Key benchmark indices continued to trade higher in afternoon session, on the back of firm trend in the global markets coupled with sustained buying by domestic institutional investors. Sentiments remained positive with Economist Intelligence Unit’s report stating that India and China are projected to see accelerated economic growth in the fourth quarter of this year, bucking trends in the US and the European Union. It added that the real GDP growth of India in the December-ending quarter is expected to be the highest among G7 and BRICS nations. In the third quarter, India's real GDP growth is estimated to be 1% on a quarter-on-quarter basis and is projected to rise to 2.20% in the fourth quarter. Besides, healthy earnings posted by some bluechip companies along with an appreciating rupee against the dollar in early trade, helped in building positive sentiments. On the sectoral front, sugar stocks remained in focus with report that the government's Rs 15,000-crore soft loan programme for sugar mills to set up ethanol units is moving at a very slow pace as banks have so far disbursed only about Rs 800 crore.
On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green, after the US Federal Reserve cut interest rates as expected to keep economic expansion on track. Back home, the BSE Sensex is currently trading at 40245.44, up by 193.57 points or 0.48% after trading in a range of 40178.25 and 40344.99. There were 17 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.
The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.75%, while Small cap index was up by 1.00%.
The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 2.13%, TECK up by 1.99%, Realty up by 1.29%, PSU up by 1.20% and Basic Materials up by 0.92%, while Energy down by 0.32%, FMCG down by 0.21%, Telecom down by 0.06%, Capital Goods down by 0.02% and Power down by 0.01% were the top losing indices on BSE.
The top gainers on the Sensex were Infosys up by 4.58%, SBI up by 4.38%, Tata Motors up by 3.55%, Tata Motors - DVR up by 2.38% and Sun Pharma up by 1.27%. On the flip side, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.18%, Axis Bank down by 1.16%, Tech Mahindra down by 0.97%, Tata Steel down by 0.91% and ITC down by 0.91% were the top losers.
Meanwhile, with an aim to protect the domestic players, the Government of India has started a probe into alleged exports subsidization on a particular kind of rubber by South Korea, which is impacting the domestic industry.
The Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) which ensures a level playing field to the Domestic Industry against the adverse impact of the unfair trade practices, has initiated an investigation following complaints by domestic firms. Indian Synthetic Rubber and Reliance Industries have filed an application before the directorate alleging subsidization of this rubber from Korea.
In the probe, DGTR would determine whether the subsidy programs of South Korea for exports of 'Styrene Butadiene Rubber' is impacting the domestic industry. The directorate will determine the existence, degree, and effect of alleged subsidization.
If it will be established that subsidies by Korea are impacting the domestic industry, the DGTR would recommend the amount of countervailing duty, which if levied, would be adequate to remove the injury to the domestic industry. The period of investigation is from April 2018 to March 2019 (12 months). However, the investigation will cover the data of 2015-18.
The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11904.05, up by 59.95 points or 0.51% after trading in a range of 11883.05 and 11927.85. There were 31 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index.
The top gainers on Nifty were Zee Entertainment up by 7.42%, SBI up by 4.57%, Infosys up by 4.55%, Tata Motors up by 3.66% and Grasim Industries up by 3.34%. On the flip side, Bharti Infratel down by 1.45%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.30%, Axis Bank down by 1.17%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.15% and Tata Steel down by 1.06% were the top losers.
Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Hang Seng increased 191.94 points or 0.72% to 26,859.65, Nikkei 225 surged 83.92 points or 0.37% to 22,927.04, Straits Times advanced 20.94 points or 0.65% to 3,228.86 and KOSPI rose 3.21 points or 0.15% to 2,083.48.
On the flip side, Shanghai Composite declined 9.75 points or 0.33% to 2,929.57, Taiwan Weighted dropped 21.57 points or 0.19% to 11,358.71 and Jakarta Composite lost 35.80 points or 0.57% to 6,259.95.
