The Indian markets consolidated in last session with some technical glitch halting the trade on BSE for over three hours, which marred the early enthusiasm of surge in Services PMI to 17-month high at 54.4 in June. Today, the start is likely to be in green on positive global cues and the markets may move higher after a day of break. Meanwhile, industry body CII has hailed the government decision to extend validity period of industrial licence to three years, saying that it sends strong signal that the government is committed to enhance the ease of doing business in India. Also, the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in his meeting with State Finance Ministers for GST implementation said that centre is ready to engage with the States with an 'open mind' on compensation issues. Today there will be some buzz in media services providers, as the Government is planning to introduce a new category of licence that will enable cable TV players and DTH operators to offer broadband services in the country. To be called Cable TV Internet Service Providers licence. Textile sector stocks too may see some action, as the textiles Ministry has said that it will firm up the draft of the National Textiles Policy within the next 15 to 20 days.
The US markets ended higher after Labor Department reported that US employment rose by much more than anticipated in the month of June, overshadowing a separate report that initial jobless claims in the week ended June 28th inched up marginally. The Asian markets have mostly made a green start, taking cues from the US markets with some of the indices advancing to their longest run of weekly gains.
Back home, snapping four days winning streak, Indian equity benchmarks ended the session slightly in the red on Thursday as investors opted to book profit at higher levels. Markets traded in narrow range for entire session with NSE’s Nifty ending above its crucial 7,700 level, while BSEs’ Sensex, which resumed trading after a halt of over three hours due to a network outage, managing to settle above crucial 25,800 mark. Sentiments remained down-beat after World Bank in its reports suggested that India’s inflation still remains uncomfortably high and that new government should avoid fiscal slippage as it seeks to revive the economy. However, losses remained capped as some support came with the statement of Agriculture Minister that the monsoon will pick up pace next week and the government is prepared to deal with any eventuality in case of a shortfall. Meanwhile, activity in Indian services sector, which represents around 60% of Indian GDP, witnessed a solid rate of expansion in the month of June on the back of stronger new business inflows and better economic conditions. The HSBC services Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), based on the survey of around 350 private service sector companies, rose to 17-month high at 54.4 in June from 50.2 in May, above the crucial 50 mark for the second consecutive month that separates growth from contraction. On the global front, European counters edged higher in early deals, though, Asian markets ended mixed. Back home, stocks related to healthcare sector edged higher, led by Ranbaxy Laboratories which surged over a percent after USFDA granted approval to its subsidiary Ohm Laboratories to manufacture and sell generic Diovan in the US. Stocks related to Auto sector too remained on buyers’ radar as most of the companies reported better-than-expected sales numbers for the month of June. Additionally, software stocks continued to edge higher for second day in a row on positive economic data in US, the biggest outsourcing market for the Indian IT firms. Finally, the BSE Sensex declined by 17.46 points or 0.07%, to 25823.75, while the CNX Nifty lost 10.35 points or 0.13%, to 7,714.80.
