Benchmarks magnify gains; Sensex above 26600 mark

Extending their early gains, Indian equity markets continued to trade with vigor in late morning session on emergence of buying by funds and retail investors amid a firming trend in other Asian markets. Sentiment on the street improved with the report of Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion that foreign direct investment (FDI) flows into India more than doubled to $3.5 billion in July, compared to FDI worth $1.65 billion in July 2013. Besides, speculations that the US Federal Reserve is unlikely to start raising interest rates soon, also boosted the sentiments. However, gains remained capped on report that foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 829 crore on September 16, 2014.

Barring Infrastructure and Capital Goods, all other BSE sectoral indices were trading in the green. Among them, IT and TECK indices were the star-performers, followed by Realty and FMCG. In scrip specific development, Aurobindo Pharma has gained after the company received final approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) to manufacture and market Amoxicilin for oral suspension. Furthermore, shares of Ramky Infrastructure have zoomed over 12% after a report that the Piramal group has emerged as the front runner to purchase its three highway projects.

On global front, Asian shares rose tracking overnight gains on Wall Street and on speculation the Federal Reserve would maintain a pledge on low rates when a two-day policy meeting ends later in the session. Back home, India’s rupee appreciated by nine paise to 60.96 against the US dollar in early trade on increased selling of the American currency by exporters and banks. The market breadth on BSE was positive, out of 2356 stocks traded, 1294 stocks advanced, while 987 stocks declined on the BSE. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 26638.51 up by 146.00 points or 0.55% after trading in a range of 26682.64 and 26511.71. 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 0.10%, while Small cap index gained 0.26%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 1.05%, TECK up by 0.90%, Realty up by 0.56%, FMCG up by 0.47% and Oil & Gas up by 0.37%, while Infrastructure down by 0.17% and Capital Goods down by 0.03% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Power up by 1.73%, TCS up by 1.40%, Sun Pharma up by 1.39%, HDFC up by 1.32% and Dr Reddys Lab up by 1.26%. On the flip side, Cipla down by 1.23%, Sesa Sterlite down by 1.12%, Tata Motors down by 0.64%, Larsen & Toubro down by 0.32% and Maruti Suzuki down by 0.30% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, amid the government’s effort for reviving the economy, a big boost has come from the foreign direct investment (FDI) front that may sooth some nerve of the government and the apex bank fighting with slowing domestic production and inconsistent inflation. As per the data of Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, the FDI flows into India more than doubled to $ 3.5 billion in July, as compared to $1.65 billion in the same month last year. In this fiscal, during April-July period the foreign inflows grew by 52 percent to $10.73 billion as compared to $7.05 billion in the same period last year.

Mauritius once again topped the list from where India got the maximum FDI worth $3.38 billion, followed by Singapore worth $1.66 billion, Netherlands $1.49 billion, Japan $834 million, UK $824 million, US $351 million and Germany worth $314 million.

Sectorwise, telecommunications received the maximum FDI of $2.33 billion, followed by service sector $1 billion, pharmaceuticals $886 million, construction $430 million, and Hotel & Tourism worth $305 million during the first-four months of the fiscal.

India requires around $1 trillion in the next five years to overhaul its infrastructure sector, in 2013-14, the FDI inflows in India were $24.29 billion against $22.42 billion in 2012-13.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7,978.15 up by 45.25 points or 0.57% after trading in a range of 7,990.65 and 7,936.95. There were 39 stocks advancing against 11 declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were NMDC up by 2.31%, Cairn India up by 1.88%, Tata Power up by 1.74%, TCS up by 1.53% and Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.50%. On the flip side, Jindal Steel & Power down by 1.79%, Cipla down by 1.14%, Sesa Sterlite down by 1.03%, Tata Motors down by 0.63% and Power Grid down by 0.51% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in the green; Straits Times up by 0.47%, Nikkei 225 rose by 0.05 %, Jakarta Composite surged by 1.26%, Shanghai Composite up by 0.18%, Hang Seng gained by 1.07%, KOSPI Index jumped by 0.68% and Taiwan Weighted was up by 0.72%. On the flip side, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI declined by 0.20%.