Benchmarks continue to trade in green in afternoon session

Indian equity benchmarks were trading in green in the afternoon session supported by gains in power, FMCG and PSU stocks amid positive global cues. Sentiments were boosted by continued buying by funds and investors on hopes of acceleration in economic reforms after the much-awaited GST Bill, which provides for an overhaul of the taxation system, was introduced in the Lok Sabha on December 19. Most of the major sectoral indices were trading in green with power as the top gaining index up by over 1%. Broader indices were also trading in green as both mid cap and small cap up by over 0.40%. However, the selling witnessed in IT, teck and banking stocks restrained the market gains. The announcement that FDI in India’s services sector has declined by 7.5% y-o-y to $1.22 billion during the April-September period also put some pressure on domestic benchmarks. In scrip specific movement, shares of Crompton Greaves trading higher by around 2% at Rs 184 after the company stated that it has bagged order from Belgian company Northwind. R Systems International has rallied around 11% to Rs 91.40 after the company said its board approved the buyback of equity shares of the company at a maximum price of Rs 100 per share.

On global front, Asian markets were trading in green with Shanghai Composite up by 1.61% and Taiwan Weighted up by 1.06% as demand for oil showed a slight rebound making for an overall positive macroeconomic indicator. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading above their psychological 8,200 and 27,000 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was positive, out of 2,457 stocks traded, 1,265 stocks advanced, while 1,083 stocks declined on the BSE.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 27408.82, up by 36.98 points or 0.14% after trading in a range of 27391.40 and 27509.59. There were 18 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.48%, while Small cap index up by 0.40%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Power up by 1.15%, FMCG up by 1.15%, PSU up by 1.01%, Realty up by 0.80% and INFRA up by 0.62%. On the other hand,  IT down by 0.67%, TECK down by 0.43% and Bankex down by 0.08% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were GAIL India up by 3.32%, BHEL up by 2.68%, Coal India up by 2.55%, NTPC up by 2.21% and Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.44%. On the flip side, Hindalco down by 1.21%, Infosys down by 1.06%, Reliance Industries down by 0.83%, ICICI Bank down by 0.82% and TCS down by 0.80% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in a bid to make penal provisions more strict in the power sector, the government has proposed penalty of up to Rs 1 crore on entities violating norms under the Electricity Act. The provision is part of various amendments proposed by the government to the Electricity Act, 2003 and would replace the provision in the current Electricity Act where the penalty can be only up to Rs 1 lakh.

The government has introduced the electricity Amendment bill, 2014 in the Lok Sabha  on February 19 and was later referred to the Standing Committee. If the proposed amendment comes into force, violating power sector companies would be liable for punishment that could be imprisonment for three months or fine up to Rs 1 crore. In case of continuing failure, an additional fine would be imposed to around Rs 1 lakh for every day if the failure continues after conviction of the first such offence.

Regarding the renewable energy companies, the bill has notified that in case of violations, the concerned person could face up to three months imprisonment. For the particular generating company, the penalty could extend up to Rs 10 lakh and in case of continued failure to comply with the norms, the fine could be Rs 10,000 per day.

Further, the bill also proposed measures to enhance safety and security of electricity grids, separation of carriage and content in the distribution sector and promotion of renewable energy. The government is of the view that the implementation of proposed provision will promote competition, efficiency in operations and improvement in quality of supply of electricity in the country resulting in capacity addition and ultimate benefit to the consumers.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8237.25, up by 12.05 points or 0.15% after trading in a range of 8229.50 and 8260.85. There were 30 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Jindal Steel & Power up by 4.45%, GAIL India up by 3.37%, NMDC up by 2.99%, Coal India up by 2.82% and BHEL up by 2.78%. On the flip side, Hindalco down by 1.17%, ICICI Bank down by 0.97%, Reliance Industries down by 0.95%, Tech Mahindra down by 0.91% and TCS down by 0.90% were the top losers.

Most of the Asian markets were trading in green, KOSPI Index up by 13.14 points or 0.68% to 1,943.12, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI up by 24.28 points or 1.41% to 1,740.27, Straits Times up by 38.64 points or 1.18% to 3,318.17, Shanghai Composite up by 50.15 points or 1.61% to 3,158.75, Taiwan Weighted up by 95.48 points or 1.06% to 9,095.00 and Hang Seng up by 339.37 points or 1.47% to 23,456.00. While, Nikkei 225 down 16.37 points or 0.09% to 17,605.03 and Jakarta Composite down 1.08 points or 0.02% to 5,143.54.