Markets climb to day’s high on buying frenzy; Sensex trades past 25,200 level

Adding further ground, local equity markets have soared to day’s high on frenzied buying activities by both funds and retail investors thanks to sanguine European counterparts, which further buttressed the sentiment at Dalal Street. At days high, both Sensex and Nifty puffing up gains of over 3/4th of a percent, were trading above the crucial 25,200 and 7,500 levels respectively. Meanwhile, broader indices continuing their energetic run were trading with gains of over 1.25%. 

On the global front, periphery blue chips led European shares towards their eighth straight week of gains on Friday, continuing to see uplift after the European Central Bank eased policy further, though trade was cautious ahead of U.S. jobs data. Meanwhile, Asian pacific shares made a mostly negative close.

Back home, stocks from Realty, Oil & Gas and  PSU counters were the major pillars of market’s strength, while those from IT, Metal and Teck counters were pockets of weakness. Oil and gas stocks were on fire today on reports that the government could soon be taking a decision on the gas price hike issue in the next few weeks. Meanwhile, Sugar stocks continued trading sanguine after reports suggested of government mulling a proposal for providing additional interest-free loans of Rs 4,400 crore, over the granted Rs 6,600 crore to cash-starved sugar mills to clear dues to cane farmers.  The overall market breadth on BSE was in the favour of advances which thumped declines in the ratio of 1968:1002; while 106 shares remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 25229.08, up by 209.57 points or 0.84% after trading in a range of 25276.28 and 25129.76. 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 1.36%, while Small cap index up by 1.31%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 3.72%, Oil & Gas up by 3.33%, PSU up by 2.03%, Bankex up by 1.31% and Healthcare up by 1.21%. While, IT down by 1.26%, Metal down by 0.94% and Teck down by 0.81% were the losing indices on BSE.    

The top gainers on the Sensex were ONGC up by 7.10%, Gail India up by 4.99%, HDFC up by 2.73%, Hero Motocorp up by 2.57% and RIL up by 2.28%. On the flip side, SSLT down by 3.05%, Infosys down by 2.40%, TCS down by 1.17%, Hindalco Inds down by 1.09% and NTPC down by 0.33% were the top losers on the BSE.

Meanwhile, An expert committee set up to review the functioning of LPG scheme, has recommended the reinstatement of the direct benefit transfer (DBT) scheme for LPG as it helps prevent pilferages. The committee headed by former Director of IIT Kanpur S G Dhande in its report highlighted that, based on the evaluation of the scheme, feedback from various stakeholders and audit reports, the scheme was successful in achieving its objectives such as reducing diversion, eliminating ghost/duplicate connections and improving LPG availability. Therefore, scheme can be re-launched in the districts where it has already been implemented.

The Direct Benefit Transfer for LPG (DBTL) scheme was rolled out in 291 districts of the country under which the subsidy was directly shifted to Aadhaar-linked consumers’ bank accounts. About Rs 5,400 crore was transferred to more than 2.8 crore LPG consumers across the country. However, the scheme was put on hold from March 7 following complaints from consumers that either they have problems in seeding their accounts with the sponsor banks or didn’t have the Aadhaar number. 

The committee has suggested use of cooperative banks, post offices and centralised grievances redressal mechanism for the better implementation of the scheme. The committee report highlighted that people's access to banking should be improved and postal network should consider rolling out micro ATMs connected through core banking solution inter-operable with other scheduled banks through Aadhaar Payment Bridge. It also recommended reduction in the value-added tax rate on LPG cylinders delivered to consumer as the sale happens at full market price. Further, the government could share part of this recurring saving by a one-time incentive like reimbursing the full cost of the first cylinder.  The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7,529.20, up by 55.10 points or 0.74% after trading in a range of 7,535.10 and 7,497.65. There were 31 stocks advancing against 17 declining on the index, while 2 stocks remained unchanged.

