Benchmarks trade in green; Sensex trades above 26,300 level

Indian equity markets added gains and started trading in green in the late afternoon session on account of buying in frontline blue chip counters. Investors got some relief after RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan exuded optimism that the country will be solidly in the 5% growth bracket during the course of this fiscal and accelerate further in the next financial year. He however added that the economic recovery is still uneven. Traders were seen piling positions in IT, Metal and TECK while selling was witnessed in Realty, FMCG and Capital Goods sector stocks. In scrip specific development, Novartis India was trading in red on reports that the drug pricing regulator has slapped Rs 300 crore penalty on the company. Essar Ports and Essar Shipping were trading firm after board of these companies approved delisting of shares from the stock exchanges.

On the global front, the Asian markets were trading mostly in red while the European markets were trading mostly on optimistic note. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading above the psychological 7,850 and 26,300 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was negative in the ratio of 1275:1502 while 95 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 26365.02, up by 67.64 points or 0.26% after trading in a range of 26092.69 and 26377.39. There were 17 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.32%, while Small cap index up by 0.30%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 1.40%, Metal up by 1.35%, TECK up by 1.14%, Bankex up by 1.08%, PSU up by 0.47% while, Realty down by 1.82%, FMCG down by 0.56%, Capital Goods down by 0.41%, Oil & Gas down by 0.39%, Auto down by 0.25% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Infosys up by 2.03%, Tata Steel up by 1.82%, Axis Bank up by 1.81%, Tata Power up by 1.75% and Coal India up by 1.63%. On the flip side, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 3.44%, Cipla down by 2.42%, Dr. Reddy’s Lab down by 2.38%, NTPC down by 1.35% and BHEL down by 1.18% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, with an aim to enhance foreign investments and boost domestic manufacturing, the Government is likely to relax the foreign direct investment (FDI) policy for the cash-starved medical devices sector. An inter-ministerial panel includes members from ministries such as Commerce and Industry Ministry, Finance Ministry, the Health and Family Welfare Ministry and the Department of Pharmaceuticals are discussing views on the issue of FDI in medical devices sector.  

FDI in medical devices sector is permitted through government-approval route, however the industry has been demanding that FDI should be put under the automatic route. India badly needs foreign investments in medical devices and equipment sector. 

Industry is of the view that the domestic companies are not competitive as global firms and not big like drug firms and thus there is no threat of mergers and acquisitions from multi-national firms.

Medical devices include wide range of products such as implants sutures and surgical instruments. The present market size of the industry stands at around $7 billion. As per estimates, India imports about 70 percent of its requirement of medical devices. The industry size is about $7 billion in the country.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7882.00, up by 22.05 points or 0.28% after trading in a range of 7796.00 and 7885.15. There were 30 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Jindal Steel & Power up by 3.62%, PNB up by 2.40%, Infosys up by 2.01%, Indusind Bank up by 1.97% and Axis Bank up by 1.95%. On the flip side, DLF down by 3.90%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 3.59%, Cipla down by 2.47%, Dr. Reddy’s Lab down by 2.29% and NTPC down by 1.45% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Taiwan Weighted decreased 255.05 points or 2.84% to 8,711.39, Jakarta Composite decreased 34.55 points or 0.7% to 4,928.41, Straits Times decreased 24.09 points or 0.75% to 3,199.78, KOSPI Index decreased 13.71 points or 0.71% to 1,927.21, Shanghai Composite decreased 8.53 points or 0.36% to 2,366.01 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 8.52 points or 0.47% to 1,800.36.

On the other hand, Hang Seng increased 54.84 points or 0.24% to 23,143.38. Japanese market remained shut for the trade today on account of ‘Health-Sports Day’ holiday.

The European markets were trading mostly in green; Germany’s DAX increased 18.76 points or 0.21% to 8,807.57, France’s CAC increased 3.32 points or 0.08% to 4,077.03, while UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 3.74 points or 0.06% to 6,336.23.