Barometer gauges maintain gains

Indian stock markets continued to trade in positive terrain in the early noon session due to buying in Power, Utilities and Realty stocks. Buying in frontline stocks such as Sun Pharma, Power Grid Corporation and Yes Bank were aiding sentiment, while selling in Tata Steel, HDFC and ITC kept the gains in the markets in check. Besides, broader indices were also trading in green, supporting their larger peers. A positive momentum has been triggered in domestic stock markets as monsoon swiftly progressed towards central and north India. Further, sentiments remained up-beat with Federation of Indian Export Organisations’ (FIEO) statement that the government's focus to improve logistics, ease of doing business and modern trade infrastructure will help exports to touch $1 trillion in the next three years. It added that India has huge potential to boost its exports of goods and services from the current $535 billion. Meanwhile, the government and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) are closely monitoring the rupee exchange rate against the dollar on an on-going basis. The rupee has depreciated from Rs 60.50 to a dollar in 2013-14 to Rs 69.74 to a dollar in April-December of 2018-19. 

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red as Washington's conflict with trading partners continued. Asian investors also awaited for US-China trade talks on the sidelines of upcoming G-20 meeting later this week in Japan. Rising geopolitical tensions between the United States and Iran also kept traders on the edge. Back on the street, in scrip specific development, shares of Reliance Infrastructure edged up on bagging Rs 7,000 crore Versova-Bandra sea link project. TV Today Network rose as HDFC Mutual Fund hikes stake in company by 2.14%.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 39530.86, up by 95.92 points or 0.24% after trading in a range of 39319.64 and 39599.40. There were 22 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.61%, while Small cap index was up by 0.43%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Power up by 1.81%, Utilities up by 1.65%, Realty up by 1.39%, Healthcare up by 1.07% and Capital Goods was up by 1.02%, while IT down by 0.14%, TECK down by 0.10% and Oil & Gas was down by 0.09% were the few losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Sun Pharma up by 3.93%, Power Grid Corporation up by 2.48%, Yes Bank up by 2.27%, NTPC up by 1.30% and Larsen & Toubro was up by 1.27%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 0.48%, HDFC down by 0.43%, ITC down by 0.38%, Indusind Bank down by 0.33% and TCS was down by 0.32% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, former RBI deputy governor Rakesh Mohan has said that manufacturing growth is not consistent with India’s overall Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth figures. He noted that the country cannot grow at 8 percent without manufacturing sector posting 10 percent growth. He also pointed out that import of capital goods as well as growth in production of capital goods is zero.

Mohan has observed that in early 1950, the focus was on manufacturing growth, which seems to have been lost now. He said no country has grown fast, without high growth in manufacturing. His statement assumes importance in the wake controversy generated by former Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramania after he wrote in a research paper that the country’s economic growth rate has been overestimated by around 2.5 percentage points between 2011-12 and 2016-17 due to a change in methodology for calculating GDP.

Noting that India's tax-GDP ratio is low as against to other emerging market economies, Former RBI deputy governor said that tax cut is the worst idea. He also said that countries like China, Taiwan and South Korea had focused on promoting large industries. He felt that concentrating on MSME was India's biggest mistake.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11821.40, up by 24.95 points or 0.21% after trading in a range of 11757.55 and 11839.10. There were 33 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Sun Pharma up by 3.64%, Yes Bank up by 2.36%, Power Grid Corporation up by 2.36%, Adani Ports &Special up by 1.84% and NTPC was up by 1.55%. On the flip side, Indiabulls Housing down by 2.12%, Britannia down by 1.66%, BPCL down by 1.46%, Indian Oil Corporation down by 0.78% and ITC was down by 0.50% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Shanghai Composite declined 10.01 points or 0.34% to 2,972.06, KOSPI fell 2.30 points or 0.11% to 2,119.34, Nikkei 225 slipped 130.16 points or 0.61% to 21,063.65, Straits Times trembled 6.51 points or 0.2% to 3,297.76 and Taiwan Weighted was down by 50.07 points or 0.47% to 10,656.65.

On the flip side, Hang Seng increased 33.24 points or 0.12% to 28,219.22 and Jakarta Composite was up by 4.41 points or 0.07% to 6,324.86.