Markets extend early gains; trade near intra-day high level

Indian equities added gains in the afternoon session to continue their firm trade in the late afternoon session hovering near the highest point of the day on the back of buying witnessed in IT, teck and bankex stocks amid mixed global cues. Further, the gains in frontline blue chip stocks such as BHEL, TCS and HDFC among others also supported the domestic benchmarks. Continued buying by foreign funds as well as retail investors on the back of positive domestic and global factors such as easing crude oil prices and improved corporate profitability during Q1 FY15 quarters buoyed investors’ sentiments. Most sectoral indices were trading in green. So far in August, FIIs and MF have made net investments of Rs 9,000 crore in equity market. Markets sentiment also got some support as Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has asserted that Indian corporates need to learn and adopt international best practices to improve their governance standards and to utilize opportunities that beckon India`s economy. Apart from blue chips, broader indices too equally participated in the rally with both mid and small cap indices trading up by over 0.30%. Sector wise, IT was top gaining index on BSE up by around 0.93% whereas metal index was top loser trading down by around 0.68%.

Trident has surged around 10% to Rs 26.70 after the company said that its credit ratings have been upgraded by Credit Analysis & Research (CARE) to A-. Further, KNR Constructions surged around 5% to Rs 239 after winning orders worth Rs 68 crores from Government of Karnataka.

On global front, most of the Asian markets were trading mixed with Nikkei 225 up by 0.54% and Jakarta Composite down 0.32%. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading above their psychological 7,900 and 26,500 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was positive, out of 2,590 stocks traded, 1,442 stocks advanced, while 1,062 stocks declined on the BSE.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 26609.26, up by 189.71 points or 0.72% after trading in a range of 26490.31 and 26612.23. 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 0.34%, while Small cap index up by 0.61%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 0.93%, TECK up by 0.77%, Bankex up by 0.63%, FMCG up by 0.56% and Oil & Gas up by 0.56%. On the other hand, Metal down by 0.68%, Realty down by 0.63% and INFRA down by 0.20% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were BHEL up by 2.72%, TCS up by 2.11%, HDFC up by 1.76%, ONGC up by 1.53% and Maruti Suzuki up by 1.42%. On the flip side, Hindalco down by 1.15%, Tata Power down by 0.86%, Tata Steel down by 0.81%, Sesa Sterlite down by 0.62% and GAIL India down by 0.60% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, with an aim to enhance the power production in the country, the government has started the process for setting up four new ultra mega power projects (UMPP) in states including Bihar, Jharkhand and Odisha. These four UMPP are likely to add 16,000 MW capacities to the country's power generation. 

The Government has stated that the land for the proposed project in Jharkhand has been acquired while in the case of two UMPPs in Odisha and one in Bihar, the respective state governments have identified suitable sites. The price bids for these proposed plants are yet to be submitted after which the UMPPs will be awarded to industry players. The major industry players like NTPC, Tata Power, NHPC, Adani Power, JSW Energy and Jindal Power have submitted applications for the proposed projects. So far, four UMPPs have been awarded in the country in states Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh, of which Reliance Power has bagged three plants and Tata Power has bagged one.

In India, electricity is produced with the help of coal, crude oil, water and natural gas. At present industry installed capacity stands at around 248 GW out of which coal-fired plants account for about 59% and hydro plants compromises around 17% of India's installed electricity capacity.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7959.00, up by 45.80 points or 0.58% after trading in a range of 7927.75 and 7959.80. There were 30 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were BHEL up by 2.97%, TCS up by 2.13%, Indusind Bank up by 1.85%, HDFC up by 1.59% and ONGC up by 1.59%. On the flip side, Jindal Steel & Power down by 3.01%, Hindalco down by 1.37%, Ultratech Cement down by 1.12%, United Spirits down by 1.00% and Tata Power down by 0.91% were the top losers.

Asian equity indices were trading mixed; KOSPI Index up by4.19 points or 0.2% to 2,060.89, Taiwan Weighted up by10.52 points or 0.11% to 9,390.62, Straits Times up by16.19 points or 0.49% to 3,341.69, Hang Seng up by75.09 points or 0.3% to 25,187.32 and Nikkei 225 up by84.28 points or 0.54% to 15,623.47. 

While, Jakarta Composite down 16.77 points or 0.32% to 5,182.13and Shanghai Composite down 3.58 points or 0.16% to 2,237.23