Markets continue to trade in green in afternoon session

Indian equity benchmarks continue to trade in green in the afternoon session on the back of buying witnessed in frontline blue chip stocks amid firm global cues. Optimism among funds and retail investors over encouraging Q3 earnings by blue-chip companies and positive economic related developments buoyed the trading sentiment.  Investors were seen piling up position in FMCG, capital goods and power stocks, moreover continued inflows by FIIs also encouraged the domestic indices to extend gains. Sentiments also remained up-beat on report that the government may raise the limit on foreign holding of Indian corporate bonds. Among blue chip stocks, Sun Pharma Inds was top gainer up by around 4.02%, while Reliance Industries was top loser trading down by around 1.81%. Buying was broad based with mid cap and small cap indices were trading up by over 0.35%.

In stock specific movement, Emami has moved higher by 7% to Rs 920 after the personal products maker announced the acquisition of controlling stake of 66.67% in Fravin Pty Ltd Australia. Shares of L&T Finance Holdings were up nearly 5% at Rs 73 after the company posted robust earnings during Q3FY15 on the back of healthy margins, good fee income, well-managed operating costs and optimisation in borrowing costs.

On global front, most of the Asian markets were trading in green with Shanghai Composite up by 0.12% and Nikkei 225 up by 0.04% as global investors bet the European Central Bank will unveil a bond-buying stimulus programme later in the day in an attempt to revive the flagging euro zone economy. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading above their psychological 8,700 and 29,000 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was positive, out of 2,609 stocks traded, 1,326 stocks advanced, while 1,182 stocks declined on the BSE.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 29006.07, up by 117.21 points or 0.41% after trading in a range of 28941.93 and 29060.41. 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 0.39%, while Small cap index up by 0.51%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were FMCG up by 0.99%, Capital Goods up by 0.80%, Power up by 0.54%, Realty up by 0.47% and Auto up by 0.41%. On the other hand, Oil & Gas down by 0.58%, INFRA down by 0.14% and Consumer Durables down by 0.07% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Sun Pharma Inds up by 4.02%, Axis Bank up by 2.18%, ONGC up by 1.61%, Infosys up by 1.15% and Hindustan Unilever up by 1.05%. On the flip side, Reliance Industries down by 1.81%, NTPC down by 1.29%, Hindalco down by 0.84%, SBI down by 0.72% and Tata Power down by 0.60% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, ahead of the Budget 2014-15, the Expenditure Management Commission (EMC), headed by Bimal Jalan, has recommended the government to cut fiscal deficit to 3.6% of the GDP during 2015-16. The commission reviewed the major areas of central government expenditure and suggested ways to create fiscal space required to meet developmental expenditure needs.

The panel report, which was submitted to government on January 17, suggested ways to achieve a reduction in financial costs through better cash management, greater use of information technology and improved financial reporting systems. It also entrusted with designing a framework to improve operational efficiency of expenditures through focus on utilisation, targets and outcomes.

The government subsidy bill stands at around 2 lakh crore, playing an important role for widening the fiscal deficit. The subsidy bill on food, petroleum and fertilisers is estimated at Rs 2,51,397 crore for 2014-15, up 2.47 percent over the previous fiscal.  The government has pegged total fertiliser subsidy higher at Rs 72,970.30 crore for full fiscal than Rs 67,970 crore proposed in the interim budget.  The government has allocated Rs 1,15,000 crore for food security, which include a provision of Rs 88,500 crore for implementation of National Food Security Act.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8759.80, up by 30.30 points or 0.35% after trading in a range of 8734.90 and 8772.70. There were 32 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Sun Pharma Inds up by 4.49%, DLF up by 2.85%,  Asian Paints up by 2.33%, Power Grid Corpn up by 2.18% and Axis Bank up by 2.15%. On the flip side, Reliance Industries down by 1.89%, HCL Tech down by 1.62%, Cairn India down by 1.36%, NTPC down by 1.22% and Bank Of Baroda down by 0.88% were the top losers.

Asian Markets were trading in green, Shanghai Composite up by 3.92 points or 0.12% to 3,327.53, Nikkei 225 up by 7.3 points or 0.04% to 17,287.78, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI up by 9.88 points or 0.56% to 1,779.97, Straits Times up by 12.55 points or 0.37% to 3,367.01, Jakarta Composite up by 32.25 points or 0.62% to 5,247.52, Taiwan Weighted up by 49.8 points or 0.53% to 9,369.51 and Hang Seng up by 154.2 points or 0.63% to 24,506.78. While, KOSPI Index down 0.41 points or 0.02% to 1,920.82.