Benchmarks trade with traction in early deals

India equity benchmarks made positive start and are trading with gains of over half a percent each in early deals on Friday. Barring telecom, TECK and IT, all the sectoral indices are trading in green on the BSE. Sentiments got boost as Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the Centre will announce two more big steps in the coming days to give momentum to industry. The government has decided to increase spending and has announced a slew of measures to arrest the sluggishness in the automobile market. Traders took note that Union Minister Prakash Javadekar, executing confidence that India will become a five trillion dollar economy in the next five years, said that good governance and zero corruption are needed for sustainable economic development in the country. He added that real growth can be seen now with low inflation of three-four per cent. Though, upside was limited with a private report stating that India's economy likely expanded at its weakest pace in more than five years in April-June, as consumer demand and private investment weakened at a time global trade frictions have dampened business sentiment. Investors are looking ahead to the April-June quarter (Q1FY20) Gross Domestic Product (GDP) numbers to be out later in the day.

Global cues also remained supportive, as all the Asian markets were trading in green following the positive cues overnight from Wall Street amid optimism about easing trade tensions between the US and China. Chinese Ministry of Commerce spokesman Gao Feng indicated China does not currently intend to retaliate against US President Donald Trump's latest threat to raise the rate of tariffs on Chinese imports. Investors also digested a raft of mixed local economic data, including upbeat Japanese industrial production data.

Back home, on the sectoral front, auto stocks were in focus with ICRA's report that passenger vehicle sales in India is likely to decline in the range of 4-7% this fiscal saying agricultural output, revival in economic and industrial growth would be critical for auto sector's growth despite recent government measures to rekindle demand. In scrip specific development, Glenmark Pharma inched up as its arm received USFDA’s approval for Pimecrolimus Cream and PNC Infratech soared on emerging as L1 bidder for NHAI project worth Rs 1,062.0 crore.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 37283.08, up by 214.15 points or 0.58% after trading in a range of 37096.02 and 37283.08. There were 25 stocks advancing against 6 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.77%, while Small cap was index up by 0.58%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 2.10%, Realty up by 1.20%, FMCG up by 1.07%, Basic Materials up by 1.07% and Utilities was up by 1.00%, while Telecom down by 0.60%, TECK down by 0.45% and IT was down by 0.44% were the few losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Steel up by 2.74%, Vedanta up by 1.95%, Yes Bank up by 1.83%, ITC up by 1.68% and ONGC up by 1.46%. On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 1.27%, HCL Technologies down by 0.87%, TCS down by 0.52%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.41% and Asian Paints down by 0.37% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, executing confidence that India will become a five trillion dollar economy in the next five years, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar has said that good governance and zero corruption are needed for sustainable economic development in the country. He said good governance is the basis of good economy. Zero corruption and low inflation are two important keys for any kind of sustainable economic development. Real growth can be seen now with low inflation of three-four per cent.

He also said that policy paralysis never allows sustainable growth. On the other hand, decisive leadership gives real support and momentum to the economy. He added that the Goods and Services Tax (GST) initiative was a real example of ‘cooperative federalism’. A big revolutionary move of GST was taken to bring transparency and make tax compliance better. He also emphasised on infrastructure and agricultural development for economic growth. The stronger the infrastructure, the faster will be the economic growth. He said every year Rs 20 lakh crore have been kept aside for infrastructure development.

Highlighting the government's contribution to boost agriculture sector, the minister said ‘we are helping out farmers by depositing Rs 6,000 every year in the account of over 14 crore farmers across the country. This is a big move. This means farmers will have money to repair degraded land, get good seeds and use better technology.’ He also said ‘We need to increase agriculture productivity. 40 per cent people's livelihood is dependent on agriculture. To increase agriculture credit and trigger growth, government has initiated various schemes.’

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11018.90, up by 70.60 points or 0.64% after trading in a range of 10952.65 and 11019.50. There were 41 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Hindalco up by 3.73%, GAIL India up by 3.11%, Tata Steel up by 2.97%, Vedanta up by 2.62% and JSW Steel up by 2.10%. On the flip side, Bharti Infratel down by 2.30%, Indiabulls Housing Finance down by 1.91%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.17%, HCL Technologies down by 0.75% and Infosys down by 0.27% were the top losers.

All Asian markets were trading in green; Nikkei 225 gained 280.98 points or 1.37% to 20,741.91, Straits Times strengthened 24.61 points or 0.80% to 3,106.44, Hang Seng gained 177.32 points or 0.69% to 25,880.82, Taiwan Weighted increased by 113.34 points or 1.08% to 10,575.77, Kospi advanced 37.26 points or 1.93% to 1,970.67, Jakarta Composite soared 22.12 points or 0.35% to 6,311.24 and Shanghai Composite was up by 6.67 points or 0.23% to 2,897.59.