Sensex, Nifty trade above neutral lines

Indian equity benchmarks were trading above their neutral lines in late afternoon session, despite weak cues from European markets. Traders were getting relief amid report that the rise of Asia on the back of its rapid industrialisation will lead to a shift in the balance of global economic power by 2050. The street also took a note of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s statement that the growth may have slowed down but the economy will never slip into recession. She added that steps taken by the government post her maiden budget have started bearing fruits and some sectors such as automobiles have shown signs of recovery.

On the global front, European markets were trading in red, after the UK service sector sentiment weakened in three months to November. The survey data from the Confederation of British Industry showed that among business and professional services, sentiment about the general business situation continued to deteriorate. But the pace of decline slowed to -20 percent from -31 percent. Asian markets were also trading in red.

Back home, telecom stocks were in focus, as the government said it has no plans to reduce prices of 5G spectrum for the upcoming auction. Industry bodies and telecom operators have been demanding a revision in the proposed base price for 5G spectrum auction, claiming that the rate was too high.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 41068.03, up by 47.42 points or 0.12% after trading in a range of 40996.08 and 41163.79. There were 12 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining, while 2 stocks remained unchanged on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.86%, while Small cap index was up by 0.36%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 2.12%, Metal up by 1.90%, PSU up by 1.15%, Basic Materials up by 1.05% and Capital Goods up by 0.90%, while Auto down by 0.30% and Consumer Disc down by 0.01% were the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Yes Bank up by 2.78%, Tata Steel up by 2.46%, ICICI Bank up by 2.24%, Indusind Bank up by 1.82% and SBI up by 1.64%. On the flip side, Hero MotoCorp down by 1.67%, Tata Motors - DVR down by 1.55%, HDFC down by 1.45%, HDFC Bank down by 0.79% and Bajaj Finance down by 0.75% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, amid sluggish economic growth and slowing earnings, global rating agency, Moody's Investors Service in its latest report has said that credit conditions will weaken for most Indian non-financial companies in 2020. Upside factors for Moody's outlook on India’s non-financial companies include a ramp up of government’s stimulus measures aimed at reviving consumption demand, and better funding and market liquidity conditions whereby domestic demand and consumer funding both get a boost.

As per the report, continued depreciation of the rupee against the US dollar has limited negative credit implications for rated companies, as most have natural hedges in place. Besides, refinancing risk for long-term debt maturities remains manageable for most rated companies, although they are reliant on continued annual rollovers of short-term working-capital financing. It also said that funding conditions also remain tight, slowing demand for consumer goods & leaving banks selective in extending loans to companies.

The rating agency is further expecting stable conditions for the infrastructure sector, on the back of their strong market positions and long-term contracts with availability-linked revenue, where they get paid in full regardless of product demand as long as they can deliver the full contracted service. Moody's also noted that credit quality of infrastructure issuers will remain stable.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 12128.10, up by 27.40 points or 0.23% after trading in a range of 12099.95 and 12144.40. There were 27 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bharti Infratel up by 10.12%, UPL up by 4.65%, JSW Steel up by 3.83%, Yes Bank up by 2.78% and Tata Steel up by 2.44%. On the flip side, Zee Entertainment down by 4.59%, Hero MotoCorp down by 1.80%, HDFC down by 1.49%, Tata Motors down by 0.84% and Bajaj Finance down by 0.80% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading in red; Taiwan Weighted dropped 30.38 points or 0.26% to 11,617.08, Nikkei 225 slipped 28.63 points or 0.12% to 23,409.14, KOSPI fell 9.25 points or 0.43% to 2,118.60, Jakarta Composite lost 20.12 points or 0.33% to 6,002.92, Straits Times trembled 11.99 points or 0.37% to 3,203.54, Shanghai Composite declined 17.90 points or 0.62% to 2,885.29 and Hang Seng was down by 43.00 points or 0.16% to 26,911.00.

All European markets were trading in red; FTSE lost 40.17 points or 0.54% to 7,389.61, CAC fell 15.34 points or 0.26% to 5,911.50 and DAX was down by 42.40 points or 0.32% to 13,244.67.