Markets trade higher in early deals; Nifty marches towards 8,600 level

Extending their previous session’s rally, Indian equity benchmarks have made a positive start and are trading jubilantly in early deals with Sensex and Nifty were trading near their crucial 28,400 and 8,600 levels. Sentiments remained up-beat on reports that foreign institutional investors remained net buyers in Indian equities worth Rs 433.72 crore on January 19, as per provisional stock exchange data. Some support also came in with one of the leading global research firm predicting a surplus for the first time in more than seven years as falling crude oil prices and lesser gold imports would ease the pressure on the India’s trade balances.

On the global front, The US markets remained closed on Monday on account of the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday, unable to give any cues to the other global markets. The Asian markets were trading mostly in the green at this point of time as investors awaited data from China on gross domestic product, factory output and retail sales. Though, data expected to show China’s economy grew at the slowest pace in 24 years last quarter, adding to the case for more stimulus measures both at home and abroad.

Back home, on the sectoral front, metal, public sector undertaking and realty witnessed the maximum gain in trade, while consumer durables remained the lone loser 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 1407 shares on the gaining side against 588 shares on the losing side while 66 shares remain unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 28395.25, up by 133.24 points or 0.47% after trading in a range of 28324.85 and 28413.46. There were 21 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.78%, while Small cap index up by 0.83%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 1.67%, PSU up by 0.84%, Realty up by 0.78%, Bankex up by 0.75% and Power up by 0.59%, while Consumer Durables down by 0.01% was the lone losing index on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Steel up by 2.20%, Hindalco up by 2.07%, SBI up by 1.82%, Axis Bank up by 1.76% and Sesa Sterlite up by 1.66%. On the flip side, GAIL India down by 1.98%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.28%, Hero MotoCorp down by 0.52%, Sun Pharma Inds. down by 0.36% and Bharti Airtel down by 0.29% 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 8591.30, up by 40.60 points or 0.47% after trading in a range of 8574.50 and 8596.95. There were 39 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Jindal Steel & Power up by 2.67%, Tata Steel up by 2.18%, Hindalco up by 2.17%, Axis Bank up by 1.77% and Sesa Sterlite up by 1.66%. On the flip side, GAIL India down by 1.99%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.23%, Sun Pharma down by 0.51%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.46% and Hero MotoCorp down by 0.41% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in the green; KOSPI Index increased 13.57 points or 0.71% to 1,916.19, Straits Times rose 20.86 points or 0.63% to 3,328.56, Shanghai Composite surged 56.37 points or 1.81% to 3,172.72, Taiwan Weighted gained 75.78 points or 0.83% to 9,249.84, Hang Seng added 171.83 points or 0.72% to 23,910.32 and Nikkei 225 was up by 258.37 points or 1.52% to 17,272.66.

On the flip side, Jakarta Composite decreased 26.82 points or 0.52% to 5,125.28, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was down by 3.1 points or 0.18% to 1,750.21.