Sensex, Nifty hold strong gains in late afternoon deals

Tracking firm European markets, Indian equity bourses held their strong gains in late afternoon session. Domestic sentiments remained positive, as the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) forecasted Indian economy to grow 6.2% in 2020 and further to 6.4% in 2021. Traders also remained encouraged, after the share of foreign portfolio investments (FPI) in domestic capital markets through participatory notes (P-notes) jumped to Rs 76,773 crore at the end of October from Rs 76,611 crore at September-end.

On the global front, European markets were trading in green, after Turkey manufacturing capacity utilization rate rose further in November. The figures from the Turkish central bank showed that the capacity utilization rate rose to 77.2 percent in November from 76.4 percent in October. Asian markets were also trading in green.

Back home, banking stocks were remain in watch, after rating agency, Moody’s said that to allow bankruptcy proceedings against non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) is positive for banks as its paves the way for orderly resolution of stressed shadow banks.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 40812.09, up by 452.68 points or 1.12% after trading in a range of 40393.90 and 40868.30. There were 26 stocks advancing against 5 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 1.02%, while Small cap index was up by 0.61%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 5.67%, Metal up by 3.24%, Basic Materials up by 1.96%, Auto up by 1.87% and Realty up by 1.58%, while there were no losing sectoral indices on the BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel up by 5.77%, Tata Steel up by 4.73%, Indusind Bank up by 3.15%, Axis Bank up by 2.91% and Vedanta up by 2.60%. On the flip side, ONGC down by 1.72%, Yes Bank down by 0.54%, Power Grid down by 0.30%, ITC down by 0.22% and TCS down by 0.03% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, raising the prospect of economic growth recovering to just under 6.5% by next financial year (2020-21), the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has forecasted Indian economy to grow 6.2% in 2020 and further to 6.4% in 2021.

The Organisation further noted that India's monetary and fiscal policies have become accommodative as election-related uncertainties fade. As per the OECD Economic Outlook's second edition for 2019, New Delhi's income support scheme for farmers and good monsoon are supporting private consumption, while corporate income tax rate cut will support corporate investment.

Besides, OECD is expecting Inflation and the current account deficit to remain moderate given the relatively large spare capacity in the economy and low oil prices. However, it said that job creation remains a challenge. It also underlined that overall, India has succeeded in seizing some of the market shares lost by other countries and exports have proved relatively resilient.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 12057.15, up by 142.75 points or 1.20% after trading in a range of 11919.75 and 12067.05. There were 42 stocks advancing against 8 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bharti Infratel up by 7.50%, Bharti Airtel up by 5.81%, Tata Steel up by 4.99%, Hindalco up by 4.44% and JSW Steel up by 3.82%. On the flip side, Zee Entertainment down by 3.57%, ONGC down by 1.68%, Yes Bank down by 1.39%, Power Grid down by 0.35% and Wipro down by 0.25% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Hang Seng increased 400.80 points or 1.51% to 26,995.88, Nikkei 225 surged 179.93 points or 0.78% to 23,292.81, KOSPI rose 21.54 points or 1.02% to 2,123.50, Shanghai Composite gained 14.69 points or 0.51% to 2,899.98 and Straits Times was up by 5.50 points or 0.17% to 3,231.15. On the flip side, Taiwan Weighted dropped 5.22 points or 0.05% to 11,561.58 and Jakarta Composite was down by 18.01 points or 0.3% to 6,082.23.

All European markets were trading in green; FTSE gained 43.16 points or 0.59% to 7,369.97, CAC rose 29.87 points or 0.51% to 5,923.00 and DAX was up by 51.60 points or 0.39% to 13,215.48.