Benchmarks extend gains; Sensex surpasses 27,000 mark

Indian equity markets extended gains and continue to trade in green in the late afternoon session on account of buying in frontline blue chip counters and taking cues from regional counterparts. The sentiments were on optimistic note after US Federal Reserve stated that it would take a patient approach in deciding when to raise interest rates, quelling fears of sudden outflows from emerging markets’ assets. The sentiments also got support after the Cabinet approved the Constitution Amendment Bill on Goods and Services Tax (GST), clearing the way for its introduction in ongoing session of Parliament to bring about long-pending indirect tax reforms. Traders were seen piling positions in Consumer Durables, Infra and Power sector stocks. In scrip specific development, ITC was trading in green on reports that tobacco will be included under the Goods and Services Tax.

On the global front, the Asian markets were trading mostly in green while the European markets were trading on optimistic note. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading above the psychological 8,100 and 27,000 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was positive in the ratio of 1987:651 while 97 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 27081.21, up by 371.08 points or 1.39% after trading in a range of 26900.57 and 27118.18. There were 27 stocks advancing against 3 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 2.57%, while Small cap index up by 2.99%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 5.32%, INFRA up by 3.05%, Power up by 2.88%, Capital Goods up by 2.44%, PSU up by 2.35%.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Hindalco up by 4.62%, GAIL India up by 4.32%, BHEL up by 4.02%, Tata Power up by 3.75% and ICICI Bank up by 3.16%. On the flip side, Dr. Reddy’s Lab down by 0.68%, Wipro down by 0.25% and Hindustan Unilever down by 0.03% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, with an aim to produce globally competitive products, India is planning to set up reverse special economic zones (SEZs) in Iran, mainly in the fertiliser and petrochemical sector. India is keen to explore the possibilities of setting up of reverse SEZs under which domestic firms mainly related to fertiliser and petrochemical sector will be encouraged to set up plants in other countries where raw material is in abundance and available at cheaper rates, while the final product will be imported back.

Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers Ananth Kumar has asserted that a Joint Working Group between India and Iran in these areas with officials from both the countries will work out a roadmap for cooperation. Meanwhile, some state-run firms include RCF and GNFCL are already working on a proposal to set up a urea-ammonia plant.

The Ministry is of the view that Iran could be an ideal place to start reverse SEZ project since many refineries in India already import crude from Iran and have working business relationship with Iranian companies. Meanwhile, India is also likely to extend the reverse SEZs project to Myanmar and Mozambique as these countries have abundance of oil and gas resources, a key feedstock for petrochemicals and petroleum industry.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8144.25, up by 114.45 points or 1.43% after trading in a range of 8084.90 and 8152.70. There were 45 stocks advancing against 5 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Jindal Steel & Power up by 6.94%, Hindalco up by 4.76%, BHEL up by 4.31%, GAIL India up by 4.30% and PNB up by 4.02%. On the flip side, Dr. Reddy’s Lab down by 0.68%, Grasim Industries down by 0.41%, Wipro down by 0.18%, Coal India down by 0.16% and Hindustan Unilever down by 0.11% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Straits Times increased 20.33 points or 0.63% to 3,247.56, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 20.76 points or 1.23% to 1,702.66, Taiwan Weighted increased 50.27 points or 0.57% to 8,878.63, Jakarta Composite increased 60.91 points or 1.21% to 5,096.56, Hang Seng increased 246.37 points or 1.09% to 22,832.21 and Nikkei 225 increased 390.32 points or 2.32% to 17,210.05.

On the other hand, Shanghai Composite decreased 3.5 points or 0.11% to 3,057.52 and KOSPI Index decreased 2.66 points or 0.14% to 1,897.50.

The European markets were trading in green; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 35.59 points or 0.56% to 6,372.07, France’s CAC increased 58.65 points or 1.43% to 4,170.56 and Germany’s DAX increased 150.36 points or 1.58% to 9,694.79.