Benchmarks make gap-up opening; Nifty recaptures 8,100 mark

Indian equity benchmarks have made a smart bounce back in early deals on Thursday with frontline gauges recapturing their crucial 8,100 (Nifty) and 27,000 (Sensex) levels, taking cues from the recovery in the global markets after the US Fed said it was on course to raise interest rates, though not right away. The US markets made a sharp bounce back and rallied in last session, reacting positively to the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy statement. The Fed after its two days meeting left interest rates at near-zero levels and said it can be patient in beginning to normalize the stance of monetary policy. Asian markets too were trading mostly in the green at this point of time taking cues from the US markets; however the Chinese market was trading in red after China’s yuan weakened against the dollar.

Back home, there was broad based buying witnessed in the markets and apart from the blue chips, the broader markets too equally participated in the rally. Sentiments also remained up-beat with cabinet approving a constitutional amendment bill to rationalise state and central indirect taxes into a harmonised goods and services tax (GST). The bill is likely to be tabled in the ongoing winter session of Parliament that concludes on December 23. Also, the Asian Development Bank has said that India is on track to achieve projected 5.5 percent economic growth rate in 2014-15 as declining oil prices present a golden opportunity for many beneficial reforms.

Meanwhile, none of the sectoral indices were trading in the red, while consumer durables and capital goods witnessed the maximum gain in trade. Power, infrastructure, realty, banking, PSU, metal, infrastructure, FMCG and healthcare too were trading significantly. The broader indices too were trading in-line with benchmarks, while the market breadth on the BSE was positive; there were 1602 shares on the gaining side against 272 shares on the losing side while 38 shares remain unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 27019.68, up by 309.55 points or 1.16% after trading in a range of 26967.56 and 27105.80. There were 25 stocks advancing against 5 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 2.27%, while Small cap index up by 2.65%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 3.26%, Capital Goods up by 2.22%, Power up by 2.19%, Realty up by 2.19% and Bankex up by 2.02% while, there were no losers on the BSE sectoral index.

The top gainers on the Sensex were BHEL up by 4.30%, Hindalco up by 3.23%, ICICI Bank up by 3.05%, SBI up by 2.70% and Tata Steel up by 2.57%. On the flip side, Wipro down by 0.32%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.26%, TCS down by 0.18%, Coal India down by 0.11% and HDFC down by 0.01% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in first of its kind initiative, Government is planning to come out with a six-month report card, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi ordering all ministers to submit details of their performances and achievements by this month end in the form of an e-booklet and a video clip.

Though the government has not yet decided how it would like to display its six months achievements before the nation, the emphasis would be to mass-scale publicity at the grass-root level. Reports suggest that government could hold press conferences or use social networking platform to illustrate its achievements and have instructed states and MPs to distribute booklets in their respective constituencies.

The plan to highlight the achievements of the government assumes importance for NDA government as several states are heading for assembly polls and bypolls.

In its six months in power, the Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre has taken some crucial administrative measures including opening up Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Railways, deregulating fuel and announcing mega missions like 'Make in India'.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8124.25, up by 94.45 points or 1.18% after trading in a range of 8110.50 and 8151.50. There were 43 stocks advancing against 7 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were BHEL up by 4.22%, PNB up by 3.54%, Hindalco up by 3.40%, ICICI Bank up by 3.08% and Jindal Steel & Power up by 3.06%. On the flip side, HCL Tech down by 0.90%, Coal India down by 0.29%, Wipro down by 0.19%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.19% and HDFC down by 0.14% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading mostly in the green; Straits Times rose 8.86 points or 0.27% to 3,236.09, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI surged 21.4 points or 1.27% to 1,703.30, Taiwan Weighted gained 56.42 points or 0.64% to 8,884.78, Jakarta Composite increased 59.2 points or 1.18% to 5,094.85, Hang Seng strengthened 301.86 points or 1.34% to 22,887.70 and Nikkei 225 was up by 425.35 points or 2.53% to 17,245.08. On the flip side, KOSPI Index decreased 16.01 points or 0.84% to 1,884.15 and Shanghai Composite was down by 9.91 points or 0.32% to 3,051.11.