Local equities trade near highs of day; Sensex above 38,300 mark

Local equity markets after a marginally positive start have started firming up in the morning trade with benchmarks trading higher by over half a percent. Most of the sectoral indices on the BSE were trading in green, while a mild weakness in IT and TECK sector was visible. Apart from blue chips, broader indices too equally participated in the rally with both mid cap and small cap indices trading up by 0.89% and 0.57% respectively. Sentiment improved on the growth track after Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) report showed that India’s foreign exchange reserves increased by $4.239 billion to hit a record high of $437.833 billion as on October 4. Some strength also came in from a report that a high-level panel constituted by the government to suggest measures to augment GST revenue collection will hold its first meeting on October 15. Sentiments got a boost after India and China decided to set up a ministerial-level mechanism to resolve issues relating to trade, investment and services. However, traders ignored World Bank’s report that after a broad-based deceleration in the initial quarters of this fiscal, India’s growth rate is projected to fall to 6% in 2019-20, in what was the sharpest downward revisions of its growth projections for South Asian countries.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading higher, as investors were heartened by announcement of a partial trade deal between the US and China. Back home, on the sectoral front, infrastructure related stocks were in focus as a private report stated that infrastructure sector saw fresh investments of only around Rs 30,000 crore in September, which is the lowest in the financial year 2019-20. Fresh investments in September were down nearly 68% from a year ago.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 38344.60, up by 217.52 points or 0.57% after trading in a range of 38066.13 and 38364.04. There were 27 stocks advancing against 3 stocks declining, while 1 stock remain unchanged on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.89%, while Small cap index was up by 0.57%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 2.58%, Metal up by 1.94%, Basic Materials up by 1.45%, Telecom up by 1.28% and Auto was up by 1.11%, while IT down by 0.64% and TECK was down by 0.37% were the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Motors up by 5.73%, Tata Motors - DVR up by 4.92%, Tata Steel up by 3.49%, Vedanta up by 3.30% and IndusInd Bank was up by 2.51%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 2.92%, Bajaj Finance down by 0.87% and Power Grid was down by 0.42% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, with an aim to achieve the target of more than doubling the share of natural gas in its energy base to 15 percent by 2030, Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has said India is investing over $60 billion in developing natural gas supply and distribution infrastructure. Natural gas currently constitutes 6.2 percent of all energy consumption in the country. He said natural gas is gradually becoming a bridging fuel for low carbon economy in India. He added city gas distribution network will soon cover 70 percent of India's population.

The minister said the government is giving special impetus to develop gas infrastructure across the length and breadth of the country connecting north to south and east to west parts of India. He also stated government is exploring strategic partnerships for overall development of oil & gas sector. The role of private sector - both domestic and from abroad, for bringing in investments with necessary innovations for future energy landscape in the country, will remain crucial.

Besides, he said energy is integral to achieving the target of early doubling the size of Indian economy to $5 trillion by 2024. Talking of key challenges confronting the energy sector, he said ‘the foremost challenge of our time is the Energy Trilemma. It is about providing - sustainably, securely, and affordably-sufficient energy to our growing population’. Secondly, in recent times, significant uncertainty and challenge were witnessed in the global energy markets. He said ‘we have seen the most disruptive developments. US sanctions on Iran and Venezuela, attacks on Saudi oil processing units, volatile conditions in Strait of Hormuz, unrest in the Middle-East, and US-China trade war, to name a few.’

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11372.45, up by 67.40 points or 0.60% after trading in a range of 11290.05 and 11377.45. There were 42 stocks advancing against 7 stocks declining, while 1 stock remain unchanged on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Motors up by 5.85%, Tata Steel up by 3.70%, Vedanta up by 3.43%, JSW Steel up by 3.34% and IndusInd Bank was up by 2.61%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 2.84%, UPL down by 1.44%, Cipla down by 1.03%, GAIL India down by 0.92% and Bajaj Finance was down by 0.90% were the top losers.

All Asian markets were trading higher, Hang Seng increased 255.16 points or 0.97% to 26,563.60, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 180.43 points or 1.66% to 11,070.39, Shanghai Composite gained 41.06 points or 1.38% to 3,014.72, KOSPI rose 24.76 points or 1.21% to 2,069.37, Jakarta Composite soared 17.10 points or 0.28% to 6,122.90 and Straits Times advanced 11.19 points or 0.36% to 3,125.16.