Benchmarks trade with traction in early deals

Indian equity benchmarks made an optimistic start and are trading with a gain of over around one third of a percent, with frontline gauges recapturing their crucial 38,500 (Sensex) and 11,550 (Nifty) levels. Sentiments remained upbeat with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) stating that the country has been one of the fastest growing large economies in the world, with growth averaging about 7% over the past five years. Some support also came with report that Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has made a case for setting up GST Council-like federal institutions to promote healthcare, rural development and agriculture sectors by optimally utilising resources of the centre and states. He said agriculture, rural development and healthcare is one area where the central government spends a lot of money on supporting farmers, creating infrastructure and building health centres for poor population.

On the global front, most of the Asian markets are trading in red at this point of time as investors grappled with the consequences of a recent change in interest rate outlook at the US Federal Reserve. The US markets ended sharply higher on Thursday as a batch of largely upbeat US data offset economic concerns raised by the Federal Reserve no longer forecasting interest rate hikes this year.

Back home, sugar sector stocks remained in focus with report that the food ministry has asked states to ensure that sugar mills are not selling the sweetener at below the minimum selling price (MSP), which has been increased recently to Rs 31 a kilogram from Rs 29. It said all mills have to sell sugar at Rs 31 a kg plus GST and transportation charges and action may be taken against mills selling sugar below floor price. In scrip specific developments, NTPC surged with its Karsada plant achieving full generation capacity and Manappuram Finance edged higher on getting nod to acquire entire stake in MACOM.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 38503.99, up by 117.24 points or 0.31% after trading in a range of 38415.77 and 38526.71. There were 22 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.52%, while Small cap index was up by 0.36%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 1.78%, Capital Goods up by 1.34%, Power up by 0.93%, Utilities up by 0.85% and Industrials was up by 0.82%, while Energy down by 0.43%, IT down by 0.30%, TECK down by 0.13% and Oil & Gas was down by 0.05% were the few losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel up by 2.91%, Larsen & Toubro up by 2.08%, Yes Bank up by 1.80%, NTPC up by 1.43% and Tata Steel up by 1.32%. On the flip side, Coal India down by 2.32%, ONGC down by 1.55%, TCS down by 0.86%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.82% and Reliance Industries down by 0.40% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, emphasizing on several key reforms carried out by India in the last five years, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) stated that the country has been one of the fastest growing large economies in the world, with growth averaging about 7% over the past five years. But, it also said that more needs to be done on the reforms front.

IMF said important reforms have been implemented and it feel that more reforms are needed to sustain this high growth, including to harness the demographic dividend opportunity, which India has. Besides, details about the Indian economy would be revealed in the upcoming World Economic Outlook (WEO) survey report to be released by the IMF ahead of the annual spring meeting with the World Bank next month.

The WEO will go into more details. But amongst the policy priorities, it would include accelerate the cleanup of banks and corporate balance sheets, continue fiscal consolidation, both at centre and state levels, and broadly maintain the reform momentum in terms of structural reforms in factor markets, labour, land reforms and further enhancing the business climate to achieve faster and more inclusive growth.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11559.00, up by 37.95 points or 0.33% after trading in a range of 11538.90 and 11566.85. There were 35 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bharti Airtel up by 2.84%, Larsen & Toubro up by 2.31%, Indiabulls Housing up by 2.06%, Yes Bank up by 1.76% and Titan Company up by 1.57%. On the flip side, Coal India down by 2.26%, Zee Entertainment down by 2.11%, ONGC down by 1.45%, Adani Ports & SEZ down by 1.29% and TCS down by 0.87% were the top losers.

Most of the Asian markets are trading in red; Nikkei 225 slipped 35.25 points or 0.16% to 21,573.67, Straits Times dipped 1.83 points or 0.06% to 3,211.82, Hang Seng dropped 158.01 points or 0.54% to 28,913.55, Jakarta Composite decreased 1.92 points or 0.03% to 6,499.86, Shanghai Composite dropped 23.90 points or 0.77% to 3,077.56 and Taiwan Weighted was down by 0.44 points to 10,609.11. On the flip side, KOSPI was up by 0.94 points or 0.04% to 2,185.82.