Benchmarks trade in fine fettle; Sensex surpasses 27,800 mark

Prolonging their gaining streak to fourth straight day, Indian equity benchmarks have made a positive start and are trading in fine fettle in early deals on Tuesday with Sensex and Nifty recapturing their crucial 27,800 (Sensex) and 8,350 (Nifty) levels. Buying in coal and power related stocks too supported the sentiments, as an advisory group on integrated development of power, coal and renewable energy, in its report submitted to coal minister Piyush Goyal, has suggested opening up the coal sector to augment coal output for fuel-hungry thermal power plants in the country. Though, some volatility may be expected later in the session as traders roll over positions in the futures & options (F&O) segment from December 2014 series to January 2015 series on Wednesday.

Global cues too remained supportive with the US markets making a positive start of the week, extending the gains for yet another day, with the Dow and the S&P 500 reaching new record closing highs. Traders even ignored report that existing home sales pulled back by much more than expected in the month of November. The Asian markets were trading mostly in the green at this point of time ahead of some important data announcement of US economy.

On the sectoral front, banking, capital goods and auto witnessed the maximum gain in trade, while metal, oil and gas and realty remained the top losers on the BSE sectoral space. The broader indices too were trading in-line with benchmarks, while the market breadth on the BSE was positive; there were 1171 shares on the gaining side against 607 shares on the losing side while 66 shares remain unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 27816.30, up by 114.51 points or 0.41% after trading in a range of 27701.13 and 27851.10. There were 19 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.45%, while Small cap index up by 0.57%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Bankex up by 0.78%, Capital Goods up by 0.55%, Auto up by 0.53%, Infrastructure up by 0.46% and TECK up by 0.42% while, Metal down by 0.63%, Oil & Gas down by 0.06% and Realty down by 0.02% were the few losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel up by 1.42%, Axis Bank up by 1.38%, SBI up by 1.28%, Bajaj Auto up by 1.09% and HDFC up by 0.93%. On the flip side, Hindalco down by 1.99%, Dr. Reddys Lab down by 1.36%, Sesa Sterlite down by 1.11%, Coal India down by 0.65% and Cipla down by 0.31% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, suggesting ways for domestic manufactures to boost exports, Commerce Ministry has stated that Indian industry must enhance competitiveness and align themselves with the modern elements of international trade by promoting and integrating with the global value chains. Commerce Secretary Rajeev Kher has asserted that the manufacturing companies should focus on developing new technology, making new strategy for product development and enhance production efficiency to make their product globally competitive instead of demanding more relaxation from the government to protect their products in global markets.

On the tax issue for Special Economic Zones (SEZs), Rajeev Kher has said that the issue of removal or lowering of minimum alternate tax (MAT) and dividend distribution tax (DDT) imposed on SEZs could be addressed in next year’s Budget. A MAT of 18.5 per cent and a DDT of 15 per cent was imposed on SEZs a few years ago despite the policy promising a tax-free regime for a fixed number of years. Meanwhile, he stressed that SEZs will soon be allowed to use infrastructure created within the non-processing areas of the zones for general use ensuring optimum utilisation.

During April-November FY15, the value of India’s overseas shipments increased by 5.02% to $215.76 billion from $205.44 billion in the same period of previous financial year. Amid raising concerns over the delay in announcement of the FTP, Commerce Ministry recently highlighted that a new foreign trade policy (FTP) is under consultation and finalization. FTP, which governs all exports and imports related activities in India, ended on March 31 and the new government will introduce new FTP for the period 2014-19. However, eight months of the current fiscal are already over.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8358.90, up by 34.90 points or 0.42% after trading in a range of 8319.15 and 8364.75. There were 34 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bank of Baroda up by 1.99%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.81%, PNB up by 1.41%, Jindal Steel & Power up by 1.34% and SBI up by 1.32%. On the flip side, Hindalco down by 1.83%, Cairn India down by 1.63%, HCL Tech. down by 1.10%, Dr. Reddys Lab down by 1.09% and Sesa Sterlite down by 1.04% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading mostly in the green; Straits Times rose 3 points or 0.09% to 3,333.96, Taiwan Weighted gained 5.12 points or 0.06% to 9,100.12, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 7.17 points or 0.41% to 1,751.22, Jakarta Composite added 23.83 points or 0.46% to 5,149.60 and Hang Seng was up by 35.9 points or 0.15% to 23,444.47. On the flip side, Shanghai Composite decreased 22.97 points or 0.73% to 3,104.48 and KOSPI Index was down by 5.15 points or 0.27% to 1,937.97.