Markets pair some early gains in afternoon session; trade continues in green

Indian bourses continued to trade in green in the afternoon session as buying momentum in the equities persisted, however marginal downfall from day's high levels was seen as selling appeared in defensive sector stocks such as IT and Teck. Markets continue to trade in positive territory as good institutional flows, both domestic and foreign on the back of encouraging Q1 earnings by several blue-chip companies, fall in global crude prices and firm Asian cues has provided support to markets’ sentiments and most of the sectoral indices were trading in green. Overseas investors bought cash shares worth $77.84 million in the previous session. Sentiments are also on optimistic mood as according to Nielsen global survey, India has touched the top spot in consumer confidence among 60 countries. During April-June quarter of 2014, India’s ranking increased seven index points to 128. Metals stocks were on buyer's radar as the Government has imposed safeguard duty on the import of seamless pipes and tubes in order to provide relief to domestic producers.

Shares of Sesa Sterlite were up nearly 4% at Rs 303 after the Goa government decided to follow the order of the Goa bench of the Bombay High Court to renew mining leases. Further, shares of Britannia Industries, extending its one-month long rally on the bourses surged nearly 4% to Rs 1,311 as the company had sold factory land located at Padi, Chennai for Rs 172 crore and reported sales growth of 15.3% in Q1FY15 as against industry growth of 6.2%, showing strong sales momentum.

On global front, Asian equity indices were trading in green with Straits Times up by 0.1% and Jakarta Composite up by 0.17% as easing concerns over Ukraine and overnight gains in US markets influenced the trading sentiment. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading above their psychological 7,850 and 26,000 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was positive, out of 2,582 stocks traded, 1,411 stocks advanced, while 1,073 stocks declined on the BSE.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 26420.10, up by 29.14 points or 0.11% after trading in a range of 26412.91 and 26530.67. There were 20 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.82%, while Small cap index up by 0.85%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Auto up by 1.14%, Metal up by 1.04%, Capital Goods up by 0.92%, Realty up by 0.63% and PSU up by 0.58%. While, Consumer Durables down by 0.56%, IT down by 0.40% and TECK down by 0.19% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Sesa Sterlite up by 2.69%, Dr. Reddys Lab up by 2.19%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.85%, Axis Bank up by 1.42% and Tata Motors up by 1.42%. On the flip side, TCS down by 1.71%, HDFC down by 1.52%, Sun Pharma down by 1.31%, HDFC Bank down by 0.45% and Hindustan Unilever down by 0.36% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, According to Nielsen global survey, India has touched the top spot in consumer confidence among 60 countries. During April-June quarter of 2014, India’s ranking increased seven index points to 128, surpassing the 123 logged by Indonesia, which previously held the top spot for five consecutive quarters. Nielsen consumer confidence index measures perceptions of job prospects, personal finances and immediate spending intentions and index value above and below a baseline of 100 indicate degrees of optimism and pessimism respectively.

The survey revealed that India`s job sentiment improved 20 percentage points from the third quarter of 2013, as 83 percent of Indian consumers said they feel optimistic about future prospects. Piyush Mathur, president, Nielsen India consumer confidence level has enhanced when country`s general elections were taking place in the country. This buoyancy is yet to translate into increased consumption across sectors. Despite the ongoing inflationary trend and expectations of a poor monsoon, consumers are likely to increase consumption in coming festival season.

On global front, Nielsen survey highlighted that global consumer confidence increased one index point to 97 in the second quarter, marking the highest level since the first quarter of 2007. Confidence was highest in the Asia-Pacific region, which held steady from the first quarter with a score of 106, on the other hand, Europe (77) and North America (103) reported consumer confidence increases of three and two points, respectively, from the first quarter. Among other Asia-Pacific countries, confidence index increased in the Philippines (120) and Malaysia (93), while, China held steady for a third consecutive quarter at 111.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7889.15, up by 14.90 points or 0.19% after trading in a range of 7881.15 and 7918.55. There were 36 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were BPCL up by 3.29%, United Spirits up by 2.83%, Indusind Bank up by 2.43%, Sesa Sterlite up by 2.32% and Dr. Reddys Lab up by 2.30%. On the flip side, TCS down by 1.78%, HDFC down by 1.57%, Sun Pharma Inds. down by 1.57%, Power Grid Corpn. down by 0.74% and Jindal Steel & Power down by 0.63% were the top losers.

Asian equity indices were trading in green; Straits Times up by 3.32 points or 0.1% to 3,316.10, Jakarta Composite up by 8.55 points or 0.17% to 5,165.31,Hang Seng up by 12.42 points or 0.05% to 24,967.88, KOSPI Index up by 18.01 points or 0.88% to 2,071.14, Taiwan Weighted up by 102.47 points or 1.12% to 9,243.78 and Nikkei 225 up by 137.45 points or 0.9% to 15,460.05. While, Shanghai Composite down 1.47 points or 0.07% to 2,237.99