Key indices add gains; Bharti Airtel top gainer

Going from strength to strength, the local equity indices gathered further ground in afternoon trade, with gains of more than half a percent, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi cruised to his second successive landslide victory. The markets also drew some solace with Fitch Ratings’ statement that the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) apparent landslide victory is likely to improve business sentiment and outlook for private investment. It said that from a credit rating perspective, Fitch would focus on the extent of the next government's efforts to improve India's weak fiscal finances. Sharp recovery in the rupee value against dollar along with encouraging earnings by some blue-chip firms also fuelled the uptrend. On the sectoral front, stocks related fertiliser sector were trading higher with the rating agency ICRA in its latest report stating said that the fertiliser sector in India expects faster clearance of the overdue subsidy payments, including through 'Special Banking Arrangement' to help companies tide over their liquidity problem during the second tenure of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green, as oil edged back from a painful sell-off. However, investors remained concerned about the possibility of a protracted trade war. Back home, the BSE Sensex is currently trading at 39129.69, up by 318.30 points or 0.82% after trading in a range of 38824.26 and 39223.85. There were 23 stocks advancing against 8 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 1.06%, while Small cap index was up by 1.45%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 3.02%, Telecom up by 2.78%, Capital Goods up by 2.75%, Industrials up by 2.27% and Auto was up by 1.69%, while there were no losing indices on BSE sectoral front.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel up by 3.35%, Larsen & Toubro up by 3.20%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.67%, Tata Motors up by 2.60% and Hero MotoCorp was up by 2.31%. On the flip side, ONGC down by 1.64%, HCL Technologies down by 0.95%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.51%, NTPC down by 0.46% and Bajaj Auto was down by 0.35% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the rating agency ICRA in its latest report has said that the fertiliser sector in India expects faster clearance of the overdue subsidy payments, including through 'Special Banking Arrangement' to help companies tide over their liquidity problem during the second tenure of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government.

According to the report, the domestic fertiliser sector requires the urgent attention of the new NDA government, as the industry is reeling under severe liquidity crisis, due to delayed subsidy payments. It also observed that there was significant increase in the working capital borrowings of the fertiliser firms over the previous 3-4 months, due to subsidy delays and weaker collections from the retail market following poor monsoons in some of the key agricultural states.

ICRA stated that this has strained the profitability and key credit metrics of the major players in the sector. It also said that faster clearance of the overdue subsidy payments will help the companies tideover their liquidity problem, even as the country face an uncertain monsoon scenario in 2019-20.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11746.40, up by 89.35 points or 0.77% after trading in a range of 11658.10 and 11775.55. There were 37 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bharti Airtel up by 3.44%, Zee Entertainment up by 3.40%, Larsen & Toubro up by 3.23%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.74% and Eicher Motors was up by 2.67%. On the flip side, ONGC down by 1.69%, HCL Tech. down by 0.93%, Tech Mahindra down by 0.87%, Adani Ports &SEZ down by 0.79% and Hindustan Unilever was down by 0.53% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Hang Seng increased 102.48 points or 0.38% to 27,369.61, Jakarta Composite soared 21.25 points or 0.35% to 6,053.95, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 19.91 points or 0.19% to 10,328.28, Shanghai Composite gained 5.61 points or 0.2% to 2,858.13 and Straits Times was up by 5.24 points or 0.17% to 3,165.96.

On the flip side, KOSPI fell 14.28 points or 0.69% to 2,045.31 and Nikkei 225 was down by 33.92 points or 0.16% to 21,117.22.