Markets remain firm; Yes Bank gains most

Indian equity markets remained firm in late afternoon session, despite weak cues from European markets. Sentiments were positive with a report stating that India has emerged as third largest ecosystems for more successful start-ups right behind China and US but ahead of Britain and Israel. Traders continued to take encouragement with Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s statement that investors can find no better place in the world than India that has a democracy loving and capitalist respecting environment. She added that the government was continuously working to bring reforms.

On the global front, European markets were trading in red, after UK retail sales stagnated in September as consumers were cautious about spending amid uncertainties surrounding Brexit. The data from the Office for National Statistics revealed that retail sales volume, including auto fuel, was unchanged from the previous month, following a 0.3 percent drop in August. Sales were forecast to fall 0.2 percent. Asian markets were also trading in red.

Back home, auto industry stocks were in focus, after the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) said that passenger vehicle retail sales in September declined 20.1 per cent to 1,57,972 units against the same period last year as the onset of festival season and never-seen-before discounts failed to lift demand. Passenger vehicle (PV) sales stood at 1,97,653 units in September 2018.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 39346.62, up by 294.56 points or 0.75% after trading in a range of 38963.60 and 39361.06. There were 24 stocks advancing against 7 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 1.89%, while Small cap index was up by 1.61%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were PSU up by 2.42%, Capital Goods up by 2.30%, Power up by 2.26%, Industrials up by 1.95% and Energy up by 1.94%, while there were no losing sectoral indices on the BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Yes Bank up by 7.81%, Larsen & Toubro up by 2.00%, SBI up by 1.98%, Reliance Industries up by 1.90% and Power Grid up by 1.85%. On the flip side, Bajaj Auto down by 0.55%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.35%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.19%, Tata Motors down by 0.18% and HDFC down by 0.15% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, recognizing the role of innovation as a key driver of growth and prosperity for India, NITI Aayog with Institute for Competitiveness as the knowledge partner has released the India Innovation Index (III) 2019. The study report is an outcome of extensive research and analysis, which looks holistically at the innovation landscape of India by examining the innovation capabilities and performance of Indian states and union territories.

Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Telangana and Haryana have been ranked as top five most innovative major states in NITI Aayog's first Innovation Index. Chattisgarh, Bihar and Jharkhand are at the bottom of the index among states. Among north-eastern Hill states, Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand have top the index, while Delhi, Chandigarh and Goa have topped the list among Union Territories/City states/Small States.

Meanwhile, Vice Chairman of the NITI Aayog, Rajiv Kumar expressed hope that the India Innovation Index would create synergies between different stakeholders in the innovation ecosystem and India would shift to competitive good governance.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11648.10, up by 61.75 points or 0.53% after trading in a range of 11553.15 and 11684.70. There were 36 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Yes Bank up by 7.38%, BPCL up by 3.57%, Coal India up by 2.96%, Adani Ports & SEZ up by 2.92% and Grasim Industries up by 2.32%. On the flip side, Zee Entertainment down by 5.09%, Tata Motors down by 1.33%, Bajaj Auto down by 0.87%, Hindalco down by 0.66% and Bharti Airtel down by 0.57% 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.

European markets were trading mostly in red; FTSE lost 24.91 points or 0.35% to 7,157.41, CAC fell 19.13 points or 0.34% to 5,653.94, while DAX was up by 11.07 points or 0.09% to 12,666.02.