Firm trade persists on Dalal Street

Firm trade continued on Dalal Street in late afternoon session, with Sensex and Nifty holding gains of around 0.30%, each. Positive cues from European markets along with gains led by the broader indices, provided support to the markets. Adding optimism among the traders, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that India’s growth has stabilised between 7-7.5 per cent and irrespective of global trends, domestic consumption is going to increase. He also said that if India can maintain its position as the fastest growing major economy in the world for the next 10 years, it could become a reasonably middle-income economy, reducing poverty to negligible levels. The street took a note of a private report stating that the prices at which farmers sell their produce in wholesale mandis could grow slowly in the coming months if past trends are an indication.

On the global front, European markets were trading mostly in green, as Germany's industrial production rose in February after stagnating at the start of the year. The preliminary figures from the Federal Statistical Office showed that industrial production grew a price, seasonally and calendar adjusted 0.7 percent. January's originally reported decline of 0.8 percent was revised to zero percent. Asian markets were trading in green, after US President Donald Trump said the US and China are making progress in trade talks and something very monumental could be announced in next four weeks.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 38799.42, up by 114.70 points or 0.30% after trading in a range of 38701.04 and 38908.95. There were 14 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.53%, while Small cap index was up by 0.73%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 1.62%, Basic Materials up by 1.28%, IT up by 1.26%, TECK up by 1.13% and Realty up by 1.04%, while Power down by 0.36%, FMCG down by 0.31%, Utilities down by 0.25% and PSU down by 0.21% were the few losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Steel up by 2.87%, Vedanta up by 2.00%, TCS up by 1.77%, Bajaj Finance up by 1.63% and Infosys up by 1.44%. On the flip side, SBI down by 1.59%, Power Grid down by 1.38%, Tata Motors down by 1.09%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.85% and Yes Bank down by 0.73% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, highlighting efforts being taken by the government, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said that India’s growth has stabilised between 7-7.5 per cent and irrespective of global trends, domestic consumption is going to increase.

Finance Minister further expressed need to improve the country’s pace of growth, to eradicate poverty. He also said that if India can maintain its position as the fastest growing major economy in the world for the next 10 years, it could become a reasonably middle-income economy, reducing poverty to negligible levels.

Jaitley further underlined tax rates cut done by the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council on consumption items to 12 or 18 per cent from the highest slab of 28 per cent, further adding that lowering rate on cement is next on agenda.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11633.95, up by 35.95 points or 0.31% after trading in a range of 11609.50 and 11666.40. There were 28 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining, while 1 stock remained unchanged on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Steel up by 2.95%, Cipla up by 2.92%, Ultratech Cement up by 2.09%, Vedanta up by 1.98% and Indian Oil Corporation up by 1.97%. On the flip side, SBI down by 1.72%, Britannia Industries down by 1.51%, Power Grid down by 1.50%, Tata Motors down by 1.21% and Zee Entertainment down by 1.08% 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 20.61 points or 0.32% to 6,474.02.

European markets were trading mostly in green; UK’s FTSE 100 rose 11.90 points or 0.16% to 7,413.84 and France’s CAC gained 4.70 points or 0.09% to 5,468.50, while Germany’s DAX was down by 9.59 points or 0.08% to 11,978.42.