Markets continue firm trade in afternoon session

Indian equity benchmarks continue to trade firm in afternoon session on sustained buying by funds and retail investors amid mixed Asian cues. Encouraging Q1 earnings, increased FII buying coupled with positive global cues enthused the major indices to extend gains and all sectoral indices were trading in green. Capital goods was top gaining index up by around 1% followed by consumer durables and metal indices trading up by around 0.90%. Investors were also seen piling up positions in mid cap and small cap stocks which witnessed a sharp fall over the previous few sessions. Market sentiments also got some support as Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Raghuram Rajan stated that high interest rate structure may be painful in the short run but will help in long run by containing inflation. Stock specific movement, shares of Lanco Infratech and Adani Power are trading higher on the bourses after Adani Power has bought Hyderabad-based Lanco Infratech’s Udupi power plant at an enterprise valuation of Rs 6,000 crore. Further, Whirlpool of India has surged around 8% to Rs 405 after reporting 66% yoy jump in net profit at Rs 83 crore for Q1FY15 on strong sales figures.

On global front, Asian equity indices were trading mixed with Nikkei 225 up by 0.60% and Hang Seng down by 0.08% to 24,871.16. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading above their psychological 7,700 and 26,000 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was positive, out of 2,484 stocks traded, 1,218 stocks advanced, while 1,191 stocks declined on the BSE.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 26054.78, up by 135.83 points or 0.52% after trading in a range of 25945.35 and 26071.52. There were 23 stocks advancing against 7 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.63%, while Small cap index up by 0.51%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Capital Goods up by 1.01%, Consumer Durables up by 0.96%, Metal up by 0.94%, Bankex up by 0.90%, Oil & Gas up by 0.82%. There were no losing indicies on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were GAIL India up by 2.55%, Tata Motors up by 2.01%, HDFC Bank up by 1.90%, Sesa Sterlite up by 1.78% and Hindalco up by 1.61%. On the flip side, Hero MotoCorp down by 2.99%, HDFC down by 1.93%, Bajaj Auto down by 0.75%, Cipla down by 0.69% and SBI down by 0.37% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, to boost the country's micro, small and medium enterprises sector (MSMEs), the government has allocated Rs 24,124 crore for sector during the Twelfth Five-Year Plan period (2012-17) which is 133.53 percent higher than allocation of Rs 10,330 crore during the Eleventh Plan.

According to Fourth All India Census of MSMEs, the estimated number of enterprises operating in the country are 3.61 crore and capital investment involved therein is Rs 6,89,954.88 crore respectively. Furthermore, there are 2,887 specialised SME branches of public sector banks as on March 31, 2014, which are operating in Micro Small Enterprises (MSE) clusters and provide credit facilitation services to MSEs.

The MSME sector contributes around 8% of the country's GDP, 45% of the manufactured output and provides employment to over 8 crore people. The government has been implementing various schemes/ programmes relating to credit, technology upgradation and skill development, amongst others to promote MSMEs sector in the country. Some of the major schemes/programmes being implemented are Prime Minister's Employment Generation Programme; Credit Guarantee Scheme; Performance and Credit Rating Scheme among others. The government has also set up a six-member inter-ministerial panel, which will suggest measures to boost the MSME exports.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7773.55, up by 34.00 points or 0.44% after trading in a range of 7739.10 and 7781.00. There were 38 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were GAIL India up by 2.11%, HDFC Bank up by 1.92%, Grasim Industries up by 1.85%, Tata Motors up by 1.81% and Sesa Sterlite up by 1.62%. On the flip side, Hero MotoCorp down by 3.05%, HDFC down by 2.17%, HCL Tech. down by 1.15%, Bajaj Auto down by 1.02% and Cipla down by 0.99% were the top losers.

Asian equity indices were trading mixed; Straits Times Index up by 0.13% to 3,305.67, Shanghai Composite up by 0.01% to 2,223.07 and Nikkei 225 up by 0.60% to 15,304.93. While, Hang Seng down by 0.08% to 24,871.16, Taiwan Weighted down by 0.01% to 9,230.61 and Jakarta Stock Price Index down by 0.40% to 5,147.47