Bourses back in green

Indian equities erased all of their losses in late afternoon session to come back in green terrain. Gains led by Realty, Banking and Auto along with firm cues from European markets, helped the markets to turn positive. The street remained positive, amid reports World Bank’s report that India retained its position as the world's top recipient of remittances with its diaspora sending a whopping $79 billion back home in 2018. India was followed by China ($67 billion), Mexico ($36 billion), the Philippines ($34 billion), and Egypt ($29 billion). Adding optimism among traders, Prime Minister Narendra Modi sought another term to set on track the transformation of the country as a developed nation by 2047 when India completes 100 years of Independence.

On the global front, European markets were trading in green, as Dutch industrial production rose in February after falling in the previous two months. The Central Bureau of Statistics reported that industrial production rose 0.5 percent year-on-year in February, reversing a 0.6 percent fall in January. In December, production fell 4.3 percent. Asian markets were also trading in green.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 38837.85, up by 137.32 points or 0.35% after trading in a range of 38598.72 and 38892.96. There were 21 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining, while 1 stock remained unchanged on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.02%, while Small cap index was down by 0.13%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 0.83%, Bankex up by 0.75%, Auto up by 0.70%, Healthcare up by 0.60% and PSU up by 0.47%, while Telecom down by 1.05%, Consumer Durables down by 0.51%, Consumer Disc down by 0.19%, Capital Goods down by 0.18% and Basic Materials down by 0.13% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Yes Bank up by 3.46%, Tata Motors - DVR up by 2.08%, Bajaj Auto up by 1.91%, Tata Motors up by 1.82% and Coal India up by 1.76%. On the flip side, Asian Paints down by 3.48%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.59%, Infosys down by 0.83%, ONGC down by 0.32% and Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.31% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the World Bank in its latest report has said that India has retained its top spot on remittances, with its diaspora sending a whopping $79 billion back home in 2018 as against $65.3 billion in 2017 and $62.7 billion in 2016.

As per the report, China became second with remittances at $67 billion, followed by Mexico ($36 billion), the Philippines ($34 billion), and Egypt ($29 billion). The World Bank further said that remittances to South Asia grew 12% to $131 billion in 2018, outpacing 6% growth in 2017.

Besides, the report found that remittances to low-and middle-income countries reached a record high of $529 billion in 2018, an increase of 9.6% over the previous record high of $483 billion in 2017, while Global remittances, which include flows to high-income countries, reached $689 billion in 2018, up from $633 billion in 2017.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11644.95, up by 40.45 points or 0.35% after trading in a range of 11569.70 and 11657.20. There were 28 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining, while 1 stock remained unchanged on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Yes Bank up by 3.46%, Wipro up by 3.24%, Bajaj Auto up by 2.13%, Coal India up by 1.93% and Tata Motors up by 1.87%. On the flip side, Indiabulls Housing Finance down by 3.55%, Asian Paints down by 3.50%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.68%, Infosys down by 0.72% and Titan down by 0.59% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Hang Seng increased 80.34 points or 0.27% to 30,157.49, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 51.03 points or 0.47% to 10,851.60, Jakarta Composite soared 47.25 points or 0.74% to 6,472.98, Nikkei 225 surged 40.94 points or 0.19% to 21,802.59, Straits Times advanced 6.24 points or 0.19% to 3,321.66 and KOSPI was up by 2.96 points or 0.13% to 2,213.56. On the flip side, Shanghai Composite was down by 5.15 points or 0.16% to 3,239.66.

All European markets were trading in green; UK’s FTSE 100 gained 4.27 points or 0.06% to 7,456.16, France’s CAC rose 8.93 points or 0.16% to 5,480.71 and Germany’s DAX was up by 3.08 points or 0.03% to 11,966.48.