Markets trade higher in early noon session

Domestic bourses continued to trade in fine contour as market participants cheered the return of Narendra Modi as India's Prime Minister for a second term on hopes of a stable government. Buying in IT, TECK, Oil & Gas and Telecom stocks helped markets to trade higher. Besides, broader indices were trading in mixed note with the BSE Mid cap index up by 0.54%, while small cap index lost by 0.04%. Strength in the market were supported by Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) latest economic outlook survey stating that India's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is likely to grow at 6.5% in the fourth quarter ended March 2019. Besides, it has put forth an annual median GDP growth forecast for 2019-20 at 7.1% and the projection for fiscal 2020-21 has been put at 7.2%. Sentiment also got a boost with a report stating that in the first 100 days of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's second term, a slew of 'big-bang' economic reforms that should please foreign investors are likely to be pursued. The reforms will include changes in labour laws, privatisation moves, and creation of land banks for new industrial development. Meanwhile, Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant has said that Indian fintech market is likely to grow to $31 billion in the year 2020. He noted that the country is one of the fastest growing fintech markets globally.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed, after US President Donald Trump ramped up trade tensions globally by suddenly slapping tariffs on all goods from Mexico, sending the peso tumbling. Back on street, in scrip specific development, shares of Coal India edged up on reporting around 5-fold jump in its net profit at Rs 6,024.13 crore for the quarter under review as compared to Rs 1,302.63 crore for the same quarter in the previous year.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 40076.65, up by 244.68 points or 0.61% after trading in a range of 39941.19 and 40122.34. There were 21 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.54%, while Small cap index was down by 0.04%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 1.31%, TECK up by 1.25%, Oil & Gas up by 0.96%, Telecom up by 0.93% and Energy was up by 0.80%, while Metal down by 0.67%, Basic Materials down by 0.52%, Power down by 0.33%, Utilities down by 0.14% and Industrials was down by 0.08% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Asian Paints up by 3.63%, TCS up by 1.75%, HCL Technologies up by 1.73%, Coal India up by 1.32% and Bajaj Finance was up by 1.32%. On the flip side, Yes Bank down by 1.71%, Vedanta down by 1.43%, Tata Motors down by 1.06%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.80% and Tata Steel was down by 0.63% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the share of foreign portfolio investments (FPIs) in domestic capital markets through participatory notes (P-notes) jumped to Rs 81,220 crore at the end of April on hopes of favourable market conditions. According to Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) data, total value of P-note investments in Indian markets including equity, debt and derivatives, at April end climbed to Rs 81,220 crore from Rs 78,110 crore at the end of March.

Of the total, P-notes holdings in equities at April -end were at Rs 58,820 crore, while in debts and derivatives were at Rs 21,542 crore and Rs 123 crore respectively. Besides, the quantum of FPI investments via P-notes increased to 2.4% during the period under review from 2.3% in the preceding month.

P-notes are issued by registered foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) to overseas investors who wish to be a part of the Indian stock market without registering themselves directly after going through a due diligence process.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 12024.90, up by 79.00 points or 0.66% after trading in a range of 11985.25 and 12039.25. There were 35 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Asian Paints up by 3.67%, Tech Mahindra up by 3.09%, Indian Oil up by 2.78%, Indiabulls Housing up by 2.78% and Britannia was up by 2.77%. On the flip side, Grasim Industries down by 2.74%, Yes Bank down by 2.00%, Vedanta down by 1.43%, Tata Motors down by 1.14% and Zee Entertainment was down by 0.94% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; Shanghai Composite gained 4.23 points or 0.15% to 2,910.04, KOSPI rose 3.19 points or 0.16% to 2,041.99, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 115.50 points or 1.11% to 10,498.49 and Jakarta Composite was up by 55.96 points or 0.92% to 6,160.07.

On the flip side, Nikkei 225 slipped 355.69 points or 1.7% to 20,586.84, Hang Seng decreased 141.03 points or 0.52% to 26,973.85 and Straits Times was down by 23.13 points or 0.74% to 3,119.87.