Markets trade higher in early deals; Nifty above 12,250 mark

Indian equity benchmarks continued their bull-run with slightly positive start and are trading higher with gains of around one fourth of a percent each in early deals on Thursday. Gains in Consumer Durables, PSU and Capital Goods stocks supported the markets. Sentiments got support as DPIIT Secretary Guruprasad Mohapatra expressed optimism that India will soon break into the top 50 in the World Bank's ease of doing business ranking. Traders took note of report that after the minutes of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting was released, rating agency Care Ratings said it is expecting another 25 basis points rate cut in February itself. Though, gains remained capped as cautiousness came in with Union Rural Development Minister Narendra Singh Tomar’s statement that the dream of India becoming a 5 trillion dollar economy cannot be achieved if the villages in the country are ignored. Meanwhile, the government has said the new Textiles Policy 2020 being formulated by the Centre is aimed at developing in the country a competitive textile sector which is modern, sustainable and inclusive.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading moistly in green, in thin pre-Christmas trading, as investors’ sentiment got a boot after US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said an initial US-China trade deal would be signed in early January. Mnuchin said the agreement had already been put down on paper and translated, and it would not be subject to renegotiation. Back home, aviation stocks were in focus with rating agency ICRA’s report that domestic passenger traffic growth is expected to decline to a six-year low of 4.5 percent in the current fiscal and the financial health of the aviation industry will continue to deteriorate. In stock specific development, Tata Chemicals gained after the company, through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Valley Holdings, Inc., has acquired the remaining 25% partnership interest from The Andover Group, Inc. in Tata Chemicals (Soda Ash) Partners Holdings.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 41791.62, up by 117.70 points or 0.28% after trading in a range of 41676.55 and 41809.96. There were 20 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.22%, while Small cap index was up by 0.36%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 0.84%, PSU up by 0.61%, Capital Goods up by 0.57%, Industrials up by 0.51% and Bankex was up by 0.50%, while FMCG down by 0.10%, Utilities down by 0.05%, Metal down by 0.02% and Power was down by 0.02% were the  few losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Yes Bank up by 2.30%, SBI up by 1.81%, Hero MotoCorp up by 1.60%, ICICI Bank up by 1.32% and Larsen & Toubro up by 0.91%. On the flip side, Vedanta down by 0.87%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.57%, Tata Motors - DVR down by 0.40%, ITC down by 0.37% and Bharti Airtel down by 0.36% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, expressing optimism over India’s ranking in ease of doing business, the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) Secretary Guruprasad Mohapatra has said that the country will soon break into the top 50 in the World Bank's (WB) ease of doing business ranking. Besides, India jumped 14 places to the 63rd position in the WB's ease of doing business ranking released in October. India was ranked 142nd among 190 nations when Prime Minister Narendra Modi took office in 2014.

He also said a district-wise ease of doing business plan is slowly evolving in which the four local bodies will partake in improving the business climate and ease of living, along with the centre and the state government. He sounded caution that once India does that, it will be in the league of advanced industrialised countries, where any incremental progress will require even stronger reform measures from the government.

Mohapatra further said that from next year onwards, the World Bank Ease of Doing Business (EODB) rankings will include two more cities of Bengaluru and Kolkata apart from the existing cities of Delhi and Mumbai. Meanwhile, in its 'Doing Business' 2020 report, the World Bank had commended the reform efforts undertaken by the country ‘given the size of India's economy’.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 12288.80, up by 29.10 points or 0.24% after trading in a range of 12252.75 and 12293.90. There were 35 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Yes Bank up by 3.61%, Bharti Infratel up by 3.28%, SBI up by 2.00%, Titan Company up by 1.72% and Hero MotoCorp up by 1.51%. On the flip side, Vedanta down by 0.84%, GAIL India down by 0.68%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.62%, Britannia Industries down by 0.42% and Hindustan Unilever down by 0.34% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Hang Seng increased 102.19 points or 0.37% to 27,902.68, Nikkei 225 surged 12.57 points or 0.05% to 23,877.42, Shanghai Composite gained 5.83 points or 0.19% to 3,022.90, KOSPI rose 4.31 points or 0.2% to 2,200.87 and Straits Times advanced 2.52 points or 0.08% to 3,209.94. On the flip side, Jakarta Composite lost 12.75 points or 0.2% to 6,237.18 and Taiwan Weighted was down by 23.39 points or 0.19% to 11,995.51.