Benchmarks end marginally higher after record highs

Indian equity benchmarks ended Wednesday’s trade with a gain of over one third of a percent with Senses topping 28,000 mark while Nifty ending tab below its crucial 8,400 mark. Though, markets came off their fresh record highs to end the session with marginal gains as investors turned cautious ahead of October consumer price inflation and September Index of Industrial Production (IIP) data due later today. The CPI inflation is likely ease to 5.8 per cent in the month of October as compared to 6.3 per cent reported in the month of August, while IIP data is expected to expand marginally to 0.8 per cent in September.

Overall sentiments remained buoyed after Prime Minister Narendra Modi invited Malaysian companies to come to India in a big way, saying there are a ‘lot of opportunities’ for them since he is giving high importance to the ambitious 'Make in India' campaign. Some support also came from reports that foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 458.04 crore on November 11, 2014. Meanwhile, the empowered committee of state finance ministers on goods & services tax (GST) at its meeting held yesterday, November 11, 2014, reportedly agreed on the 'place of supply' rules that form the backbone of proposed GST.

On the global front, European counters made an awful start with all the European counters were trading with a cut of around a percent in early deals. Asian equity benchmarks ended mostly in the green, extending their gains for the fourth day as Japanese index climbed after the yen depreciated to a seven-year low amid speculation the nation will delay raising its sales tax again.

Back home, domestic sentiment remained upbeat on continued buying by foreign funds and retail investors amid a series of economic reforms undertaken by the Narendra Modi-led government and strong earnings by blue-chip companies. Meanwhile, rate sensitive pockets rallied on hopes of lower interest rates in upcoming monetary policy on expectation of yet another record low inflation figures later in the day. Moreover, stocks related to auto sector edged higher on hopes further fuel price cut may trigger pick-up in demand after reports PSU OMCs are likely to reduce price of petrol and diesel by about Rs 1 per litre on November 16, 2014. Additionally, tyre stocks remained on buyers’ radar as price of key raw material declined near five-year low.

The NSE’s 50-share broadly followed index Nifty gained around twenty points to end near the psychological 8,400 support level, while Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensitive Index -- Sensex rose by around one hundred points to end above the psychological 28,000 mark. Broader markets too traded in-line with benchmarks and ended the session with a gain of around half a percent. The market breadth was evenly divided, as there were 1524 shares on the gaining side against 1520 shares on the losing side while 103 shares remain unchanged.

Finally, the BSE Sensex surged by 98.84 points or 0.35%, to 28008.90, while the CNX Nifty gained 20.65 points or 0.25% to 8,383.30.

The BSE Sensex touched a high and a low of 28126.48 and 27958.64, respectively. The BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.47%, while the Small cap index was up by 0.20%.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Axis Bank up by 3.02%, Bajaj Auto up by 2.10%, Tata Motors up by 1.71%, ITC up by 1.55% and Hero MotoCorp up by 1.50%. On the flip side, Cipla down by 3.06%, Tata Power down by 2.47%, Tata Steel down by 2.38%, NTPC down by 2.26% and Larsen & Toubro down by 1.22% were the top losers in the index.

On the BSE Sectoral front Auto up by 1.18%, Bankex up by 1.12%, FMCG up by 0.96%, Consumer Durables up by 0.55% and Infrastructure up by 0.02% were the top gainers, while Power down by 1.37%, Metal down by 0.90%, PSU down by 0.57%, Capital Goods down by 0.53%, Oil & Gas down by 0.53% were the top losers in the space.

Meanwhile, the civil aviation ministry has started the process of appointing an Ombudsman to look into the complaints of consumers and give binding orders for Air India. The Union civil aviation minister has asked for an Ombudsman to look into the complaints of people against wings under the ministry like Air India, Directorate General of Civil Aviation, Airports Authority of India and Pawan Hans.

There is a practice of appointment of ombudsman in some of the ministries and departments in the government of India and crucial consumer-facing sectors such as banking and electricity have ombudsmen, but the proposal for an aviation ombudsman has remained on paper for the past four years. The aviation ministry despite several meetings of private airline CEOs and airports in the past four years has been unable to frame an ombudsman.

The aviation Ombudsman for Air India will be on the same lines followed by the Electricity, Banking, Income Tax and Insurance sectors. The ministry of aviation could later extend the Ombudsman for private airlines and airports who have opposed the idea so far. The steps were taken following a recent collision between a SpiceJet Boeing that was rolling for take-off with 140 passengers on board and hit a buffalo on the runaway of Surat airport in Gujarat.

The CNX Nifty touched a high and low of 8,415.05 and 8,370.50 respectively.

The top gainers on Nifty were Axis Bank up by 3.19%, DLF up by 2.23%, Ambuja Cements up by 1.84%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.80% and Bajaj Auto up by 1.78%. On the flip side, Power Grid Corporation of India down by 3.12%, Cipla down by 2.86%, Tata Power Company down by 2.73%, Tata Steel down by 2.56% and NTPC down by 2.43% were the top losers.

European markets were trading in the red, United Kingdom’s FTSE 100 was down by 0.39%, France’s CAC 40 was down by 0.63% and Germany’s DAX was down by 0.87%.

Asian markets ended mostly in green on Wednesday, with Chinese shares rallying amid optimism for next week’s exchange link with Hong Kong. Hong Kong is scrapping a daily limit on the amount of yuan residents can buy, helping reinforce its dominance as an offshore trading center for Chinese assets as Shanghai’s stock market opens to the city’s investors. Japanese stocks scaled seven-year highs on Wednesday, putting the rest of Asia in the shade, buoyed by expectations Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will postpone a planned sales tax hike to avoid damaging a fragile economic recovery. Abe stated that he will make up his mind on the tax increase after assessing the July-September GDP data due next Monday, widely expected to highlight the fragility of the rebound following a sharp contraction in the second quarter. The first increase in the two-stage sale tax hike in April knocked the Japanese economy hard, and markets view a delay in the second-phase of the tax hike as positive for growth. Japanese tertiary industry activity index rose to a seasonally adjusted 1.0%, from -0.1% in the preceding month while Japan’s M2 Money Stock rose to a seasonally adjusted 3.2%, from 3.0% in the preceding month. South Korean Unemployment Rate remained unchanged at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.5% compared to the preceding month.