Firm trade persists over Dalal Street

Firm trade continued over Dalal Street in late afternoon session, with Sensex and Nifty gaining around 0.65% each, on the back of positive opening of European markets. Traders were optimistic with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement that despite recession at the global level, BRICS countries accelerated economic growth, drove millions out of poverty and achieved new breakthroughs in technology and innovation. Adding some comfort, Union MSME Minister Nitin Gadkari said the government will create a special financial scheme for 10 industry segments which are import-driven.

On the global front, European markets were trading in green, as Finland's economy expanded at a stable rate in the third quarter. The preliminary estimates from Statistics Finland showed that gross domestic product grew a seasonally adjusted 0.5 percent from the previous quarter. In the second quarter, the economy had expanded 0.5 percent. Asian markets were also trading in green.

Back home, steel sectors stocks were in watch, as Union Steel Minister Dharmendra Pradhan stressed on the need to make India self-sufficient in high grade steel and sought collective efforts of the industry to make the sector future-ready.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 40557.50, up by 271.02 points or 0.67% after trading in a range of 40396.91 and 40650.06. There were 17 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining, while 1 stock remain unchanged on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.78%, while Small cap index was up by 0.05%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 8.40%, Bankex up by 1.32%, PSU up by 0.97%, TECK up by 0.93% and Healthcare up by 0.93%, while Power down by 0.36%, FMCG down by 0.21%, Oil & Gas down by 0.06%, IT down by 0.06% and Utilities down by 0.05% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel up by 8.64%, SBI up by 5.24%, Tata Motors - DVR up by 2.15%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.91% and Sun Pharma up by 1.69%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 1.19%, ITC down by 1.04%, Tech Mahindra down by 0.96%, Vedanta down by 0.90% and Hero MotoCorp down by 0.72% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, seeking collective efforts of the industry to make the steel sector future-ready, Union Steel Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has said that India needs to be self-sufficient in high grade steel. He further noted that metals, including steel, continue to play a vital role in building India a modern economy.

Pradhan also underlined a strong positive correlation between steel usage and a nation's economic growth, adding that the steel sector will have a key role to play in the making of a New India envisioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Besides, he mentioned that the National Steel Policy 2017 was formulated to create a more self-sufficient and globally competitive steel industry with a crude steel capacity of 300 million tonnes by 2030.

Further, Union Steel Minister said that the next trajectory of growth, fuelled by the government's key focus on building infrastructure for future, creating smart cities, industrial corridors and so forth will further boost steel consumption.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11947.60, up by 75.50 points or 0.64% after trading in a range of 11899.15 and 11973.65. There were 23 stocks advancing against 26 stocks declining, while 1 stock remain unchanged on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bharti Airtel up by 9.02%, Bharti Infratel up by 8.41%, SBI up by 5.29%, Cipla up by 3.15% and Grasim Industries up by 3.13%. On the flip side, Indian Oil Corporation down by 3.11%, UPL down by 1.64%, Indusind Bank down by 1.37%, BPCL down by 1.31% and Vedanta down by 1.15% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Hang Seng rose 56.68 points or 0.22% to 26,380.37, Nikkei 225 surged 161.77 points or 0.7% to 23,303.32, Jakarta Composite soared 31.51 points or 0.52% to 6,130.46, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 75.18 points or 0.66% to 11,525.60, Straits Times advanced 4.71 points or 0.15% to 3,236.56 and KOSPI was up by 22.95 points or 1.07% to 2,162.18. On the flip side, Shanghai Composite was down by 9.74 points or 0.33% to 2,900.13.

All European markets were trading in green; FTSE gained 16.28 points or 0.22% to 7,309.04, CAC rose 35.69 points or 0.60% to 5,936.77 and DAX was up by 33.09 points or 0.25% to 13,213.32.