Benchmarks continue firm trade; Auto, Realty leads

Indian equity benchmarks continued their trade in green in the late afternoon session on account of buying in frontline blue chip counters taking cues from firm global counterparts. The sentiments were on optimistic mood after reports suggested of crop sowing gathering pace after clouds of doubt over monsoon deficit were slowly blowing away. The sentiments also got a boost after survey showed that Indian manufacturing industry is expected to witness a significant uptick in hiring activities in coming years amid improving business sentiments and the government’s focus on this sector. Traders were seen piling up positions in Auto, Realty and Capital Goods while selling was witnessed in Power and FMCG sector stocks. In scrip specific development, hectic activity was witnessed in real estate companies after the market regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), approved the setting up and listing of Real Estate and Infrastructure Investment Trusts, commonly referred to as REITs. Ricoh India was locked at lower circuit after reporting a net loss of Rs 15 crore for the first quarter ended June 30, 2014 (Q1), due to higher interest burden and operational cost.

On the global front, the Asian markets were trading in green, while the European markets too traded on optimistic note. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading above their psychological 7,600 and 25,500 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was positive in the ratio of 1696:1059 while 88 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 25532.38, up by 203.24 points or 0.80% after trading in a range of 25456.75 and 25550.72. There were 19 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index. The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.77%, while Small cap index up by 1.03%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Auto up by 2.49%, Realty up by 1.70%, Capital Goods up by 1.28%, Bankex up by 0.82%, INFRA up by 0.78% while, Power down by 0.30%, FMCG down by 0.08% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 7.23%, Tata Motors up by 2.46%, Infosys up by 2.34%, HDFC up by 1.93% and Larsen & Toubro up by 1.66%. On the flip side, Dr. Reddy’s Lab down by 2.07%, NTPC down by 1.59%, GAIL India down by 1.21%, Tata Power down by 0.82% and Tata Steel down by 0.79% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in order to enhance fresh investments in real estate and infrastructure sectors, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has cleared the new norms for setting up and listing of Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) and Infrastructure Investment Trusts (InvITs).

REITs are listed entities that mainly invest in income-producing real estate assets, the earnings of which are mostly distributed to their shareholders. The SEBI has stated that REITs will be allowed to invest only in commercial properties such as shopping malls, office buildings, apartments, warehouses and hotels, which provide regular income to investors from rentals received from such properties. The move is likely benefit investors who wish to invest in property for the lucrative gains it offers, but do not have sufficient capital to acquire physical real estate assets such as land or buildings. According to the SEBI guidelines, investors will have to put in a minimum of Rs 2 lakh to buy trust units, which can be traded on stock exchanges and investors can earn both dividends (from rental income of the property), as well as capital appreciation.

In a bid to make REITs attractive, the capital market regular has halved the minimum asset size to Rs 500 crores from Rs 1,000 crore proposed earlier. SEBI noted that smaller players who don’t have enough rental assets to launch even Rs 500 crore REIT can float a combined REIT with multiple sponsors subject to maximum of three. Each sponsor should hold at least 5 percent of the units and overall at least 25 percent of the units.

SEBI also cleared norms for Infrastructure Investment Trusts (InvITs), which are similar to REITs, but focus on investments in infrastructure. The InvITs will invest in infrastructure projects, either directly or through a special purpose vehicle and approved minimum net worth of an InvIT sponsor is Rs100 crore. According to SEBI guidelines, a publicly offered InvIT will need to distribute at least 90 per cent of its net distributable cash flows to investors. Further, associates of the trustee have been restrained from investing in the InvITs units to avoid a conflict of interest.

It also notified that for any REITs or InvITs, the size of initial offering should be atleast Rs 250 crore and free float of atleast 25 percent is mandatory in the initial offering. Trading lot will be Rs 1 lakh with minimum subscription size of Rs 2 lakh for  REITs, whereas this will be Rs 5 lakh and Rs 10 lakh for  InvIT. 

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7624.35, up by 55.80 points or 0.74% after trading in a range of 7599.75 and 7633.55. There were 32 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 7.50%, DLF up by 3.09%, Bank of Baroda up by 2.89%, Tata Motors up by 2.61% and Ultratech Cement up by 2.50%. On the flip side, Dr. Reddy’s Lab down by 2.15%, NTPC down by 1.56%, HCL Tech down by 1.46%, Jindal Steel & Power down by 1.21% and Power Grid Corporation down by 1.21% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading in green; FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 6.68 points or 0.36% to 1,846.55, KOSPI Index increased 8.27 points or 0.41% to 2,039.37, Straits Times increased 24.53 points or 0.75% to 3,313.42, Shanghai Composite increased 30.23 points or 1.38% to 2,224.65, Jakarta Composite increased 46.64 points or 0.92% to 5,100.40, Taiwan Weighted increased 86.95 points or 0.96% to 9,172.91, Hang Seng increased 314.61 points or 1.29% to 24,646.02 and Nikkei 225 increased 352.15 points or 2.38% to 15,130.52.

The European markets were too trading in green; France’s CAC increased 36.29 points or 0.87% to 4,184.10, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 42.37 points or 0.65% to 6,609.73 and Germany’s DAX increased 118.16 points or 1.31% to 9,127.48.