Benchmarks trade slightly in the green

Indian equity benchmarks have made a positive start and are trading slightly in the green in early deals on Thursday as some support came after the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) said in its latest report that the Indian economy will grow at a rate of 5.6 percent in 2014. Though, traders remained cautious ahead of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) and Consumer Price Index (CPI) numbers which are due to be released tomorrow.

On the global front, the US markets made a bounce back in last session and ended higher supported by strength in the technology sector stocks, though some of the traders remained on sidelines amid lack of major US economic data. Most of the Asian equity benchmarks were trading in the green at this point of time led by Shanghai market which was up by around half a percent after China reported slower-than-estimated inflation.

Back home, on the sectoral front, capital goods, realty and banking witnessed the maximum gains in trade, while auto and metal remained the only losers on the BSE sectoral space. The broader indices too were trading with traction, while the market breadth on the BSE was positive; there were 1597 shares on the gaining side against 527 shares on the losing side while 55 shares remain unchanged.

The BSE Sensex opened at 27143.22; around 86 points higher as compared to its previous closing of 27057.41, and has touched a high and a low of 27150.78 and 27036.95 respectively. The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 27097.42, up by 40.01 points or 0.15%. There were 19 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index.

The overall market breadth remained in the favour of advances with 73.29% stocks advancing against 24.19% declines. The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.97%, while Small cap index up by 1.25%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Capital Goods up by 1.04%, Realty up by 1.03%, Bankex up by 0.78%, Infrastructure up by 0.73% and Power up by 0.70% while, Auto down by 0.23% and Metal down by 0.08% were the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Axis Bank up by 1.34%, SBI up by 1.32%, Hindalco up by 1.30%, Larsen & Toubro up by 1.11% and Sesa Sterlite up by 0.87%. On the flip side, Sun Pharma Industries down by 4.21%, Coal India down by 2.17%, Cipla down by 1.82%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.32% and Bharti Airtel down by 1.03% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, El Nino Pacific ocean warming event is possible in 2014 as the Australian Met department, in its latest outlook of El Nino, has said that there's a 50 percent chance of the weather pattern developing in the next few months. Australian Met department highlighted that the majority of international climate models surveyed by the bureau indicate Central Tropical Pacific surface temperatures will remain warmer than average, and may exceed El Nino thresholds by the end of the year.

El Nino can impact the agriculture production in the country as EI Nino in winters is often associated with heavy rainfall in the north, north-east and north-west India, and warmer months from December to March, particularly in the north. 

The development of El Nino event would add to the worries about an inadequate monsoon. However, Australia's Bureau of Meteorology has also lowered its prospects from 70 percent to just 50 percent, while American National Weather Service's Climate Prediction Centre has also reduced the chances of an El Nino this winter from 80 percent to 65 percent. Moreover, India Meteorological Department ( IMD) also expects that the odds of a strong El Nino was less this year, and was unlikely to make a huge impact on the Indian weather.

El Nino also known as the El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is part of a weather system which couples sea surface temperatures warming in the Pacific with strengthening in trade winds to create El Nino conditions. So far this year the warming of the pacific surface waters has not been matched by changes in the atmosphere that create the sustainable conditions for an El Nino. The CNX Nifty touched a high and low of 8,135.75 and 8,082.10 respectively.

The CNX Nifty opened at 8,115.15; around 21 points higher as compared to its previous closing of 8,094.10, and has touched a high and a low of 8,127.95 and 8,096.25 respectively.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8113.65, up by 19.55 points or 0.24%. There were 33 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were IDFC up by 3.93%, Bank of Baroda up by 2.11%, Axis Bank up by 1.56%, PNB up by 1.47% and SBI up by 1.26%. On the flip side, Sun Pharma Industries down by 4.12%, Coal India down by 2.15%, Cipla down by 1.66%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.41% and Bharti Airtel down by 1.14% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading in the green. FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI surged by 0.88 points or 0.05% to 1,871.73, Straits Times was jumped 10.45 points or 0.31% to 3,349.08, Nikkei 225 rose by 126.05 points or 0.80% to 15,914.83, Jakarta Composite gained by 24.66 points or 0.48% to 5,167.65, Shanghai Composite increased by 10.76 points or 0.46% to 2,329.07 and Hang Seng was up by 27.51 points or 0.11% to 24,732.87.

On the flip side KOSPI Index decreased by 1.83 points or 0.09% to 2,047.58 and Taiwan Weighted was down by 4.04 points or 0.04% to 9,353.57.