Barometer gauges maintain gains in early noon session

Indian stock markets were trading in positive terrain in the early noon session on the back of buying in Metal, PSU and Basic Materials sectors. Besides, Vedanta, Indusind Bank and Yes Bank were contributing most of gains to Sensex, while Adani Ports &Special and Indiabulls Housing were contributing most of gains to Nifty. Signs of ease in tensions between India and Pakistan helped in reviving trading sentiment on domestic bourses. Sentiment remained positive with Moody's report stating that Indian economy is expected to grow at 7.3 per cent in calendar year 2019 and 2020, and the government spending announced ahead of elections this year which will support near-term growth. Further, investors also got support with a report that the India's manufacturing activity expanded at the fastest pace in more than a year in February, as new orders and output grew solidly in a boost to employment. The Nikkei Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index, compiled by IHS Markit, increased to a 14-month high of 54.3 in February from January's 53.9. Meanwhile, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has expressed hopes that the remaining six public sector banks (PSBs) under the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) prompt corrective action (PCA) framework will soon come out of it with the government commitment of support to them. However, gains remain limited as Indian economy losing steam ahead of the general election, the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth slowed to a five-quarter low of 6.6% in October-December period of this fiscal (FY19), as compared to 7% growth in the same quarter of FY18, on the back of lower farm and manufacturing growth and weaker consumer demand.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green, after indexing group MSCI said it would increase the proportion of mainland Chinese stocks in its global benchmarks. Back on street, the monthly sales numbers for the auto companies have started trickling in, as Maruti Suzuki India has reported total sales of 148,682 units in February 2019, as compared 149,824 units in February 2018, registering marginal fall of 0.8%. On scrip specific development, NCL Industries gained as the company has successfully completed the installation of the Readymade Doors plant set up at Malkapur (V) near Hyderabad with a capacity to produce 1000 doors per day in technical collaboration with AGT (Turkey).

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 36043.38, up by 175.94 points or 0.49% after trading in a range of 36008.39 and 36140.67. There were 26 stocks advancing against 5 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 1.06%, while Small cap index was up by 1.46%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 1.50%, PSU up by 1.22%, Basic Materials up by 1.22%, Industrials up by 1.06% and Utilities was up by 1.06% , while Telecom down by 1.48%, Realty down by 0.17% and Consumer Durables was down by 0.04% were the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Vedanta up by 2.13%, Indusind Bank up by 1.91%, Yes Bank up by 1.71%, Coal India up by 1.60% and Tata Steel was up by 1.39%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 3.99%, HCL Technologies down by 0.20%, Reliance Industries down by 0.19%, Axis Bank down by 0.13% and Power Grid Corporation was down by 0.03% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the growth of eight core infrastructure industries slowed down to 1.8 percent in January due to fall in output of crude oil, refinery products and electricity. According to data released by the ministry of Commerce and Industry, the combined Index of eight core industries stood at 134.8 in January, 2019, which was 1.8% higher compared to the index of January, 2018. Its cumulative growth during April to January, 2018-19 was 4.5%. 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 1.7% in January, 2019 over January, 2018, and its cumulative index increased by 7.1% during April to January, 2018-19 over corresponding period of the previous year. Petroleum Refinery production having 28.04% weight decreased 2.6% in January, 2019 over January, 2018, while its cumulative index surged by 3.4% during April to January, 2018-19 over the corresponding period of previous year.

The Natural Gas production having 6.88% weight increased by 6.2% in January, 2019 over January, 2018, and its cumulative index was up by 0.5% during April to January, 2018-19 over the corresponding period of previous year. Besides, Steel production having 17.92% weight jumped by 8.2% in January, 2019 over January, 2018 and its cumulative index increased by 5.0% during April to January, 2018-19 over the corresponding period of previous year. Electricity generation having 19.85% weight decreased by 0.4% in January, 2019 over January, 2018 and its cumulative index increased by 5.7% during April to January, 2018-19 over the corresponding period of previous year.

Cement production having 5.37% weight jumped 11.0% in January, 2019 over January, 2018 and its cumulative index increased by 13.6% during April to January, 2018-19 over the corresponding period of previous year. On the flip side, Fertilizer production having 2.63% weight increased by 10.5% in January, 2019 over January, 2018, and its cumulative index was down by 0.3% during April to January, 2018-19 over the corresponding period of previous year. Crude Oil production having 8.98% weight decreased by 4.3% in January, 2019 over January, 2018 and its cumulative index fell by 3.8% during April to January, 2018-19 over the corresponding period of previous year.  

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10848.75, up by 56.25 points or 0.52% after trading in a range of 10837.05 and 10871.60. There were 40 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Adani Ports &Special up by 2.33%, Vedanta up by 2.13%, Indusind Bank up by 1.95%, Indiabulls Housing up by 1.94% and Yes Bank was up by 1.82%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 3.95%, Cipla down by 0.96%, Dr. Reddys down by 0.78%, Wipro down by 0.33% and HCL Technologies down by 0.28% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading in mostly green; Nikkei 225 surged 237.88 points or 1.11% to 21,623.04, Hang Seng increased 86.19 points or 0.3% to 28,719.37, Straits Times advanced 8.31 points or 0.26% to 3,221.00 and Jakarta Composite was up by 55.63 points or 0.86% to 6,498.98. On the flip side, Shanghai Composite was down by 0.04 points or 0% to 2,940.91.