Indian bourses trade marginally higher in afternoon deals

Indian equity benchmarks traded marginally higher in afternoon session, led by gains in realty, metal and IT stocks amid positive global cues on hopes of a trade deal between the US and China. Sentiments remained positive with Finance Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg’s statement that the government is close of meeting fiscal deficit target of 3.4 per cent for 2018-19. The government in the interim Budget in February revised upward the fiscal deficit target to 3.4 per cent from 3.3 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) estimated earlier for the financial year ended March 31. However, gains remained capped with Fitch Ratings kept India’s sovereign rating unchanged at the lowest investment grade of BBB- with a stable outlook. This is the 13th year in a row that Fitch has rated India at BBB-. Meanwhile, Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu stated that the proposed new industrial policy has been finalised and the new government very soon will announce that.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 38754.71, up by 69.99 points or 0.18% after trading in a range of 38701.04 and 38908.95. There were 15 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.49%, while Small cap index was up by 0.51%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.18%, Metal up by 1.11%, IT up by 1.03%, Basic Materials up by 1.00% and TECK was up by 0.93%, while PSU down by 0.26%, FMCG down by 0.11%, Energy down by 0.09%, Power down by 0.05% and Utilities was down by 0.00% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bajaj Finance up by 1.74%, Tata Steel up by 1.69%, Infosys up by 1.53%, Indusind Bank up by 1.33% and Vedanta was up by 1.10%. On the flip side, SBI down by 1.65%, Power Grid down by 1.36%, Tata Motors down by 1.19%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.77% and Hero MotoCorp was down by 0.64% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu stated that the proposed new industrial policy has been finalised and the new government very soon will announce that. However, he said that his ministry has sent the final proposal of the policy to the Cabinet for approval, but it was not taken up for consideration.

The new industrial policy aims at boosting manufacturing sector growth, promote foreign technology transfer and attract overseas investments. It also aims at promoting emerging sectors and modernising existing industries. That apart, it will look to reduce regulatory hurdles, cut paper work and support emerging and new sectors. The ministry would be setting up an elaborate machinery including a steering committee for effective implementation of the policy. This will be the third industrial policy after the ones released in 1956 and 1991. It will replace the industrial policy of 1991 which was prepared in the backdrop of the balance of payment crisis. 

Talking about increasing foreign direct investment (FDI) into India, Prabhu emphasized on the need to have a proper strategy to attract overseas inflows in greenfield as well as brownfield projects. He said 'We are trying to bring in more FDI. FDI will come either in greenfield area or it could be through acquisition. So, we must prepare a strategy on both... We should target those companies that can invest because they have investable surplus and same time, we must have a matching sectoral strategy wherein inbound investments can be absorbed.”

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11631.60, up by 33.60 points or 0.29% after trading in a range of 11609.50 and 11666.40. There were 31 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Cipla up by 3.40%, Grasim Industries up by 2.11%, JSW Steel up by 2.02%, Bajaj Finance up by 1.85% and Indusind Bank was up by 1.72%. On the flip side, SBI down by 1.69%, Power Grid down by 1.38%, Tata Motors down by 1.26%, Britannia Industries down by 0.97% and Hero MotoCorp was down by 0.64% were the top losers.

Asian market were trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 surged 82.55 points or 0.38% to 21,807.50, Straits Times advanced 7.94 points or 0.24% to 3,324.15 and KOSPI was up by 3.08 points or 0.14% to 2,209.61.

On the flip side, Jakarta Composite was down by 3.21 points or 0.05% to 6,491.42.