Markets hold gains as budget session begins in parliament

Key Indian equity benchmarks held their gains in late morning session, as Finance Minister Piyush Goyal started presenting the budget in the Parliament. Adding optimism on the street, Goyal said that India has emerged as the brightest spot in the world in the last five years during which the country witnessed the fastest GDP growth higher than under any previous governments. Separately, the Finance Minister proposed higher allocation for MNREGA by 9 percent to Rs 60,000 crore for the financial year 2019-20, as a part of the NDA government's larger plan to focus specifically on the country's rural sector, amid concerns over rising agrarian crisis. Trading sentiments also got boost after Indian manufacturing sector surged in the month of January, with the quickest increase in order books. As per the survey report, the Nikkei India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) - a composite single-figure indicator of manufacturing performance - rose to 53.9 in January from 53.2 in December. The manufacturing sector activity expanded for the 18th consecutive month as the PMI reading stood above the watershed 50 mark, which differentiates growth from contraction.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading higher, even though the manufacturing sector in Taiwan continued to contract in January, and at a faster pace. The latest survey from Nikkei revealed with a manufacturing PMI score of 47.5. That's down from 47.7 in December, and it moves further beneath the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction. Individually, there were sharper falls in output and new business at the start of 2019.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 36358.95, up by 102.26 points or 0.28% after trading in a range of 36261.95 and 36448.30. There were 19 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.55%, while Small cap index was up by 0.55%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Auto up by 1.96%, Realty up by 1.88%, Consumer Disc up by 1.30%, Telecom up by 1.05% and Capital Goods up by 0.92%, while Metal down by 3.63%, Basic Materials down by 1.31%, Oil & Gas down by 0.47%, Bankex down by 0.31% and PSU down by 0.15% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Maruti Suzuki up by 3.43%, Hero MotoCorp up by 3.37%, Bharti Airtel up by 2.07%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.86% and HCL Tech. up by 1.45%. On the flip side, Vedanta down by 16.61%, ICICI Bank down by 2.02%, Sun Pharma down by 1.37%, Axis Bank down by 0.81% and Tata Steel down by 0.47% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the growth of eight core infrastructure industries slowed down to 2.6 percent in December 2018, on account of negative growth in expansion of crude oil, refinery products and fertilisers. According to data released by the ministry of Commerce and Industry, the combined Index of eight core industries stood at 132.1 in December, 2018, which was 2.6% higher compared to the index of December, 2017. Its cumulative growth during April to December, 2018-19 was 4.8%. The Eight Core Industries - coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers, steel, cement and electricity - comprise 40.27% of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP).

Among eight core sectors, Coal production having 10.33% weight rose 0.9% in December, 2018 over December, 2017, and its cumulative index increased by 7.8% during April to December, 2018-19 over corresponding period of the previous year. Petroleum Refinery production having 28.04% weight decreased 4.8% in December, 2018 over December, 2017, while its cumulative index surged by 4.1% during April to December, 2018-19 over the corresponding period of previous year.

The Natural Gas production having 6.88% weight increased by 4.2% in December, 2018 over December, 2017, while its cumulative index was down by 0.1% during April to December, 2018-19 over the corresponding period of previous year. Besides, Steel production having 17.92% weight jumped by 13.2% in December, 2018 over December, 2017 and its cumulative index increased by 4.7% during April to December, 2018-19 over the corresponding period of previous year. Electricity generation having 19.85% weight increased by 4.0% in December, 2018 over December, 2017 and its cumulative index increased by 6.3% during April to December, 2018-19 over the corresponding period of previous year.

Cement production having 5.37% weight jumped 11.6% in December, 2018 over December, 2017 and its cumulative index increased by 13.9% during April to December, 2018-19 over the corresponding period of previous year. On the flip side, Fertilizer production having 2.63% weight declined by 2.4% in December, 2018 over December, 2017, and its cumulative index was down by 1.4% during April to December, 2018-19 over the corresponding period of previous year. Crude Oil production having 8.98% weight decreased by 4.3% in December, 2018 over December, 2017 and its cumulative index fell by 3.7% during April to December, 2018-19 over the corresponding period of previous year.   

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10868.45, up by 37.50 points or 0.35% after trading in a range of 10835.85 and 10888.05. There were 31 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Maruti Suzuki up by 3.55%, Hero MotoCorp up by 3.29%, Eicher Motors up by 3.09%, Bharti Airtel up by 2.42% and Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.06%. On the flip side, Vedanta down by 16.49%, JSW Steel down by 1.77%, GAIL India down by 1.67%, ICICI Bank down by 1.63% and BPCL down by 1.48% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading in mostly in green, KOSPI rose 0.70 points or 0.03% to 2,205.55, Jakarta Composite soared 18.09 points or 0.28% to 6,551.06, Shanghai Composite gained 20.00 points or 0.77% to 2,604.57 and Nikkei 225 was up by 7.00 points or 0.03% to 20,780.49. On the other hand, Hang Seng was down by 82.17 points or 0.29% to 27,860.30 and Straits Times lost 1.48 points or 0.05% to 3,188.69.