Markets trade in tight band in noon deals

Indian equity benchmarks are trading in a tight band in noon deals keeping their head above water. Sentiments remained up-beat on reports that Private equity investment in India is likely to touch a staggering $12 billion in 2014 primarily on account of reform measures taken by the government at the Centre. Meanwhile, the government has trimmed down its annual market borrowing by Rs 8000 crore and decided to borrow Rs 2.40 lakh crore in the next six months starting October 1, against the budget estimate of Rs 2.48 lakh crore. However, gains remained capped as investors remained on sidelines ahead of Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) bi-monthly monetary policy due on September 30, 2014.

On the global front, Political unrest in Hong Kong, worst since China’s resumption of control over the island following transfer of power from the British nearly two decades ago, unleashed volatility in the Asian markets. At present, mainland Chinese market remains relatively unscathed from the spillover effects of the Hong Kong unrest. Shanghai shares have risen 0.35%.

Back home, pharma stocks rallied, led by Sun Pharma as apprehensions of an import alert on its Halol plant have largely diminished now. Moreover, stocks related to Coal and power counters too edged higher as the Coal Ministry has asked Power Ministry to review the fuel import plan for this fiscal, as the target set is not commensurate with the plants' capacity addition envisaged for FY 2015. The broader indices too were outperforming benchmarks, while the market breadth on the BSE was positive; there were 1726 shares on the gaining side against 820 shares on the losing side while 84 shares remain unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 26650.90, up by 24.58 points or 0.09% after trading in a range of 26539.69 and 26709.15. There were 12 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 1.01%, while Small cap index up by 1.59%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Healthcare up by 2.16%, Consumer Durables up by 1.79%, IT up by 1.46%, TECK up by 1.19% and Capital Goods up by 0.46% while, Metal down by 1.06%, FMCG down by 0.84%, Bankex down by 0.41% and Auto down by 0.30% were the few losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Sun Pharma Inds. up by 3.44%, TCS up by 2.42%, BHEL up by 1.97%, Infosys up by 1.46% and Cipla up by 1.16%. On the flip side, Hindalco down by 1.97%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.31%, Tata Power down by 1.30%, Coal India down by 1.15% and ITC down by 1.10% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, just after Standard & Poor's revised India's rating outlook from 'negative' to 'stable', a confident Arvind Mayaram underscored that growth rate this fiscal will be in range of 5.5%-5-9%, higher than the rating agency’s estimate of 5.5%, which in turns strengthens the case for rating upgrade.

In a big sentiment boost, Standard & Poor's revised India's rating outlook from 'negative' to 'stable', though retaining the rating at ‘BBB-‘. Further, while upgrading the outlook, the global rating agency highlighted that the rating of the country too could be upgraded if the economy reverts to a real per capita GDP trend growth of 5.5% per year. Nevertheless, Arvind Mayaram reiterated that his government continually believed that the growth this year would be in the region of 5.5%-5.9% and there was a strong likelihood for upwards revision of the credit rating.

At the same time, Mayaram also lauded the global rating agency for acknowledging the steps taken by the Centre to improve the economy and specially bring the investment climate back and therefore the growth is cycle back.

Modi, in his outlook revision, which came four months after the Modi regime took over, underscored that this revision reflects its view that India's improved political setting offers a conducive environment for reforms, which could boost growth prospects and improve fiscal management.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7975.00, up by 6.15 points or 0.08% after trading in a range of 7937.80 and 7987.60. There were 20 stocks advancing against 30 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Sun Pharma Inds. up by 3.59%, TCS up by 2.38%, BHEL up by 1.97%, BPCL up by 1.47%, Infosys up by 1.44%. On the flip side, Jindal Steel & Power down by 2.36%, Hindalco down by 1.94%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.45%, NMDC down by 1.38% and Cairn India down by 1.32% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed, Jakarta Composite increased 1.2 points or 0.02% to 5,133.76, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 2.36 points or 0.13% to 1,842.86, Shanghai Composite increased 8.28 points or 0.35% to 2,356.00 and Nikkei 225 increased 80.78 points or 0.5% to 16,310.64.

On the flip side, Hang Seng decreased 487.38 points or 2.06% to 23,191.03, Taiwan Weighted decreased 29.06 points or 0.32% to 8,960.76, KOSPI Index decreased 5.04 points or 0.25% to 2,026.60 and Straits Times decreased 3.16 points or 0.1% to 3,289.05.