Markets continue to trade in high spirit

Indian equity markets continued to trade higher in early noon session amid firming trend in other Asian markets. Appreciation in Indian rupee too aided the sentiment. Rupee gained 29 paise at 71.41 against the dollar at this point of time on increased selling of the US currency by exporters. Meanwhile, World Bank has projected a 5% growth rate for India in the 2019-2020 fiscal, but said it was likely to recover to 5.8 per cent in the following financial year. On the global front, Asian markets were trading higher in tandem with positive Wall Street followed by the remarks by US President that Iranian missile strikes on bases in Iraq had not harmed any US troops, and that Tehran appeared to be standing down.

Back home, the broader markets were outperforming the larger peers with BSE Mid-cap and Small-cap indices trading up by 1.20% and 1.50%, respectively. In sectoral front, fertilizer stocks were in limelight amid expectations of strong earnings growth in the October-December quarter (Q3FY20). The market breadth on BSE was positive, out of 2364 stocks traded, 1651 stocks advanced, while 546 stocks declined on the BSE.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 41319.57, up by 501.83 points or 1.23% after trading in a range of 41175.72 and 41361.91. There were 28 stocks advancing against 2 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 1.20%, while Small cap index was up by 1.50%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Industrials up by 1.98%, Telecom up by 1.94%, Capital Goods up by 1.83%, Auto up by 1.78% and Realty was up by 1.75%, while IT was down by 0.03% was the lone losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Indusind Bank up by 2.74%, SBI up by 2.55%, ICICI Bank up by 2.50%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.31% and Larsen & Toubro was up by 2.10%. On the flip side, TCS down by 1.55% and HCL Tech was down by 0.47% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, observing that the nature of the economy is cyclical, the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) President Sangita Reddy has suggested the government to infuse more capital in the economy to re-energise it without worrying about the fiscal deficit target as the GDP growth is projected to slip to 11-year low of 5 percent during the current financial year (FY20). She noted that the 5 percent GDP growth estimate for FY20 is on expected lines as the economic expansion in the first half of the year has been moderate.

Reddy said ‘we hope to see some momentum in the latter part. In fact, there are nascent signs that point towards improvement and we need to make sure that these find a more solid footing going ahead.’ She also suggested that a time-bound plan must be put in place on the mechanics to repair fiscal deficit through different measures, including disinvestment in PSUs. She said ‘Ficci is of the view that the fiscal deficit target could be relaxed to support the infusion of Rs 1.5-2 lakh crore in the economy in the coming year, as such fiscal expansion is much needed at the current juncture to give a boost to demand and trigger investments.’

She further stated that the government aims to restrict the fiscal deficit to 3.3 percent of the GDP for the financial year ending March 2020. Referring to the forthcoming Union Budget 2020-21, she said the FICCI looks forward to the government continuing taking steps towards bridging the existing gaps and giving out positive signals to boost the sentiment, consumption, and investments.  

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 12172.90, up by 147.55 points or 1.23% after trading in a range of 12132.55 and 12187.30. There were 43 stocks advancing against 4 stocks declining, while 3 stocks remain unchanged on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bharti Infratel up by 4.66%, Tata Motors up by 3.20%, Zee Entertainment up by 3.01%, JSW Steel up by 2.86% and Indusind Bank was up by 2.72%. On the flip side, TCS down by 1.59%, Coal India down by 0.67%, Britannia Industries down by 0.45% and HCL Tech was down by 0.42% were the top losers.

All Asian markets were trading in green; Hang Seng increased 340.83 points or 1.21% to 28,428.75, KOSPI rose 23.81 points or 1.11% to 2,175.12, Shanghai Composite gained 22.94 points or 0.75% to 3,089.83, Straits Times advanced 8.74 points or 0.27% to 3,254.63, Nikkei 225 surged 539.28 points or 2.32% to 23,744.04, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 153.53 points or 1.3% to 11,970.63 and Jakarta Composite was up by 14.05 points or 0.23% to 6,239.74.