Bourses manage to keep heads above water

Indian equity bourses managed to keep their heads above water in late afternoon session, tracking firm European markets. Traders were seen taking support with State Bank of India’s report that credit growth in the system has picked up rapid pace beginning September 2019 after lagging behind for several months in a row, on the back of demand from housing, non-banking financial companies (NBFC) and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) sectors. However, upper side remained capped, as a top American think tank said that India's growth is in barely positive territory, noting that several key indicators are not just slowing down, but in absolute decline.

On the global front, European markets were trading in green, as the Euro area economy grew more than expected in the third quarter, despite a global slowdown and uncertainties surrounding Brexit. The preliminary flash estimate from Eurostat showed that gross domestic product expanded 0.2 percent sequentially, the same rate as seen in the second quarter. Asian markets were also trading in green.

Back home, sugar stocks were in watch, as the government has fixed sugar sale quota of 20.5 lakh tonne for November. As per the notification, 535 mills have been allocated 20.5 lakh tonne of sugar for sale in the current month. This quota is 1.5 lakh tonne less as compared to the allocation for November 2018.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 40182.09, up by 53.04 points or 0.13% after trading in a range of 40014.23 and 40283.30. There were 18 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.50%, while Small cap index was up by 0.52%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 1.80%, Realty up by 1.18%, Basic Materials up by 0.99%, Telecom up by 0.93% and Bankex up by 0.80%, while Consumer Durables down by 0.97%, IT down by 0.63%, Auto down by 0.56%, Energy down by 0.55% and Oil & Gas down by 0.52% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Indusind Bank up by 4.82%, Tata Steel up by 4.02%, Tech Mahindra up by 2.38%, ITC up by 1.67% and Axis Bank up by 1.17%. On the flip side, Yes Bank down by 3.26%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 3.02%, TCS down by 2.86%, Asian Paints down by 2.34% and HCL Tech. down by 1.11% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, with an efforts to provide much-needed liquidity to stressed Non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), the Finance Ministry has said public sector banks (PSBs) have extended support of Rs 2.56 lakh crore to the sector by way of credit and pooled buyout since September 2018.

As per the report released by the Ministry, under the partial guarantee scheme, PSBs have been accorded sanction to purchase Rs 21,580 crore worth of pooled assets as on October 16. Further, Finance Ministry mentioned about several short and long-term measures announced by the finance minister in three phases between August 23 and September 14, to boost the economy, adding that out of the total 44 measures announced, 16 have been fulfilled. It also said that the rest of the announcements are under active consideration by relevant ministries.

Besides, Finance Ministry said action on one out of three announcements made for the housing sector has been completed and the other two are being taken up. In respect to GST refund to MSMEs within 30 days, Ministry underlined that a refund drive was organized and the tax department paid Rs 10,490 crore or 97 per cent of total pending amount of Rs 10,841 crore.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11894.00, up by 16.55 points or 0.14% after trading in a range of 11843.35 and 11918.30. There were 26 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Zee Entertainment up by 14.89%, Bharti Infratel up by 6.09%, Indusind Bank up by 4.71%, JSW Steel up by 4.36% and Tata Steel up by 4.10%. On the flip side, Yes Bank down by 3.34%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 3.08%, TCS down by 2.80%, Indian Oil Corporation down by 2.62% and Asian Paints down by 2.28% were the top losers.

Asian market were trading mostly in green; Hang Seng increased 161.12 points or 0.6% to 27,067.84, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 40.82 points or 0.36% to 11,399.53, Shanghai Composite gained 26.67 points or 0.91% to 2,955.73, KOSPI rose 16.72 points or 0.8% to 2,100.20 and Straits Times was up by 1.02 points or 0.03% to 3,230.90. On the global front, Jakarta Composite lost 23.74 points or 0.38% to 6,204.58 and Nikkei 225 was down by 76.27 points or 0.33% to 22,850.77.

All European markets were trading in green; FTSE gained 18.52 points or 0.26% to 7,266.90, CAC rose 16.31 points or 0.28% to 5,746.17 and DAX was up by 54.88 points or 0.43% to 12,921.67.