Local bourses continue to trade in green

Local equity markets maintained their positive momentum in the early noon session, as gains in IT, TECK and Metal stocks. Traders took some solace with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s statement that India is impacted to some extent by the global economic slowdown but expressed confidence that the country will come out of the difficult situation within a short time. However, the broader markets were trading in under pressure.  On the sectoral front, coal sector remained in focus with report that demand for coal will remain steady over the next four years due to demand from Asia, which comes despite fears of the climate crisis. Global coal demand has rebounded since 2017. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green as US industry data showed a surprise build in crude stocks, but hopes for firmer demand next year checked a deeper fall in prices. In scrip specific development, AXISCADES Engineering Technologies zoomed on wining key engagement with Airbus and Sunteck Realty surges on launching 225 apartments in first tower in 4th Avenue SunteckCity.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 41398.31, up by 46.14 points or 0.11% after trading in a range of 41358.47 and 41480.91. There were 15 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index declined 0.40%, while Small cap index was down by 0.02%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 1.02%, TECK up by 0.70%, Metal up by 0.48%, Healthcare up by 0.31% and Energy was up by 0.15%, while Utilities down by 0.92%, PSU down by 0.92%, Telecom down by 0.90%, Power down by 0.74% and FMCG was down by 0.58% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.01%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.38%, TCS up by 1.23%, Tata Motors up by 1.22% and Tata Steel up by 1.14%. On the flip side, Hindustan Unilever down by 2.70%, Yes Bank down by 1.68%, SBI down by 1.55%, NTPC down by 0.87% and ICICI Bank down by 0.86% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, former Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor D Subbarao has asked the government to ensure fiscal deficit is within the targeted number and warned that fiscal profligacy can lead to crisis situations. The comments weeks after official data showed that the government has exhausted 107 percent of the budgeted deficit gap of 3.4 percent with five months to go for the fiscal end.

Subbarao has pointed out that a higher fiscal deficit fuels inflation, crowds out private investment and impairs Balance of Payments (BoP) by resulting in current account deficit-related issues. He also stated that BoP-related issues, including the 1991 financial crisis and also the taper tantrums of 2013 during his governorship of the RBI can be traced back to fiscal profligacy. He added that both the quantum of fiscal deficit and quality of fiscal deficit are a cause for concern.

Former RBI Governor further said “the true picture of the fiscal deficit may not be visible to all of us because of aspects like off-balance sheet borrowings by quasi-sovereign entities and also due to payment deferrals.” He also pointed out that the nominal GDP growth has fallen to as low as 6.1 percent, and explained that it would have a direct impact on the revenue collections both at the Centre as well as the state level, which can impact the fiscal deficit situation.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 12176.45, up by 11.45 points or 0.09% after trading in a range of 12163.45 and 12199.05. There were 22 stocks advancing against 27 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.01%, Wipro up by 1.74%, JSW Steel up by 1.66%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.34% and TCS up by 1.31%. On the flip side, Hindustan Unilever down by 2.64%, GAIL India down by 2.46%, Zee Entertainment down by 1.70%, SBI down by 1.59% and Yes Bank down by 1.58% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Taiwan Weighted strengthened 18.96 points or 0.16% to 12,115.97, Jakarta Composite soared 11.67 points or 0.19% to 6,256.02, Hang Seng increased 9.79 points or 0.04% to 27,853.50, Straits Times advanced 9.65 points or 0.3% to 3,210.45 and Shanghai Composite gained 3.76 points or 0.12% to 3,026.18. On the flip side, KOSPI fell 1.27 points or 0.06% to 2,194.41 and Nikkei 225 was down by 122.73 points or 0.51% to 23,943.39.