Benchmarks add gains; Consumer Durables leads

Indian equity markets added gains and continued its firm trade in the late afternoon session on account of buying in frontline blue chip counters. The sentiments got some support after Finance Minister Arun Jaitley stated that there was a need to rationalize all subsidies and ensure stability in policies to attract investment and drive growth. Traders were seen piling positions in Consumer Durables, Capital Goods and Infra stocks. In scrip specific development, Wipro was trading in green after India’s third largest software services exporter reported a net profit of Rs 2,192 crore which was better-than-estimates on revenue of Rs 12,085 crore. SpiceJet is locked at upper circuit for second straight day, after Kalanithi Maran and his associates had decided to transfer the ownership and management control of the airline to former promoter Ajay Singh and a clutch of investors.

On the global front, the Asian markets were trading mostly in green while the European markets were trading mostly on optimistic note. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading above the psychological 8,550 and 28,300 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was positive in the ratio of 1680:1147 while 97 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 28302.54, up by 180.65 points or 0.64% after trading in a range of 28197.36 and 28334.06. There were 23 stocks advancing against 7 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.59%, while Small cap index up by 0.93%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 2.79%, Capital Goods up by 1.26%, Infra up by 1.18%, Oil & Gas up by 1.02%, Power up by 0.95%

The top gainers on the Sensex were Wipro up by 6.17%, GAIL India up by 3.63%, Axis Bank up by 2.50%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.91% and Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.81%. On the flip side, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.96%, Hero MotoCorp down by 1.53%, TCS down by 0.92%, HDFC down by 0.86% and SBI down by 0.67% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the government has cleared a proposal for auctioning Phase III of FM channels, which is expected to fetch revenue of Rs 550 crore to the exchequer. Besides, the cabinet also approved the migration (renewal) of private FM radio licences from Phase II to Phase III in 69 existing cities for 135 channels. These channels will have to pay a migration fee that will be calculated by categorizing the cities on the basis of the number of FM channels available there.

As of now, with the implementation of two phases of private FM radio, namely phase I (1999-2000) and Phase II (2005-06), there are 243 private FM channels in operation in 86 cities of the country, spanning 26 states and 3 Union Territories.

The auction process that is expected to add estimated revenue of over Rs 550 crore to the national exchequer would also help realize the amount through the migration process which is dependent on the TRAI recommended formula, where migration fee is linked with the discovery of market prices through the FM radio phase III auction.

Notably, the rollout of the first batch of FM Radio Phase III auctions, to be conducted on an ascending e-auction basis, will be providing more channels to listeners, with richer content in 69 existing cities.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8565.60, up by 51.80 points or 0.61% after trading in a range of 8531.50 and 8570.95. There were 36 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Wipro up by 6.26%, GAIL India up by 3.66%, Ambuja Cement up by 2.80%, Axis Bank up by 2.65% and IDFC up by 2.13%. On the flip side, BPCL down by 2.11%, Hindustan Unilever down by 2.01%, Hero MotoCorp down by 1.66%, Asian Paints down by 1.12% and DLF down by 1.06% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Straits Times increased 9.94 points or 0.3% to 3,310.62, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 10.14 points or 0.58% to 1,753.71, KOSPI Index increased 14.49 points or 0.77% to 1,902.62, Taiwan Weighted increased 35.77 points or 0.39% to 9,174.06 and Nikkei 225 increased 150.13 points or 0.89% to 17,014.29.

On the other hand, Hang Seng decreased 365.03 points or 1.51% to 23,738.49, Shanghai Composite decreased 260.14 points or 7.7% to 3,116.35 and Jakarta Composite decreased 8.74 points or 0.17% to 5,139.64.

The European markets were trading mostly in green; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 11.94 points or 0.18% to 6,562.21, Germany’s DAX increased 40.94 points or 0.4% to 10,208.71 and France’s CAC decreased 10 points or 0.23% to 4,369.62.