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Indian Indices Trade Marginally Higher; Realty Sector Up 2%
Wed, 20 Dec 11:30 am

Stock markets in India are presently trading marginally higher. Sectoral indices are trading on a positive note with stocks in the realty sector and capital goods sector witnessing maximum buying interest.

The BSE Sensex is trading up 38 points (up 0.1%) and the NSE Nifty is trading up 13 points (up 0.1%). The BSE Mid Cap index is trading up by 0.5%, while the BSE Small Cap index is trading up by 1%. The rupee is trading at 64.05 to the US dollar.

In the news from commodity markets, crude oil is witnessing buying interest today.

Most of the gains are seen on the back of expectations of a fall in US crude inventories and by the ongoing outage of the North Sea Forties pipeline system.

The shutdown of the Forties North Sea pipeline has hit supply levels for crude oil from a market that was already tightening due to OPEC-led production cuts.

Note that crude oil prices have been witnessing a rising trend this year as can be seen from the chart below:

Crude Oil Hits 28-Month High

However, rising oil price is not good news from India's perspective.

As we wrote in a recent edition of The 5 Minute WrapUp...

  • Fiscal revenues are at risk. Particularly if the government is forced to consider a cut in fuel excise duties due to a rally in oil prices. In recent times, a sharp jump in excise collections has helped indirect tax collections. Any risk to revenues and subsequent threat to the fiscal deficit target at 3.2% of GDP would require tighter spending cuts.

    Secondly, the impact on inflation needs to be monitored. This narrowing the central bank's scope for further rate cuts.

    Lastly, low crude prices were a positive growth impetus through higher discretionary incomes for households and lower input costs for manufacturers and farmers. Part of this benefit is likely to be eroded as retail fuel costs rise. As for corporations, expansion in gross margins caused by falling commodity prices is also likely to wane, pressurising profitability.

You can read the entire article here.

Also, to keep a tab on the movements in crude oil and other commodities, you can read the stock market commentary from the Daily Profit Hunter team. Their commentary tracks the developments in the global economy as well as stock, currency, and commodity markets.

In the news from the banking space, as per an article in the Economic Times, banks led by the State Bank of India (SBI) have decided that bidders for stressed assets in ongoing insolvency proceedings will have to disclose their source of funds and furnish a cheque for the bid amount to prove their bonafides and be eligible to participate.

Last week, the lenders had agreed on a common "bid evaluation matrix" at a meeting to evaluate bids for dozens of distressed companies that are on the block.

The above framework gives more weightage to upfront cash payments as well as the bidder's ability to infuse fresh equity after the acquisition of a distressed asset.

Note that more than half of the stressed loan assets belong to the infrastructure, construction, oil & gas, power, real estate, and telecom sectors. These sectors are normally the pillars for economic growth. If the problem persists, banks will become increasingly reluctant to lend to these sectors. This would hurt India's long-term growth.

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