Sensex Ends 82 Points Higher; Metal and Realty Stocks Witness Buying

Wed, 18 Sep Closing | Monish Vora, TM Team

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Indian share markets ended their trading session marginally higher.

On the sectoral front, gains were seen in the metal sector and realty sector.

At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex stood higher by 82 points (up 0.2%) and the NSE Nifty closed higher by 23 points (up 0.2%).

The BSE Mid Cap index ended up by 0.4%, while the BSE Small Cap index ended the day up by 0.3%.

Asian stock markets finished on a mixed note as of the most recent closing prices. The Hang Seng stood down by 0.13% and the Nikkei was trading down by 0.18%, while the Shanghai Composite was trading up by 0.25%.

European markets were trading on a positive note. The FTSE 100 was up by 0.25%. The DAX was trading up by 0.10%, while the CAC 40 was up by 0.12%.

The rupee was trading at 71.26 to the US$ at the time of writing.

Speaking of stock markets, you'll hear this following quote often...

• "Be fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful." - Warren Buffett

But how do you practice this?

How do you know when everyone is greedy or fearful?

Well, the media is one source. When you hear headlines predicting gloom and doom, pessimism is strong all around.

Google trends are an interesting source too.

The keyword 'Multibagger' tends to peak when there is euphoria all round. The same keyword drops when there is pessimism.

Are We Close to Peak Pessimism in the Stock Market?

As can be seen form the chart above, 'Multibagger' search term peaked in India in Jan 2018. Mid and small caps were at multi-year highs. Since then, Mid and small caps corrected by 26% and 37% respectively.

Similarly, 'Multibagger' search was at its lowest in August 2013. Mid and small caps were at multi-year lows. Then from 1 Aug 2013 to 15 Jan 2018, mid and small caps were up by 233% and 282% respectively.

Currently, 'Multibagger' search is at its lowest levels. Like in 2013, retail investors are dumping stocks and looking for other safe assets.

Will history repeat itself?

In other news, Sintex Plastics Technology share price was in focus today. The stock of the company witnessed selling pressure today after the company said in a regulatory filing on September 18 that its chief financial officer (CFO) had resigned two days earlier.

The company said Yashpal Jain has tendered his resignation as a chief financial officer and key managerial personnel of the company on personal grounds with effect from close of business hours on September 16, 2019.

In the news from the hotel sector, hotel stocks were witnessing buying interest today after GST rate fitment committee proposed to cut tax from 28% to 18% on hotel tariff of Rs 7,500 and above, or to hike threshold tariff to Rs 10,000 with 28%.

Earlier tax on hotels tariff below Rs 7,500 was 18% and above that was taxed at 28%.

Moving on to the news from the macroeconomic space, India will soon start issuing unique numbers for landholdings as part of an exercise expected to bring transparency and end dubious land ownership.

As per a leading financial daily, the rural development ministry has started work on assigning a standardised unique number for each surveyed plot. The unique number will have details of the state, district or zilla, tehsil or taluka, block level and street information, wherever applicable, and information about the plot including size and ownership details.

The unique land parcel number could subsequently be linked to the Aadhaar and revenue court system.

As per the news, the government is of the view that assigning unique numbers to plots of land would facilitate real estate transactions, help resolve property taxation issues and improve disaster planning and response efforts, besides making it easier to acquire land for public projects.

It is estimated that disputes over land, validity of titles and records and rightful ownership account for two-thirds of the cases pending in the country's courts and it takes over 20 years on average to resolve them, impacting sectors and projects.

Besides, land is often used as collateral for loans taken by farmers and unclear land deals inhibit their capacity to do so. Industry executives said this is a much-needed measure.

How this development pans out and what effect it will have on the realty sector remains to be seen. Meanwhile, we will keep you updated on all the developments from this space.

Also, speaking of the realty sector, in the below video, Sarvajeet Bodas talks about how Modi's push towards affordable housing can revive the real estate sector and accelerate the economic activity:

To know what's moving the Indian stock markets today, check out the most recent share market updates here.

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