Markets continue to trade firm on robust GDP data

Indian benchmarks continued their firm trade in the noon session, though the major indices were following a tight range but there was no sense of any profit booking since morning. Good global cues coupled with strong economic data at the domestic front has enthused the markets to extend their gains. While a mild weakness in defensive FMCG sector was visible, almost all other sectoral indices were trading in green. Sentiments got a boost as India’s economy expanded at its fastest pace in more than two years by 5.7% during the April-June quarter of current fiscal as compared to 4.7 percent growth recorded in same quarter last year. Market sentiments also buoyed by manufacturing PMI which came in at 52.4 indicating expansion in operating conditions supported by strong expansions in total new orders and business from abroad. Realty was the top gaining index up by around 2.35% followed by capital goods and consumer durables indices trading up by over 1.80%. Oil and gas stocks were also on buyer's radar as diesel prices increased by 50 paise per litre. Buying was broad based with both mid cap and small cap indices trading up by over 1%.

Shares of Maruti Suzuki were up nearly 3% at Rs 2,864 amid better-than-expected sales growth in August led by the compact car segment. Further, shares of Bharti Airtel were up nearly 2% at Rs 377 after the telecom major's subsidiary entered into a deal to acquire Essar's Group telecom business in Kenya.

On global front, Most of the Asian markets were trading in green with Nikkei 225 up by 0.3% and Hang Seng up by 0.29%. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading above their psychological 8,000 and 26,500 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was positive, out of 2,591 stocks traded, 1,669 stocks advanced, while 805 stocks declined on the BSE.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 26820.92, up by 182.81 points or 0.69% after trading in a range of 26732.39 and 26854.08. 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 1.25%, while Small cap index up by 1.09%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 2.35%, Capital Goods up by 2.23%, Consumer Durables up by 1.82%, Power up by 1.58%, PSU up by 1.42%. On the flip side, FMCG down by 0.04% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Hero MotoCorp up by 3.33%, Larsen & Toubro up by 2.95%, Maruti Suzuki up by 2.61%, Cipla up by 2.27% and GAIL India up by 2.26%. On the flip side, Tata Motors down by 1.22%, Sun Pharma Inds. down by 0.91%, ITC down by 0.48%, HDFC down by 0.27% and Hindustan Unilever down by 0.16% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Banks’ non-food credit rose by 12.6 percent y-o-y in the month of July to Rs 56,17,500 crore from Rs 49,89,400 crore in the year-ago period. However, the growth in non-food credit was a tad lower than average 13 percent growth in the previous two months.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) report highlighted that bank credit to the agriculture sector rose by 19.5 percent to Rs 7,20,200 crore during the month from Rs 6,02,700 crore in the corresponding period last year. Credit to the sector had risen around 10.5 percent in July 2013. Banks’ lending to the industry grew by 10.1 percent to Rs 25,07,900 crore in July from Rs 22,77,400 crore in July 2013. The report noted that growth in industry’s credit was lower than 15.9 percent in the July 2013 mainly due to decline in credit to infrastructure, basic metals, textiles, chemicals and food processing industries, among others.

Meanwhile, services sector witnessed an increase of 12.3 percent in the lending at Rs 13,17,600 crore in July as against Rs 11,73,700 crore last year same period. In July last year, the service sector had seen an increase of 13.3 per cent in credit. Banks’ credit to NBFCs more than doubled to 11.5 percent in July from 5.7 per cent in the year ago period. Further, personal loans growth declined to 14.5 per cent from 17 percent in the corresponding period last year.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8014.80, up by 60.45 points or 0.76% after trading in a range of 7984.00 and 8022.70. There were 44 stocks advancing against 6 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Hero MotoCorp up by 3.52%, Larsen & Toubro up by 3.18%, Tata Power up by 2.71%, Maruti Suzuki up by 2.60% and Indusind Bank up by 2.42%. On the flip side, Tata Motors down by 1.34%, Sun Pharma Inds. down by 0.96%, ITC down by 0.51%, HDFC down by 0.41% and Hindustan Unilever down by 0.37% were the top losers.

Asian equity indices were trading in green; Shanghai Composite up by 17.79 points or 0.8% to 2,234.99, Jakarta Composite up by 34.37 points or 0.67% to 5,171.23, Nikkei 225 up by 46.76 points or 0.3% to 15,471.35, Hang Seng up by 71.19 points or 0.29% to 24,813.25, Taiwan Weighted up by 76.79 points or 0.81% to 9,513.06. While Straits Times down 14.87 points or 0.45% to 3,312.22 and KOSPI Index down 0.68 points or 0.03% to 2,067.86