Benchmarks continue to trade above water in early noon session

Indian bourses were managing to keep their heads above water in the early noon session, as traders took some solace with a report that the finance ministry is working on one more booster dose to give a leg-up to the economy that has hit over six-year low of 5 per cent. As per the report, the blue print for the stimulus is ready that would be announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the next few days. Broader indices, BSE Mid cap and Small cap are also showing positive trend. Sentiments were positive initially with easing crude oil prices. Traders also took note of Minister of Commerce and Industry and Railways Piyush Goyal’s statement that government is planning to launch a National Logistics Policy to reduce trade costs. He added that all transport sectors of railways, civil aviation, roads and shipping would work towards bringing logistics costs below 10%. Market sentiments were positive, amid reports that Niti Aayog chief executive Amitabh Kant’s statement that structural reforms in agriculture and exports are needed to bring growth rate back to higher levels. He also said the fundamentals of the economy are intact which will help the government take back the economy to the higher growth trajectory soon despite the global slowdown.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed, amid the report that US President Donald Trump said a trade agreement between the US and China was likely to happen either before or immediately after the American elections. Back home, power stocks remained in focus with the report that India Ratings & Research maintained a stable-to-negative outlook on the power sector for the remaining FY20, despite an increase in electricity demand and a rise in thermal plant load factor (PLF).

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 36513.45, up by 32.36 points or 0.09% after trading in a range of 36465.92 and 36712.99. There were 19 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.25%, while Small cap index was up by 0.27%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 1.24%, Realty up by 0.85%, Basic Materials up by 0.46%, PSU up by 0.28% and Power was up by 0.24%, while FMCG down by 0.39%, Telecom down by 0.25%, Auto down by 0.24% and Healthcare was down by 0.11% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Steel up by 2.83%, Bajaj Finance up by 2.39%, Vedanta up by 1.68%, SBI up by 1.08% and Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.03%. On the flip side, Yes Bank down by 2.84%, ONGC down by 2.27%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.14%, Sun Pharma Inds. down by 0.99% and Bharti Airtel down by 0.75% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has said that the current size of the Indian economy is around $2.7 trillion and the government's goal is to make it to $5 trillion by 2024 and subsequently to $10 trillion by 2030. He noted that defence is one of the sectors that will help contribute towards it. He also said the country’s defence industry in the past had not performed to its full potential due to several reasons. He noted that this has led to the country's dependence on imported arms.

The minister said that under the 'Make in India' initiative, several important steps have been taken to change the status quo and to make India not only a major arms manufacturing hub in the world but also a net defence exporter. He noted that amongst several sectors of the economy which are set to contribute to this growth, defence has been identified as one of the most prominent sectors under the 'Make in India' initiative.
Noting that India has a huge defence industrial base, Singh said it comprises nine giant Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs), 41 Ordnance Factories (OFs) and 50 dedicated R&D labs and other establishments under the umbrella of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). He said “in our envisaged

Defence Production Policy, we have clearly spelt out our goal to achieve a turnover of $26 billion in aerospace and defence goods and services by 2025, involving an additional investment of nearly $10 billion and creating employment for nearly 2-3 million people.” 

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10822.95, up by 5.35 points or 0.05% after trading in a range of 10804.85 and 10885.15. There were 29 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index, while 1 stock remains unchanged on the index on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Steel up by 2.62%, Bajaj Finance up by 2.27%, JSW Steel up by 2.27%, Vedanta up by 1.75% and GAIL India up by 1.44%. On the flip side, Britannia down by 2.88%, Yes Bank down by 2.84%, ONGC down by 2.39%, UPL down by 2.04% and Coal India down by 1.97% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; Taiwan Weighted strengthened 83.17 points or 0.76% to 10,957.67, Jakarta Composite soared 28.48 points or 0.46% to 6,265.17, Shanghai Composite gained 11.44 points or 0.38% to 2,989.56 and KOSPI rose 9.29 points or 0.45% to 2,071.62. On the flip side, Hang Seng decreased 17.19 points or 0.06% to 26,773.05, Straits Times trembled 11.98 points or 0.38% to 3,171.02 and Nikkei 225 was down by 33.63 points or 0.15% to 21,967.69.