Local bourses continue to trade higher amid firm global cues

Key benchmark indices continued to trade higher in afternoon session in line with gains in the global markets over hopes of a trade truce between US and China. Sentiments remained upbeat with report that union minister of state for heavy industries and public enterprises, Arjun Ram Meghwal’s statement that the government will do everything to ensure that the economy remains on track and is not weakened so that the country reaches its target of $5 trillion economy. Traders also took a note of Union Minister Nitin Gadkari’s statement that the government will soon take a call on the recommendations of U K Sinha committee, in order to strengthen micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) sector. The rupee’s recovery by 20 paise to 71.64 against the dollar in early trade too provided support to the major indices. On the sectoral front, power sector remained in focus with Power Secretary S.C. Garg’s statement that there is need to increase private sector investment to create a more robust integrated cross-border power trading market.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading in green, as investors cheered plans for more trade negotiations between Washington and Beijing and drew encouragement from positive data about the U.S. economy. Back home, the BSE Sensex is currently trading at 36904.47, up by 260.05 points or 0.71% after trading in a range of 36727.66 and 36907.30. There were 23 stocks advancing against 6 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.40%, while Small cap index was up by 0.46%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Power up by 1.39%, Bankex up by 1.33%, Energy up by 1.05%, Utilities up by 1.01% and Auto up by 0.95%, while Realty down by 1.47%, FMCG down by 0.14% and Oil & Gas down by 0.12% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tech Mahindra up by 3.54%, Axis Bank up by 3.04%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 2.21%, NTPC up by 2.11% and Maruti Suzuki was up by 1.74%. On the flip side, Sun Pharma down by 2.60%, HCL Technology down by 0.46%, HDFC down by 0.44%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.40% and Yes Bank was down by 0.32% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in order to strengthen micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) sector, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari has said that the government will soon take a call on the recommendations of U K Sinha committee.

The committee had recommended creation of distressed asset fund with a corpus of Rs 5,000 crore, insurance coverage to employees of MSMEs on the lines of Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY) and Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY) schemes, and cash flow-based lending.

Gadkari further noted that the issues being faced by MSMEs such as non-payment & delay in payments, will be dealt firmly. Referring to instances where goods are supplied by MSMEs but a particular person or entity does not make payment after taking their delivery on multiple occasions, Gadkari said stringent action needs to be taken against such habitual offenders & the government will certainly take remedial measures in this regard.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10910.50, up by 62.60 points or 0.58% after trading in a range of 10867.45 and 10918.15. There were 35 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tech Mahindra up by 3.62%, Axis Bank up by 2.82%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 2.01%, NTPC up by 1.98% and Maruti Suzuki was up by 1.77%. On the flip side, Indiabulls Housing Finance down by 5.41%, Sun Pharma down by 2.73%, Wipro down by 1.96%, GAIL India down by 1.11% and BPCL was down by 0.96% were the top losers.

All Asian markets were trading in green; Nikkei 225 surged 113.63 points or 0.54% to 21,199.57, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 23.71 points or 0.22% to 10,780.64, Shanghai Composite gained 4.53 points or 0.15% to 2,990.39, Jakarta Composite soared 13.63 points or 0.22% to 6,320.43, KOSPI rose 4.38 points or 0.22% to 2,009.13, Straits Times advanced 6.02 points or 0.19% to 3,153.08 and Hang Seng was up by107.24 points or 0.4% to 26,622.77.