Benchmarks magnify gains; Nifty above 7700 mark

Extending their early gains, Indian equity markets continued to trade with vigor on sustained foreign fund inflows and buying by retail investors after Finance Minister said the government would take bold decisions in the forthcoming Budget to revive the economy. Besides, an uptick in manufacturing sector growth in June and signs of pick-up in auto sales amidst a firming trend in the global markets too added to the optimistic sentiments. At present, Sensex and Nifty were trading above the crucial 25,700 and 7,700 levels respectively, with gains of over a percentage point. Moreover, broader indices also mirroring the same kind of enthusiasm were up with gains of over 0.90%. All of the sectoral indices were trading in green with Infrastructure Index being the top gaining index on BSE up by around 1.77%. Metal shares remained firm on the back of encouraging data from China. Further, capital goods shares continued their uptrend trend after a private survey showed that India's manufacturing sector growth in June.

In scrip specific development, Shares of Gujarat Gas surged after its board approved a proposed merger with other state-run companies involved in city gas distribution business. Larsen and Toubro (L&T) was trading higher after the company said it has won new orders worth of Rs 2,002 crore across various business segments in June 2014. Moreover, Sasken Communication Technologies was locked in upper circuit for second day in a row, up 20% at Rs 319 after winning an arbitration award of $31.7 million from US-based Spreadtrum Communications. On global front, Asian stocks scored a three-year peak after a round of upbeat global economic data whetted risk appetites and helped Wall Street taste all-time highs. Back home, the market breadth on BSE was positive, out of 2468 stocks traded, 1663 stocks advanced, while 708 stocks declined on the BSE.
The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 25773.86 up by 257.51 points or 1.01% after trading in a range of 25789.42 and 25660.16. There were 29 stocks advancing against 1 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.99%, while Small cap index gained 1.19%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were India Infrastructure Index up by 1.77%, Metal up by 1.70%, Realty up by 1.55%, Capital Goods up by 1.42% and Power up by 1.38%, while there were no losers on the sectoral index.

The top gainers on the Sensex were SSLT up by 2.87%, Coal India up by 2.05%, Sun Pharma up by 1.88%, HDFC up by 1.65% and RIL up by 1.60%. On the flip side, Tata Motors down by 0.42% was the only loser on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, Concerned over the prevailing economic slowdown, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has stated that union budget 2014-15 will not indulge in mindless populism and the government would take bold decisions and pursue path of fiscal prudence to revive economy. India's economic growth stayed below 5 percent for the second year in a row at 4.7 percent during FY14.

Arun Jaitley highlighted widening fiscal deficit, rising inflation and Iraq crisis as key concerns for Indian economy. India's fiscal deficit in the first two months of the fiscal has already touched about 45 percent of the total budget estimate. Referring to investment scenario, Finance Minister has stated that the government will soon take measure to enhance the investment in the country. Foreign investment will be allowed where it is needed. Further, Jaitley asserted that though inflation is low as compared to last year, it is still above the comfort level. WPI Inflation rose to five-month high of 6.01 percent in May and there is probability of prices moving up further due to the predictions of below normal monsoon. Regarding the fears of deficit monsoon, Finance Minister stressed that below normal monsoon is a concern for country, but there is no need to worry as the country has huge amount of food.

Highlighting the need to improve the business sentiments in the country, Finance Minister has said that cumbersome process or oppressive legislations are creating unfavorable environment for doing business. The government will make much needed changes in legislatures to improve the business sentiments. 

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7,710.80 up by 76.10 points or 1% after trading in a range of 7,711.25 and 7,677.30. There were 48 stocks advancing against 2 declining on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were SSLT up by 2.99%, Coal India up by 2.24%, Sun Pharma up by 1.94%, DLF up by 1.87% and Reliance Industries up by 1.80%. On the flip side, HCL Tech down by 0.79% and Tata Motors down by 0.30% were the only losers on the index.

Asian markets were trading mostly in the green; Nikkei 225 soared 0.39%, Hang Seng increased by 0.97%, KOSPI Index gained 0.53%, Straits Times Index strengthened by 0.44%, Jakarta Composite added 0.02%, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI rose by 0.16% and Taiwan Weighted was up by 0.19%. On the flip side, Shanghai Composite was down by 0.35%.