Benchmarks add gains; Realty, Infra lead

Indian equity markets added gains and continued their firm trade in the late afternoon session on account of buying in frontline blue chip counters. The sentiments were on optimistic note across globe after the European Central Bank (ECB) announced larger than expected measures to stimulate the region’s sagging economy. Traders were seen piling positions in Realty, Infra and Auto stocks while selling was witnessed in IT sector stocks. In scrip specific development, Entertainment Network India was trading in green after the government decided to conduct e-auction of 135 channels of private FM radio in 69 existing cities in 1st phase. Ipca Laboratories was trading under pressure on reports that the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has banned the company from selling drugs in the US from its plant at Ratlam in Madhya Pradesh due to violations of standard production practices.

On the global front, the Asian markets were trading in green while the European markets were trading on optimistic note. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading above the psychological 8,800 and 29,200 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was negative in the ratio of 1053:1772 while 106 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 29252.34, up by 246.32 points or 0.85% after trading in a range of 29165.56 and 29408.73. There were 22 stocks advancing against 8 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.00%, while Small cap index down by 0.51%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.81%, INFRA up by 1.49%, Auto up by 1.40%, Capital Goods up by 1.39%, Bankex up by 0.86% while, IT down by 0.08% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel up by 4.53%, Tata Motors up by 3.07%, Tata Power up by 2.71%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.69% and Larsen & Toubro up by 2.50%. On the flip side, GAIL India down by 1.68%, BHEL down by 1.13%, Coal India down by 0.44%, ITC down by 0.31% and ONGC down by 0.23% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, making a raft of changes to regulations, the market regulator SEBI also has relaxed de-listing guidelines and scrapped mandatory participation of 25% demat shareholders. However, tweaking of norms come with certain riders. As per the conditions laid down by SEBI, the acquirer or the investment banker will have to prove that all shareholders were contacted in the manner prescribed.

Apart from easing de-listing norms, Sebi’s board has also approved rules on issue of partly paid shares. In case of partly paid shares issued through Rights Issue, a minimum 25% of the issue price will have to be paid up-front. The balance consideration is required to be paid within 12 months, if the issue size is less than Rs 500 crore and in case the issue size is above Rs 500 crore, issuer can decide on the period of payment.

Besides, that market watchdog also has approved amendments to Issue and Listing of Debt Securities guidelines, and has enabled re-issuance of corporate debt securities, which would enable illiquid corporate bonds to be reissued and increase liquidity in the market. It has permitted enabling ‘Call & Put Options’ that will help issuer or investor to have flexibility in redemption of debt securities. Lastly, it has allotted 18 months to listed companies of regional stock exchanges to switch to nation-wide stock exchanges.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8826.85, up by 65.45 points or 0.75% after trading in a range of 8795.40 and 8866.40. There were 33 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were DLF up by 5.11%, Bharti Airtel up by 4.72%, Cairn India up by 3.67%, BPCL up by 3.35% and Tata Motors up by 3.01%. On the flip side, PNB down by 2.73%, GAIL India down by 1.67%, BHEL down by 1.44%, HCL Tech down by 1.12% and ACC down by 1.10% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading in green; Shanghai Composite increased 8.42 points or 0.25% to 3,351.76, KOSPI Index increased 15.27 points or 0.79% to 1,936.09, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 18.05 points or 1.01% to 1,799.80, Straits Times increased 43.8 points or 1.3% to 3,414.09, Jakarta Composite increased 64.57 points or 1.23% to 5,317.75, Taiwan Weighted increased 101.43 points or 1.08% to 9,470.94, Nikkei 225 increased 182.73 points or 1.05% to 17,511.75 and Hang Seng increased 327.82 points or 1.34% to 24,850.45.

The European markets were trading in green; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 34.31 points or 0.5% to 6,830.94, France’s CAC increased 60.18 points or 1.32% to 4,612.98 and Germany’s DAX increased 144.98 points or 1.39% to 10,580.60.