Benchmarks extend gains in late morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks extended gains in late morning deals, supported by a rally in information technology (IT), Realty and Auto stocks. Sentiments remained up-beat with Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal’s statement that the country’s agriculture exports, which stood at over $50 billion at present, are likely to double by 2030 and reach $100 billion. He said that the country is targeting $2 trillion worth of exports of goods and services by 2030. Some support also came with report stating that the next round of talks for the proposed free trade agreement (FTA) between India and Oman will start from January 16 and the negotiations for the pact are progressing well. The talks on the text of most of the chapters have been concluded by both sides for the pact. On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly in green on the back of a sharp fall in oil prices overnight and easing bond yields on expectations of near-term interest rate cuts in the U.S. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 71961.21, up by 605.99 points or 0.85% after trading in a range of 71622.11 and 71964.71. 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 0.37%, while Small cap index was up by 0.73%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 1.37%, Realty up by 1.30%, Auto up by 1.05%, Power up by 1.05% and TECK up by 1.02%, while Telecom down by 0.08% was the lone losing index on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Motors up by 2.22%, HCL Technologies up by 1.73%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.56%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.46% and Wipro up by 1.46%. On the flip side, Nestle down by 0.69%, Ultratech Cement down by 0.09% and Maruti Suzuki down by 0.02% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has raised the minimum capital requirement for small finance banks (SFBs) to Rs 200 crore and permitted Payments Bank to upgrade as SFBs. Incidentally, the net worth of all SFBs currently in operation is in excess of Rs 200 crore.

Issuing the revised guidelines, the RBI said that for Primary (Urban) Co-operative Banks (UCBs) desirous of voluntarily transiting into SFBs, the initial requirement of net worth would be at Rs 100 crore, which will have to be increased to Rs 200 crore within five years from the date of commencement of business.

It stated Payments Banks can apply for conversion into SFB after five years of operations if they are otherwise eligible as per the guidelines. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) last issued guidelines for licensing of small finance banks in the private sector on November 27, 2014.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 21707.80, up by 194.80 points or 0.91% after trading in a range of 21594.45 and 21710.10. There were 42 stocks advancing against 8 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Adani Ports &SEZ up by 4.89%, Adani Enterprises up by 3.00%, Tata Motors up by 2.16%, HCL Technologies up by 1.90% and Hero MotoCorp up by 1.86%. On the flip side, Nestle down by 0.63%, HDFC Life Insurance down by 0.54%, UPL down by 0.33%, ONGC down by 0.28% and Ultratech Cement down by 0.13% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 surged 355.52 points or 1.07% to 33,732.94, Hang Seng advanced 51.39 points or 0.32% to 16,275.84, Straits Times rose 14.6 points or 0.46% to 3,201.62 and Shanghai Composite strengthened 9.83 points or 0.34% to 2,897.37.

On the flip side, Taiwan Weighted lost 11.52 points or 0.07% to 17,561.14, KOSPI dropped 0.99 points or 0.04% to 2,566.83 and Jakarta Composite plunged 78.38 points or 1.08% to 7,205.20.