Markets ascend at day’s high; Nifty trades above 8, 600 mark

Steadily gaining strength, local equity markets have ascended to day’s high point and trading at shouting distance of their all time levels on sustained buying activities by both funds and retail investors thanks to positive global cues. Both, Sensex and Nifty puffing up gains of over 3/ 4 of a percent, were trading above psychologically crucial 28,450 and 8,600 levels respectively. Meanwhile, broader indices also trading in fine fettle were up with gains in proportion to larger counterparts.

On the global front, Asia markets were mostly on the front foot Tuesday as speculation swirled that the European Central Bank will embark on a huge stimulus programme, while China prepared to unveil economic growth data for 2014. ECB policymakers hold their much-anticipated meeting on Thursday amidst expectation that the policymakers would announce a bond-buying scheme aimed at kick starting lending in the struggling euro-zone.

Closer home, with broad based buying taking place, all the sectoral indices on BSE were trading into positive territory, nevertheless stocks from Metal, Banking and Realty counters were leading the gainers list. While,  hopes of good economic growth data from China was buoying the sentiment for Metal stocks, better than expected earnings of Kotak Mahindra Bank lifted the entire banking pivotal higher. Banking stocks were also trading higher as Reserve Bank of India (RBI) underscored that it had decided to allow commercial banks to review the base rate methodology after three years from date of its finalization instead of the current periodicity of five years. On the result front, Kotak Mahindra Bank's third quarter standalone profit after tax surged 36.6 percent year-on-year to Rs 464.5 crore, aided by strong other income and lower provisions. Standalone numbers include only banking operations. The overall market breadth on BSE was in the favour of advances which thumped declines in the ratio of 1571:1092; while 125 shares remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 28486.82, up by 224.81 points or 0.80% after trading in a range of 28324.85 and 28488.40. There were 20 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.75%, while Small cap index up by 0.85%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 2.31%, Bankex up by 0.95%, Realty up by 0.58%, PSU up by 0.49% and INFRA up by 0.41% while, Capital Goods down by 0.14% was the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Sesa Sterlite up by 3.86%, HDFC up by 3.77%, Tata Steel up by 3.16%, Axis Bank up by 2.86% and Hindalco up by 2.43%. On the flip side, GAIL India down by 2.08%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.18%, Bajaj Auto down by 1.13%, Maruti Suzuki down by 0.93% and Hero MotoCorp down by 0.87% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, ahead of the 2015-16 Budget, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has stated that the government will take special steps to boost public spending on infrastructure and initiate measures to rationalise subsidies. The Minister added that whole PPP model is still under stress and there is a need for stepping up public investments in infrastructure sector to boost economic growth. Public spending on infrastructure will be used to rejuvenate investments into the sector and instill confidence in public-private partnerships. With a consistent and clear policy, the Centre is confident of attracting global investments.

On rationalizing subsidies, Arun Jaitley asserted that it has become imperative to gradually rationalise all possible subsidies and from January 1, LPG subsidy is paying through banks. Underlining the need for stability in tax and other policies to make India an attractive place for investment, Finance Minister added that the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) will help in improving the business climate in the country.  

Finance Ministry is expected to incorporate the suggestions of the Expenditure Finance Commission headed by former RBI Governor Bimal Jalan in the budget proposals for 2015-16, which will be presented by Jaitley next month. Bimal Jalan is also reported to have submitted interim recommendations to the Finance Ministry suggesting various steps to rationalise subsidies and public expenditure.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8615.30, up by 64.60 points or 0.76% after trading in a range of 8574.50 and 8616.65. There were 37 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Sesa Sterlite up by 4.04%, HDFC up by 3.87%, Tata Steel up by 3.24%, Axis Bank up by 2.70% and Hindalco up by 2.46%. On the flip side, GAIL India down by 2.33%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.07%, Maruti Suzuki down by 0.94%, Hero MotoCorp down by 0.89% and Bajaj Auto down by 0.83% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly higher; with KOSPI Index trading higher by 15.69 points or 0.82% to 1,918.31; Straits Times rising by 23.16 points or 0.7% to 3,330.86; Shanghai Composite surging by 48.41 points or 1.55% to 3,164.77; Taiwan Weighted spurting by 77.63 points or 0.85% to 9,251.69; Hang Seng advancing by 147.1 points or 0.62% to 23,885.59; Nikkei 225 rallying by 352.01 points or 2.07% to 17,366.30. On the flip side, Jakarta Composite was trading lower by 15.46 points or 0.3% to 5,136.64 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI edged lower by 3.33 points or 0.19% to 1,749.98