Markets extend early gains; trade near intra-day high level

Indian equity benchmarks extended early gains to continue firm trade in afternoon session, hovering near the intra-day high level on the back of heavy buying by funds and retail investors amid positive global cues. Major indices gained fervently from strength to strength as investors continued hunt for fundamentally strong stocks. Most of the major indices were trading in green with capital goods top gaining index on BSE up by around 4.82%. Sentiments got a boost amid strong corporate earnings as companies such as L&T and Suzlon energy posted better than expected number. Investors were also piling up positions in rate-sensitive stocks such as banking, auto and realty. Apart from blue chips, broader indices too equally participated in the rally with both midcap and small cap indices trading up by over 1.50%. However, there was some mild weakness in defensive sectors stocks such as FMCG and healthcare. Investors were also awaiting RBI's bi-monthly monetary policy review on Tuesday.

L&T has soared around 6% at Rs 1644 after 69% growth in net profit for the quarter ended March on the back of improved operational performance, higher sales. NMDC surged nearly around 4% to Rs 177 after the state-owned iron ore miner NMDC had reported a 34% rise in net profit at Rs 1,962 crore for the quarter ended March 2014.

On global front, Asian equity indices were trading in green with Straits Times up by 0.07% and Nikkei 225 up by 2.08%. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading above their psychological 7,300 and 24,400 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was positive, out of 2,590 stocks traded, 1,682 stocks advanced, while 817 stocks declined on the BSE.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 24,466.41 up by 249.07 points or 1.03% after trading in a range of 24,469.60 and 24,270.20. There were 21 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading up; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 1.51%, while Small cap index up by 1.59%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Capital Goods up by 4.82%, Power up by 1.52% , Oil and Gas up by 1.49%, Bankex up by 1.31% and Realty up by 1.28%. While, FMCG down by 1.06% and Healthcare down by 0.45% were the losing indices on BSE.   

The top gainers on the Sensex were L&T up by 6.18%, Bharti Airtel up by 2.60%, Maruti Suzuki up by 2.19%, BHEL up by 2.00% and HDFC up by 1.98%. On the flip side, HUL down by 1.79%, ITC down by 1.45%, NTPC down by 1.35%, Sun Pharma down by 1.28% and Wipro down by 1.04%.

Meanwhile, Electicity generation in India increased by 11 percent to 86.6 billion units in the month of April as compared to 77.87 billion in the same month of previous year. Power generated in April was also higher than target at 81.74 billion units set by the government for the month. Thermal power plants generated 74.02 billion units during the month whereas hydel, nuclear and power imports from Bhutan contributed 9.67 billion units, 2.81 billion units and 78 million units, respectively.

High power generation during April was mainly attributed to new projects, which were commissioned during the recent few months. During the last quarter of 2013-14, state-owned NTPC had started at least 2,000 MW of projects, including thermal stations in Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. Further, a thermal power project with a capacity of 135 MW was commissioned in Chhattisgarh in April 2014.

The CEA estimates generation of 1,023 billion units in 2014-15, compared with 967 billion units in 2013-14. Power or electricity is very essential constituent of infrastructure affecting economic growth and welfare of the country. In India, electricity is produced with the help of coal, crude oil, water and natural gas. The Indian power sector is the fifth largest and one of the most diversified sectors in the world with an installed capacity of around 230 GW out of which coal-fired plants account for about 68% of India's installed electricity capacity. The government, during the 12th five year plan, proposed to invest 31% of the total investments in power sector, highest among all infrastructure sectors.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7,304.30 up by 74.35 points or 1.03% after trading in a range of 7,306.75 and 7,239.50. There were 37 stocks advancing against 13 declining on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were L&T up by 6.71%, BPCL up by 4.37%, NMDC up by 3.62%, Jindal Steel up by 3.59% and Power Grid up by 3.36%. On the flip side, HUL down by 2.08%, Sun Pharma down by 1.83%, NTPC down by 1.81%, ITC down by 1.46% and Wirpo down by 1.34% were the major losers on the index.

Asian equity indices were trading in green; Straits Times up by 0.07% to 3,298.24 and Nikkei 225 up by 2.08% to 14,937.05. While, Jakarta Index down by 0.28% to 4,880.08