Sensex, Nifty see further recovery in late afternoon session

Key Indian bourses saw further recovery in late afternoon session, despite weak cues from European markets. Traders took relief with reports that the Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs gave approval for the construction of another 5,60,695 more affordable houses for the benefit of urban poor under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban). Adding some comfort, the State Bank of India (SBI) Research in its latest report said that Indian economy is likely to grow in the range of 6.6-6.7 percent during the third quarter of the current fiscal year 2018-19 (FY19). It added that for the full financial year, the growth will be 7.2 percent. However, the markets remained in red, on account of heavy selling at Realty and Banking counters. Besides, the market participants were seen taking note of a private report stating that aggregate loan portfolio of the microfinance industry grew at a healthy 43.1 percent to Rs 1,66,284 crore as of December 2018. Loan amount includes portfolio of Rs 458 crore in Andhra and Telangana and stressed (DPD 180+) portfolio of Rs 8,787 crore.

On the global front, European markets were trading in red, as Austria's production growth eased in December, mainly due to weaker expansion in construction. The data from Statistics Austria showed that the production index that combines both industry and construction advanced 1.8% year-over-year in December, following a 2.9% rise in November. Besides, Germany's consumer confidence is set to hold steady in March, amid the sustained sharp decline in economic expectations and stable income expectations. The survey data from the GfK revealed that the forward-looking consumer confidence indicator showed a reading of 10.8 for March, same as in February. Asian markets were also trading in red, as investors seek more clarity on the US-China trade talks and awaited the outcome of US President Donald Trump's second meeting with North Korea's Kim Jong Un.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 36142.04, down by 71.34 points or 0.20% after trading in a range of 35714.16 and 36145.49. There were 15 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.06%, while Small cap index was down by 0.25%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 0.76%, Auto up by 0.68%, Metal up by 0.41%, TECK up by 0.34% and Energy up by 0.29%, while Realty down by 1.34%, Bankex down by 0.20%, Power down by 0.15%, Consumer Durables down by 0.14% and Capital Goods down by 0.12% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Motors up by 3.19%, Coal India up by 2.63%, TCS up by 2.23%, Yes Bank up by 1.29% and Tata Motors - DVR up by 1.28%. On the flip side, HDFC down by 1.58%, ICICI Bank down by 1.55%, Infosys down by 1.35%, SBI down by 1.07% and NTPC down by 1.03% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, with an efforts towards affordable housing, the Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs has given its approval for the construction of another 5,60,695 more affordable houses for the benefit of urban poor under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) in the 43rd meeting of the Central Sanctioning and Monitoring Committee held on February 25, 2019. The cumulative number of houses sanctioned under PMAY (U) now is 79,04,674.

State wise, the number of houses sanctioned for Uttar Pradesh is 1,79,215, Andhra Pradesh 1,10,618, Maharashtra 1,01,220 while Karnataka has been sanctioned 48,729 houses.  The houses sanctioned for Madhya Pradesh is 26,587 houses and Gujarat 25,861. The number of houses for Manipur is 13,715 while Tamil Nadu has been sanctioned 12,174houses.

Besides, Bihar has been sanctioned 10,084 houses while the houses sanctioned for Odisha is 7,472.  The number of houses sanctioned for Chattisgarh is 7,067 while the sanction for Kerala is 4,194 houses.  Haryana has been sanctioned 4,019 houses, Rajasthan 3,601, Jharkhand 2,165 and Assam 1,419. The number of houses for Meghalaya is 1,397 while the houses sanctioned for Puducherry is 1,158.

Further, a total of 1,243 projects with a project cost of Rs 33,873 crore with central assistance of Rs 8,404 crore has been approved in the meeting.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10877.65, down by 2.45 points or 0.02% after trading in a range of 10729.30 and 10888.75. There were 26 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining, while 2 stocks remain unchanged on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ZEE up by 6.13%, Tata Motors up by 3.58%, Indian Oil Corporation up by 3.03%, Coal India up by 2.50% and TCS up by 2.45%. On the flip side, Indiabulls Housing Finance down by 2.95%, HDFC down by 1.61%, ICICI Bank down by 1.57%, Infosys down by 1.18% and SBI down by 1.02% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Hang Seng decreased 187.24 points or 0.65% to 28,772.06, Shanghai Composite declined 19.76 points or 0.67% to 2,941.52, KOSPI fell 5.96 points or 0.27% to 2,226.60, Straits Times trembled 12.40 points or 0.38% to 3,259.95, Nikkei 225 slipped 78.84 points or 0.37% to 21,449.39 and Jakarta Composite dropped 17.51 points or 0.27% to 6,507.85. On the flip side, Taiwan Weighted was up by 0.62 points or 0.01% to 10,391.55.

All European markets are trading in red; FTSE lost 56.05 points or 0.78% to 7,127.69, CAC fell 23.17 points or 0.44% to 5,208.68 and DAX was down by 39.95 points or 0.35% to 11,465.44.