respectively; PNB Housing Finance borrowed $265 million for on-lending and Bharat Petroleum Corporation $450 million for its working capital requirements. Mortgage lender HDFC was the only borrower to raise the $473.56 million loan under the approval route of ECB. Those who issued RDBs, or the masala bonds, in foreign markets included Avas Financiers that raised $28.28 million for on-lending and Roserve Enviro which mopped up $7.78 million for rupee expenditure.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10753.05, up by 101.25 points or 0.95% after trading in a range of 10678.55 and 10760.65. There were 36 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Infosys up by 3.32%, GAIL India up by 2.72%, Tech Mahindra up by 2.29%, Axis Bank up by 2.28% and Reliance Industries up by 2.17%. On the flip side, Zee Entertainment down by 3.73%, HCL Tech. down by 2.79%, Yes Bank down by 2.66%, Bajaj Finserv down by 2.57% and Indiabulls Housing Finance down by 2.33% were the top losers.

All Asian markets were trading in green; Nikkei 225 surged 216.95 points or 1.06% to 20,773.49, Hang Seng increased 298.81 points or 1.08% to 27,941.66, Jakarta Composite soared 62.02 points or 0.96% to 6,526.21, Shanghai Composite gained 1.74 points or 0.07% to 2,577.32 and Straits Times was up by 12.31 points or 0.39% to 3,186.69.