Barometer gauges maintain gains

Indian equity markets maintained their upward momentum in the early noon session, following gains in FMCG, Auto and Consumer Discretionary stocks. Healthy buying was observed in blue-chip stocks like Bajaj Finance, Hero MotoCorp and Hindustan Unilever. Besides, broader indices were also trading in green, supporting their larger peers. Sentiments remained up-beat with report stating that government is open to providing more powers to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to direct lenders to take action on stressed assets. There is a growing view in the government that there has to be some regulatory supervision over debt resolution by the RBI. Investors also took encouragement with a report that the ongoing trade war between the US and China will help India tap export opportunities in both the countries in areas such as garments, agriculture, automobile and machinery. Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will promote the use of data analytics to identify cases of fraud and help instant response and recovery actions, such as blocking irregular transactions before payment authorisation. This is a part of the central bank’s vision 2019-2021 for payments and settlements systems in the e-payments space.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red, amid the growing fallout from President Donald Trump's move to block China's Huawei Technologies from buying vital American technology. Back on street, in scrip specific development, Bajaj Finance edged up on reporting a rise of 49.92% in its net profit at Rs 1,113.59 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2019 under review as compared to Rs 742.77 crore for the same quarter in the previous year.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 37617.59, up by 224.11 points or 0.60% after trading in a range of 37415.36 and 37631.38. There were 18 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.18%, while Small cap index was up by 0.24%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were FMCG up by 1.16%, Auto up by 0.81%, Consumer Discretionary up by 0.73%, Consumer Durables up by 0.52% and Bankex was up by 0.50%, while Healthcare down by 0.91%, Metal down by 0.79%, PSU down by 0.62%, Power down by 0.59% and Oil & Gas was down by 0.50% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bajaj Finance up by 5.34%, Hero MotoCorp up by 2.69%, Hindustan Unilever up by 2.33%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.01% and HDFC was up by 1.97%. On the flip side, Tata Motors - DVR down by 2.23%, ONGC down by 1.84%, Tata Motors down by 1.68%, Infosys down by 1.36% and Vedanta was down by 1.23% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in a bid to increase India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth, Union Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu has said there is a need to facilitate strategic investments based on clear sectorial analysis. He also emphasized on focusing on district-development led growth to drive inclusivity in the society.

Prabhu also pointed out that at a time when the global economy is reeling under uncertainty due to the current trade war between the United States (US) and China, India has seen its exports grow and will benefit further due to this. He added that for inclusive and holistic development of the economy, it is key to focus on district development.

Meanwhile, experts from the financial sector opined that re-routing is good for Google Maps, but not for the financial sector. They suggested that the regulators and non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) need to closely track the signals coming from the providers of risk capital about the NBFCs they are investing in. They also said the Indian private sector with its enormous depth and breadth has shown increased maturity and is a major recipient of private equity flows. Similarly, on the foreign direct investment (FDI) front, they noted that India has already surpassed China to become the most favoured FDI destination.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11313.60, up by 56.50 points or 0.50% after trading in a range of 11259.85 and 11319.00. There were 29 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bajaj Finance up by 5.40%, Bajaj Finserv up by 2.92%, Zee Entertainment up by 2.88%, Hero MotoCorp up by 2.50% and Mahindra & Mahindra was up by 2.19%. On the flip side, Hindalco down by 2.88%, Indian Oil Corporation down by 2.35%, BPCL down by 1.97%, ONGC down by 1.84% and Adani Ports &Special was down by 1.74% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; KOSPI fell 5.50 points or 0.27% to 2,062.19, Taiwan Weighted dropped 75.81 points or 0.72% to 10,398.80, Straits Times trembled 22.99 points or 0.71% to 3,207.27, Jakarta Composite lost 24.13 points or 0.41% to 5,871.61, Shanghai Composite declined 46.29 points or 1.57% to 2,909.42 and Hang Seng was down by 303.27 points or 1.07% to 27,971.80. On the other hand, Nikkei 225 was up by 197.77 points or 0.94% to 21,260.75.