The top gainers of the Nifty were ONGC up by 7.71%, GAIL up by 5.00%, DLF up by 4.05%, Kotak Bank up by 3.83% and Hero MotoCorp up by 2.78%. On the flip side, SSLT down by 3.23%, Infosys down by 2.79%, NMDC down by 1.58%, Hindalco Inds down by 1.21% and TCS down by 1.20% were the major losers on the index.

Asian equity indices ended on mostly negative note; Taiwan Weighted down by 0.07%, Shanghai Composite down by 0.54%, Hang Seng down by 0.69%. While, Jakarta Stock Index up by 0.01% and Straits Times up by 0.52% were the gainer among Asian pack.

European shares got off to a positive start; with Germany’s DAX rising by 0.28%, France’s CAC 40 gaining 0.02% and FTSE 100 adding by 0.13%

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 25229.08, up by 209.57 points or 0.84% after trading in a range of 25276.28 and 25129.76. 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 1.36%, while Small cap index up by 1.31%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 3.72%, Oil & Gas up by 3.33%, PSU up by 2.03%, Bankex up by 1.31% and Healthcare up by 1.21%. While, IT down by 1.26%, Metal down by 0.94% and Teck down by 0.81% were the losing indices on BSE.   

The top gainers on the Sensex were ONGC up by 7.10%, Gail India up by 4.99%, HDFC up by 2.73%, Hero Motocorp up by 2.57% and RIL up by 2.28%. On the flip side, SSLT down by 3.05%, Infosys down by 2.40%, TCS down by 1.17%, Hindalco Inds down by 1.09% and NTPC down by 0.33% were the top losers on the BSE.

Meanwhile, An expert committee set up to review the functioning of LPG scheme, has recommended the reinstatement of the direct benefit transfer (DBT) scheme for LPG as it helps prevent pilferages. The committee headed by former Director of IIT Kanpur S G Dhande in its report highlighted that, based on the evaluation of the scheme, feedback from various stakeholders and audit reports, the scheme was successful in achieving its objectives such as reducing diversion, eliminating ghost/duplicate connections and improving LPG availability. Therefore, scheme can be re-launched in the districts where it has already been implemented.

The Direct Benefit Transfer for LPG (DBTL) scheme was rolled out in 291 districts of the country under which the subsidy was directly shifted to Aadhaar-linked consumers’ bank accounts. About Rs 5,400 crore was transferred to more than 2.8 crore LPG consumers across the country. However, the scheme was put on hold from March 7 following complaints from consumers that either they have problems in seeding their accounts with the sponsor banks or didn’t have the Aadhaar number. 

The committee has suggested use of cooperative banks, post offices and centralised grievances redressal mechanism for the better implementation of the scheme. The committee report highlighted that people's access to banking should be improved and postal network should consider rolling out micro ATMs connected through core banking solution inter-operable with other scheduled banks through Aadhaar Payment Bridge. It also recommended reduction in the value-added tax rate on LPG cylinders delivered to consumer as the sale happens at full market price. Further, the government could share part of this recurring saving by a one-time incentive like reimbursing the full cost of the first cylinder.  

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7,529.20, up by 55.10 points or 0.74% after trading in a range of 7,535.10 and 7,497.65. There were 31 stocks advancing against 17 declining on the index, while 2 stocks remained unchanged.

The top gainers of the Nifty were ONGC up by 7.71%, GAIL up by 5.00%, DLF up by 4.05%, Kotak Bank up by 3.83% and Hero MotoCorp up by 2.78%. On the flip side, SSLT down by 3.23%, Infosys down by 2.79%, NMDC down by 1.58%, Hindalco Inds down by 1.21% and TCS down by 1.20% were the major losers on the index.

Asian equity indices ended on mostly negative note; Taiwan Weighted down by 0.07%, Shanghai Composite down by 0.54%, Hang Seng down by 0.69%. While, Jakarta Stock Index up by 0.01% and Straits Times up by 0.52% were the gainer among Asian pack.

European shares got off to a positive start; with Germany’s DAX rising by 0.28%, France’s CAC 40 gaining 0.02% and FTSE 100 adding by 0.13%