Benchmarks continue to trade higher in afternoon deals

Key benchmark indices continued to trade higher in the afternoon session on sustained buying, with the Sensex moving over the 39,250 and the Nifty above 11,650 marks. Trading sentiments remained optimistic with Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s statement there has been narrowing of trade differences between India and the US and hoped that the two countries be able to enter into a trade deal soon. Additional support also came with a private report that corporate tax rate cut is clearly a positive for India which would move the country up the ladder in terms of attractiveness for foreign direct investment. However, there was some cautiousness too with Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's statement that achieving the $5 trillion target for the economy, set by the Narendra Modi administration, is not possible under current circumstances, with annual growth projected to cool to 6% or slower according to some estimates. On the sectoral front, jewellery stocks were trading in green despite Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) stating that the overall gems and jewellery exports is expected to decline of 5-10 percent in this financial year on the back of US-China trade war, protests in Hong Kong and the implementation of VAT in the Middle East.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red, after China posted its weakest growth in nearly three decades, countering a global lift in sentiment on the UK and European Union striking a long-awaited Brexit deal. China's economy grew 6.0% in the third quarter, less than expected, and the weakest pace in at least 27-1/2 years. Back home, the BSE Sensex is currently trading at 39267.31, up by 215.25 points or 0.55% after trading in a range of 38963.60 and 39291.88. There were 21 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 1.58%, while Small cap index was up by 1.53%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Power up by 2.18%, Capital Goods up by 2.16%, Metal up by 2.09%, PSU up by 1.84% and Industrials was up by 1.70%, while there were no losing indices on BSE sectoral front.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Yes Bank up by 7.28%, Vedanta up by 2.43%, Reliance Industries up by 1.99%, Larsen & Toubro up by 1.87% and SBI was up by 1.34%. On the flip side, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.02%, Bajaj Auto down by 0.69%, Indusind Bank down by 0.58%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.51% and Tata Motors - DVR was down by 0.32% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, showing further slowdown in the aviation sector, the domestic air passenger traffic rose by just 1.18 percent in September 2019 as compared to the same month last year. According to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) data, domestic airlines flew 11.79 million passengers in September 2019, as against 11.35 million passengers carried in the same month of last year. In August 2019, the domestic passenger growth was 3.87 percent compared to the same month last year.

As per data, the passenger load factor of four major airlines -- Air India, GoAir, AirAsia and Vistara -- declined in September as compared to August last year. In terms of market share, IndiGo maintained its lead position with 48.2 percent share of the domestic passenger market in September. SpiceJet's market share fell to 14.7 percent in September from 15.5 percent in August, giving it the number two spot. The market share of Air India, GoAir, AirAsia and Vistara was 13 percent, 11.5 percent, 6.3 percent and 5.8 percent, respectively, in September.

DGCA further said ‘the numbers are disappointing. They have pulled down our projection (for 2018-19)...to 4-6 percent. The good news is that we have managed to withstand the sad exit of Jet Airways and maintained a positive growth despite three months of negative or almost flat growth.' It also said that the loss in the fleet on account of Jet Airways has largely been recovered and it expects an all-time high fleet of more than 616 aircraft in the air in a month's time from now. With some more aircrafts joining fleet by December 31, it also expects a return to double digit growth in the early part of next year.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11651.95, up by 65.60 points or 0.57% after trading in a range of 11553.15 and 11656.60. There were 36 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Yes Bank up by 7.28%, Adani Ports &SEZ up by 3.08%, Coal India up by 2.51%, Vedanta up by 2.16% and Larsen & Toubro was up by 2.09%. On the flip side, Zee Entertainment down by 6.52%, Tata Motors down by 1.00%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.96%, Eicher Motors down by 0.94% and Bajaj Auto was down by 0.93% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Hang Seng decreased 145.84 points or 0.54% to 26,702.65, Shanghai Composite declined 38.63 points or 1.3% to 2,938.70, KOSPI fell 17.25 points or 0.83% to 2,060.69, Straits Times trembled 12.88 points or 0.41% to 3,113.26 and Taiwan Weighted was down by 6.66 points or 0.06% to 11,180.22.

On the flip side, Jakarta Composite soared 7.96 points or 0.13% to 6,188.97 and Nikkei 225 was up by 40.82 points or 0.18% to 22,492.68.