Bourses near day’s high; Sensex jumps over 550 points

The equity benchmarks extended their gains in late afternoon session to trade near their intraday high points. Firm European markets along with rally at broader indices, pushed the markets at peak points. Sentiments remained upbeat with SBI Research’s latest report stating that the government is likely to meet the fiscal deficit target this year and pegged fiscal deficit at Rs 6.72 trillion or 3.2% of gross domestic product (GDP) for next fiscal year (2019-20), assuming a moderate nominal GDP growth of 11.7%. It added that the fiscal gap will be met at the budgeted 3.3 percent for FY19. The market participants overlooked the National Sample Survey Office’s (NSSO) latest report showing that India's unemployment rate reached to 6.1% in 2017-18, hitting a 45-year high. The rate was the highest since 1972-73.

The street were cheerful, even after Fitch Ratings warned of a second consecutive year of fiscal slippage in the event of Finance Minister Piyush Goyal resorting to populist spending to win over lost vote base. On the sectoral front, metals stocks were trading higher, as India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) maintained a stable outlook on the base metals for the next financial year. It also said that within the sector, domestic aluminium prices are expected to remain stable, despite a likely decline in demand, while zinc prices may taper off because of an increase in global supply.

On the global front, European markets were trading in green, after Italy's consumer confidence strengthened in January for the first time in three months, while the morale in the manufacturing sector weakened for a fourth month in a row. The survey data from the statistical office ISTAT showed that the consumer confidence index rose to 114 from 113.2 in December. All sub-indexes improved in January. Asian markets were also trading in green, as the Fed's dovish tone helped investors shrug off weak manufacturing data from China. Activity in China's vast manufacturing sector continued to contract in January, albeit at a slower pace. The latest survey from the National Bureau of Statistics showed with a PMI score of 49.5.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 36168.19, up by 576.94 points or 1.62% after trading in a range of 35740.07 and 36192.46. 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 0.46%, while Small cap index was up by 0.71%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 1.93%, IT up by 1.87%, Energy up by 1.67%, Bankex up by 1.63% and TECK up by 1.61%, while there were no losing sectoral indices on the BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Axis Bank up by 4.43%, Infosys up by 3.12%, Tata Motors up by 2.93%, Tata Motors - DVR up by 2.87% and Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 2.53%. On the flip side, Yes Bank down by 1.43%, HCL Tech. down by 0.89%, Bajaj Finance down by 0.78%, Hero MotoCorp down by 0.73% and ICICI Bank down by 0.73% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the organization under the ministry of statistics of the government of India, the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) in its latest report showed that India's unemployment rate reached to 6.1% in 2017-18, hitting a 45-year high. The rate was the highest since 1972-73.

As per the report, joblessness was higher at the rate of 7.8% in urban areas as compared to 5.3% in rural areas of the country. The report further pointed that the unemployment rate among youth reached a record high level in 2017-18 as compared to previous year and much higher compared to that in the overall population.

Besides, NSSO said that for educated rural females, the unemployment rate ranged between 9.7% to 15.2% between 2004-05 to 2011-12, which rose to 17.3% in 2017-18. In case of rural educated males, the joblessness rate surged to 10.5% in 2017-18 from 3.5-4.4% between 2004-05 to 2011-12.

Going further, the report also noted that the rate of joblessness among rural males in the age group of 15-29 years jumped more than three folds to 17.4% in 2017-18 as against 5% in 2011-12. In case of female youth in rural areas, unemployment rate stood at 13.6% in 2017-18 as compared to 4.8% in 2011-12.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10809.85, up by 158.05 points or 1.48% after trading in a range of 10678.55 and 10813.55. There were 40 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Axis Bank up by 4.49%, GAIL India up by 3.44%, Infosys up by 2.97%, Tata Motors up by 2.81% and Tech Mahindra up by 2.71%. On the flip side, Zee Entertainment down by 2.73%, Bajaj Finserv down by 2.68%, Yes Bank down by 1.63%, HCL Tech. down by 1.01% and Adani Ports & SEZ down by 0.98% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly 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 77.19 points or 1.19% to 6,541.38, Shanghai Composite gained 8.99 points or 0.35% to 2,584.57 and Straits Times was up by 18.03 points or 0.57% to 3,192.41. On the flip side, KOSPI was down by 1.35 points or 0.06% to 2,204.85.

All European markets were trading in green; France’s CAC added 36.38 points or 0.73% to 5,011.14, UK’s FTSE 100 gained 51.03 points or 0.74% to 6,992.66 and Germany’s DAX was up by 110.49 points or 0.99% to 11,292.15.