Bourses maintain upbeat mood in afternoon deals

Indian equity indices maintained their upbeat mood in afternoon session, tracking positive cues from other Asian markets amid heavy buying by domestic institutional investors. Sentiments remained up-beat with the Industry body Ficci stating that the government should infuse capital in the economy without worrying about the fiscal deficit target as the GDP growth is estimated to slip to 11-year low of 5% during 2019-20. Softening crude oil prices also added to the positive mood on Dalal Street as India relies heavily on oil imports. Traders also took a note of India Ratings and Research stating that the country will have to increase its labour productivity growth to 6.3 percent to attain 8 percent economic growth. The labour productivity growth in FY19 was 5.2 percent. On the sectoral front, banking stocks remained in limelight with report that the banking sector is going to see good recoveries from non-performing assets in the third and fourth quarters of the current fiscal (FY20), helped by resolution of some large stressed accounts. It said the time taken for resolution of bad loans is also likely to reduce going ahead with a stronger resolution mechanism.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading in green as the US and Iran backed away from the brink of further conflict escalation in the Middle East. Back home, the BSE Sensex is currently trading at 41375.17, up by 557.43 points or 1.37% after trading in a range of 41175.72 and 41378.23. There were 26 stocks advancing against 4 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 1.42%, while Small cap index was up by 1.49%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 2.28%, Bankex up by 2.14%, Industrials up by 1.99%, Auto up by 1.89% and Capital Goods was up by 1.82%, while there were no losing indices on BSE sectoral front.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ICICI Bank up by 3.17%, Indusind Bank up by 3.13%, SBI up by 3.08%, Axis Bank up by 2.37% and Bajaj Finance was up by 2.24%. On the flip side, TCS down by 1.59%, HCL Technologies down by 0.45%, ONGC down by 0.36% and NTPC was down by 0.33% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has said that the government’s move to further open coal mining sector and allowing non-coal companies to participate in auctions without end-use restrictions, will help boost both production and mining efficiency besides substituting import of coal worth about Rs 30,000 crore. That apart, it said the move will create more employment opportunities as mining is a highly employment intensive sector.

CII President Vikram Kirloskar has stated that allowing 100 per cent FDI in coal mining will help India not only to harness its coal reserves, which were earlier available only for captive use of steel and power, but also help many leading foreign players establish operations in India with their new age technology in mining. He noted that this will help unleash another source of energy in times of uncertainty in global oil prices due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

During 2018-19, around 125 million tonnes of thermal coal was imported by India, resulting in a forex outgo of around $8 billion (about Rs 57,000 crore). Further, the CII hailed the amendments made to the MMDR Act extending the validity period of clearances for two years for mining leases expiring in 2020. This will not only facilitate smooth transition of the leases to the new lessee but will also reduce the shortage of minerals and avoid the disruption of mining activity in the country. 

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 12189.80, up by 164.45 points or 1.37% after trading in a range of 12132.55 and 12192.60. There were 42 stocks advancing against 8 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bharti Infratel up by 3.94%, JSW Steel up by 3.64%, Tata Motors up by 3.37%, Zee Entertainment up by 3.35% and ICICI Bank was up by 3.13%. On the flip side, TCS down by 1.63%, Coal India down by 1.17%, HCL Technologies down by 0.43%, Wipro down by 0.37% and NTPC was down by 0.33% were the top losers.

All Asian markets were trading in green; Nikkei 225 surged 535.11 points or 2.31% to 23,739.87, Hang Seng increased 380.72 points or 1.36% to 28,468.64, Straits Times advanced 5.65 points or 0.17% to 3,251.54, KOSPI rose 35.14 points or 1.63% to 2,186.45, Shanghai Composite gained 22.18 points or 0.72% to 3,089.07, Jakarta Composite soared 19.72 points or 0.32% to 6,245.41 and Taiwan Weighted was up by 153.53 points or 1.3% to 11,970.63.