Benchmarks continue firm trade; IT, TECK lead

Indian equity benchmarks added gains to continue their firm trade in the late afternoon session on account of buying in frontline blue chip counters. The sentiments were on optimistic note after US Fed Chairperson Janet Yellen at the 3-day Jackson Hole symposium in Wyoming indicated that the central bank remains wary of raising the interest rates. Traders were seen piling up positions in IT, TECK and Bankex while selling was witnessed in Metal, Realty and Infra sector stocks. In scrip specific development, State Bank of India (SBI) was trading in green after foreign brokerage firm upgraded the stock to buy from hold. Kolte-Patil Developers was trading in green on hopes of getting strong revenue from Mumbai realty market.

On the global front, the Asian markets were trading mostly in green, while the European markets too traded on optimistic note. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading above their psychological 7,950 and 26,600 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was positive in the ratio of 1589:1290 while 83 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 26620.90, up by 201.35 points or 0.76% after trading in a range of 26490.31 and 26630.63. 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 0.53%, while Small cap index up by 1.07%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 1.00%, TECK up by 0.86%, Bankex up by 0.66%, Capital Goods up by 0.64%, Auto up by 0.63% while, Metal down by 0.65%, Realty down by 0.25%, Infra down by 0.06% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were BHEL up by 2.92%, TCS up by 2.17%, Maruti Suzuki up by 2.13%, Dr. Reddy’s Lab up by 2.06% and HDFC up by 1.66%. On the flip side, Hindalco down by 1.21%, Tata Power down by 1.18%, GAIL India down by 1.04%, Sesa Sterlite down by 1.01% and Tata Steel down by 0.73% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, according to Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) latest report, foreign direct investment inflows in Indian equity fell to $16.05 billion in 2013-14 from $18.29 billion in 2012-13 and $23.47 billion in 2011-12. However, during 2013-14, overall FDI inflows in India rose by 8% to $24.29 billion as against $22.42 billion in FY13.

Further, overall FDIs, during the first quarter of FY15, jumped by 34 percent to $7.23 billion from $5.39 billion recorded in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal. Country wise, maximum FDI during the reported period was received form Mauritius at $2.61 billion, followed by Singapore ($1.18 billion), the UK ($567 million), Japan ($695 million) and the US ($249 million).

The report also revealed that Singapore has overtaken Mauritius as the largest source of foreign equity inflows into India. Investments from Singapore amounted to $4.42 billion in 2013-14 as compared to $3.69 billion from Mauritius. During 2009-10, FDI inflows from Mauritius recorded at $9.8 billion.

FDI is considered crucial for India and to attract maximum FDI into the country, the government has been liberalizing the foreign investment policy. Recently, the government has raised the foreign investment limit to 49 percent in defence manufacturing and also relaxed the policy in railway and construction sector.  Furthermore, India requires around $1 trillion in the 12th five year plan (2012-2017), to overhaul its infrastructure sector such as ports, airports and highways to boost growth.  

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7965.05, up by 51.85 points or 0.66% after trading in a range of 7927.75 and 7966.40. There were 33 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were BHEL up by 3.16%, Maruti Suzuki up by 2.18%, TCS up by 2.10%, Dr. Reddy’s Lab up by 2.06% and Ambuja Cement up by 1.63%. On the flip side, Jindal Steel & Power down by 2.77%, Hindalco down by 1.48%, Tata Power down by 1.28%, GAIL India down by 1.20% and IDFC down by 1.14% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading mostly in green; KOSPI Index increased 4.19 points or 0.2% to 2,060.89, Taiwan Weighted increased 10.52 points or 0.11% to 9,390.62, Straits Times increased 12.39 points or 0.37% to 3,337.89, Hang Seng increased 54.68 points or 0.22% to 25,166.91 and Nikkei 225 increased 74.06 points or 0.48% to 15,613.25.

On the flip side, Shanghai Composite decreased 11.54 points or 0.51% to 2,229.27, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 11.41 points or 0.61% to 1,859.58 and Jakarta Composite decreased 10.32 points or 0.2% to 5,188.57.

The European markets were too trading mostly in green; France’s CAC increased 39.38 points or 0.93% to 4,292.18, Germany’s DAX increased 101.77 points or 1.09% to 9,440.94 while, UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 2.41 points or 0.04% to 6,775.25.