HOME > MARKETS > MARKET COMMENTARY
  MARKET COMMENTARY
EQUITY
Local equities hold positive momentum in morning deals
Feb-19-2019

Local equity benchmarks continued to hold positive momentum in the morning deals, with gains of around one third a percent. High beta indices like Realty and Telecom were, as usual, inched higher with the up-move on the benchmarks. Among heavy-weights ICICI Bank, Bharti Airtel and Mahindra & Mahindra exhibited a smart performance. Traders remain encouraged as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has decided to transfer Rs 28,000 crore as interim dividend to the government for the period of July to December 2018. The interim surplus has been decided after a limited audit review and after applying the Economic Capital Framework. This is the second successive year that RBI will transfer interim surplus to the government. Traders took support with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s statement that India needs fewer and mega banks which are strong because in every sense, from borrowing rates to optimum utilisation, the economies of scale as far as banking sector is concerned are of great help. Besides, RBI also stated that it would inject Rs 12,500 crore into the system through purchase of government securities on February 21 to increase liquidity. The purchase will be made through open market operations (OMOs).

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green, with investors cautiously optimistic that China and the US can reach a deal ending their trade war as the two sides prepare to resume talks this week. Back home, in the specific script development, Bharat Rasayan gained on raising Rs 20 crore via Commercial Paper. Besides, Signet Industries surged on bagging orders worth Rs 130 crore from various companies.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 35627.87, up by 129.43 points or 0.36% after trading in a range of 35477.47 and 35698.08. There were 24 stocks advancing against 7 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.61%, while Small cap index was up by 0.62%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.95%, Telecom up by 1.50%, Consumer Durables up by 0.92%, BANKEX up by 0.88% and FMCG was up by 0.84%, while IT down by 1.32%, TECK down by 0.99% and Utilities was down by 0.01% were the few losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ICICI Bank up by 2.20%, Bharti Airtel up by 2.15%, Bajaj Finance up by 1.97%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.67% and Axis Bank was up by 1.36%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 1.84%, TCS down by 1.65%, NTPC down by 1.39%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.71% and was HCL Tech down by 0.43% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in order to achieve economies of scale in the banking sector, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said India needs fewer and mega banks. The finance Minister stated ‘India needs fewer and mega banks which are strong because in every sense, from borrowing rates to optimum utilisation, the economies of scale as far as banking sector is concerned are of great help’.

After the amalgamation of five associates and Bharatiya Mahila Bank with SBI in 2017, the government earlier this year approved the merger of Dena Bank and Vijaya Bank with Bank of Baroda. The merger of the three banks to create the country's third-largest lender after SBI and ICICI Bank. Jaitley said ‘with the experience in the past really has been of SBI merger, now it is second one which is taking place’.

The amalgamation, the first-ever three-way consolidation of banks in India, will be effective from April 1, 2019. After the merger, the number of public sector banks will come down to 18. Besides, in September 2018, the Alternative Mechanism, headed by Jaitley, gave in-principle approval for the merger of the three banks to create a global-sized lender.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10672.45, up by 31.50 points or 0.30% after trading in a range of 10635.25 and 10694.70. There were 36 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bharti Airtel up by 2.15%, ICICI Bank up by 2.13%, Bajaj Finance up by 1.87%, Grasim Industries up by 1.84% and Titan Company was up by 1.72%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 2.06%, NTPC down by 1.93%, TCS down by 1.58%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.13% and Dr. Reddy’s Lab was down by 1.11% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green, Nikkei 225 surged 34.35 points or 0.16% to 21,316.20, Jakarta Composite soared 20.65 points or 0.32% to 6,518.47, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 13.58 points or 0.13% to 10,158.86, Shanghai Composite gained 6.86 points or 0.25% to 2,761.22 and Straits Times was up by 3.73 points or 0.11% to 3,269.70. On the other side, KOSPI fell 0.93 points or 0.04% to 2,209.96 and Hang Seng was down by 56.55 points or 0.2% to 28,290.46.
  RELATED NEWS >>
Most Viewed >>
April 22 , 2024
Invest lumpsum through systematic transfer pla
April 22 , 2024
FPIs withdraw over Rs 5,200 crore in April so
April 24 , 2024
Fund managers trim PSB exposure, see better va
April 22 , 2024
FPIs mount bearish bets as risk aversion grows
EXPLORE
© CITRUS INTERACTIVE
Designed & Developed Accord Fintech Pvt. Ltd.