Sensex, Nifty trade in green

Indian equity benchmarks were trading in green terrain during late afternoon session, on account of firm European markets. Traders remained positive with the minister of Railways, Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal’s statement that the country’s service sector can help achieve the Central government’s target of $5 trillion Gross Domestic Product (GDP). However, investors were seen taking a note of Moody's Investors Service’s latest report stating that Indian states face difficulties in reducing deficits, constraining the country's ability to meet medium-term fiscal consolidation goals as economic growth slows.

On the global front, European markets were trading in green, after France consumer confidence strengthened to a 29-month high in November. The survey results from the statistical office Insee showed that the consumer sentiment index climbed unexpectedly to 106 in November from 104 in October. Asian markets were also trading in green, after Hong Kong's trade deficit decreased in October as the fall in imports exceeded the drop in exports. The data from the Census and Statistics Department showed that the trade deficit fell to HK$30.59 billion in October from HK$44.49 billion in the same month last year.

Back home, the auto industry stocks were in watch, after Auto industry body, the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) signed a pact with Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association (KAMA) for cooperation and support in promoting a sustainable, safe, clean, affordable and efficient automobile industry. Further, steel stocks also remained in focus, as Steel Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said that crude steel production capacity has increased by over 32 million tonnes during the last five years and it is being further expanded by 28 million tonnes per annum.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 40960.58, up by 139.28 points or 0.34% after trading in a range of 40848.70 and 41075.76. There were 25 stocks advancing against 6 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.52%, while Small cap index was up by 0.10%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Auto up by 1.13%, Basic Materials up by 1.00%, Metal up by 0.83%, Oil & Gas up by 0.63% and Energy up by 0.52%, while Capital Goods down by 1.20%, Realty down by 1.08%, Telecom down by 0.46%, Industrials down by 0.33% and Power down by 0.14% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Yes Bank up by 7.02%, HCL Tech. up by 1.89%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.87%, Tata Motors up by 1.83% and Sun Pharma up by 1.62%. On the flip side, Larsen & Toubro down by 2.22%, Tata Steel down by 0.84%, ICICI Bank down by 0.82%, NTPC down by 0.77% and ITC down by 0.60% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, expressing concerns, global rating agency, Moody's Investors Service in its latest report has said that Indian states face difficulties in reducing deficits, constraining the country's ability to meet medium-term fiscal consolidation goals as economic growth slows.

According to the report, state-level deficits will be high at about 3 per cent of GDP for the fiscal year ending March 2020, due to persistent spending pressures and slowing economic growth. Without policy changes, the rating agency expects states' deficits to stay around current levels which will continue to challenge general government (combined central and state) fiscal consolidation.

Besides, Moody's noted that as a percentage of GDP, states' outstanding debt will remain around 25 per cent in fiscal 2019 and 2020. The agency expressed need of significant expenditure cuts and much higher revenue growth to achieve the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act baseline scenario of debt-GDP reaching 20 per cent by 2024-25.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 12083.25, up by 45.55 points or 0.38% after trading in a range of 12055.15 and 12108.50. There were 38 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Yes Bank up by 7.84%, Ultratech Cement up by 2.87%, HCL Tech. up by 2.17%, Hindalco up by 2.04% and Tata Motors up by 2.02%. On the flip side, Bharti Infratel down by 2.51%, Cipla down by 2.27%, Larsen & Toubro down by 2.22%, Tata Steel down by 0.78% and ITC down by 0.78% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Taiwan Weighted strengthened 70.64 points or 0.61% to 11,647.46, Nikkei 225 surged 64.45 points or 0.28% to 23,437.77, KOSPI rose 6.50 points or 0.31% to 2,127.85, Jakarta Composite soared 6.04 points or 0.1% to 6,032.23 and Straits Times was up by 4.76 points or 0.15% to 3,212.61. On the flip side, Shanghai Composite declined 5.18 points or 0.18% to 2,901.88 and Hang Seng was down by 12.94 points or 0.05% to 26,900.98.

All European markets were trading in green; FTSE rose 22.63 points or 0.31% to 7,425.77, CAC gained 2.61 points or 0.04% to 5,932.23 and DAX was up by 5.26 points or 0.04% to 13,241.68.