Strong buying demand in index pivotals propelled the key benchmark indices to intraday high in mid-morning trade. At 11:28 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 416.29 points or 1.17% at 36,007.54. The Nifty 50 index was up 102.15 points or 0.96% at 10,753.95. The Sensex regained the psychological 36,000 mark. IT stocks gained.
Trading for the day began on a firm note as the key benchmark indices drifted higher in early trade. Stocks held onto gains in morning trade.
The market sentiment was boosted by data showing that foreign funds and domestic funds, both, were net buyers of Indian stocks yesterday, 30 January 2019. The trading activity on that day showed that the foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 130.25 crore yesterday, 30 January 2019, as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges. Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 502.26 crore yesterday, 30 January 2019, as per provisional data.
Trading could be volatile during the day as traders roll over positions in the F&O segment from the near month January 2019 series to February 2019 series. The January 2019 F&O contracts expire today, 31 January 2019.
Investors will focus on interim budget to be announced on Friday, 1 February 2019. The interim budget will be the last one presented by the current NDA government led by Prime Minister Modi, before the 2019 general elections in April. The government is expected to make a host of populist announcements in the budget. It is widely expected that the interim budget may contain tax sops and a certain package for the farm sector. The Budget session of Parliament begin today. The session will conclude on 13th of next month.
The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was down 0.03%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.43%.
The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was positive. On the BSE, 1140 shares rose and 927 shares fell. A total of 109 shares were unchanged.
IT stocks gained. TCS (up 1.38%), Infosys (up 3.35%), Wipro (up 0.97%), Oracle Financial Services Software (up 0.59%), Tech Mahindra (up 2.11%) rose. HCL Technologies (down 1.53%) fell.
ICICI Bank rose 1.19% after net profit fell 2.75% to Rs 1,604.91 crore on 19.79% increase in total income to Rs 20,163.25 crore in Q3 December 2018 over Q3 December 2017. The result was announced after trading hours yesterday, 30 January 2019.
The bank's gross non-performing assets (NPAs) stood at Rs 51,591.47 crore as on 31 December 2018 as against Rs 54,488.96 crore as on 30 September 2018 and Rs 46,038.70 crore as on 31 December 2017. The ratio of gross NPAs to gross advances stood at 7.75% as on 31 December 2018 as against 8.54% as on 30 September 2018 and 7.82% as on 31 December 2017.
The ratio of net NPAs to net advances stood at 2.58% as on 31 December 2018 as against 3.65% as on 30 September 2018 and 4.20% as on 31 December 2017. The bank's provisions and contingencies rose 18.90% to Rs 4,244.15 crore in Q3 December 2018 over Q3 December 2017. The provision coverage ratio on non-performing loans, including cumulative technical/prudential write-offs, increased by 690 bps sequentially to 76.3% at 31 December 2018, further strengthening the balance sheet.
Bharti Airtel rose 0.58% ahead of its October-December 2018 quarterly result today, 31 January 2019. Bharti Airtel announced that Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), the sovereign wealth fund of the State of Qatar has agreed to invest $200 million through a primary equity issuance in Airtel Africa. The proceeds will be used to further reduce Airtel Africa's existing net debt. The investment from QIA is in continuation of the recent $1.25 billion investment by six leading global investors including Warburg Pincus, Temasek, Singtel and SoftBank Group International and others. Airtel Africa recently announced a newly constituted board of directors that included representatives from Bharti Airtel and other investors. This transaction will not involve any sale of shares by existing shareholders. The announcement was made after trading hours yesterday, 30 January 2019.
Overseas, Asian stocks edged higher as the Federal Reserve signaled it is putting further interest-rate increases on hold. US stocks rallied to close higher Wednesday, after scoring a boost from solid corporate results and a seemingly accommodative Federal Reserve.
China's official nonmanufacturing purchasing managers index, a measure of activity outside factory gates, rose to 54.7 in January from 53.8 in December, the National Bureau of Statistics said Thursday. An official gauge of China's factory activity unexpectedly inched higher from a near-three-year low. January's official manufacturing purchasing managers' index was up a tick at 49.5 from 49.4 in December, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed Thursday.
The Fed held rates unchanged at a range of 2.25% to 2.50%, as widely expected, but dropped its longstanding reference to further gradual rate hikes. Instead, it emphasized that it will be patient as it determines what future adjustments to the target range for the federal-funds rate may be appropriate to support these outcomes. The central bank also said it would adjust the rate of its balance-sheet runoff, and may even consider ending it.
Meanwhile, US-China trade talks resumed Wednesday as federal prosecutors accused Huawei of violating US sanctions on Iran and of intellectual property theft which had obviously angered the Chinese government. Huawei has denied the allegations.
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