Benchmarks continue to trade in green in late afternoon session

After recovering from day’s low, benchmark equity indices were holding their fort firmly in positive territory and trading up with gains of around 0.27%-0.35%, which lifted both Sensex and Nifty above the psychologically crucial 29,350 and 8,850 levels respectively. Moreover, broader indices also mirroring the same kind of enthusiasm were up with gains of over 0.40%.

Sentiments got a boost after US President Barack Obama, in a measure to bolster trade with India, pledged for investments and loans worth $4 billion by American agencies. World’s largest economy’s president at the India-US business summit assured that while US Export-Import Bank would be committing up to $1 billion in financing made in American exports to India, US Trade and Development Agency will aim to leverage nearly $2 billion investments in renewable energy in India. Some support also came in from reports that foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 2,020 crore on January 23, 2015. However, gains remained capped as minor profit booking in some companies whose share prices have appreciated sharply.

On global front, most Asian share markets firmed and the euro clung to rare gains, relieved that European equities had weathered Greece's election outcome without too much disruption. However, Chinese markets continued their recent erratic path and the Shanghai index slipped 2.2%.

Back on street, stocks from Capital Goods, Realty and Consumer Durable counters were supporting the markets’ uptrend, while those from IT, Teck and Metal counters were adding to the underlying cautious undertone. In scrip specific development, Eveready Industries rose after reporting an over three-fold jump in net profit at Rs 15.33 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2014. on the other hand, shares of Union Bank of India have dipped after reporting a lower than expected net profit at Rs 302 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2014, due to higher provisioning for bad loans and employee cost.

The market breadth on BSE was negative, out of 2920 stocks traded, 1321 stocks advanced, while 1482 stocks declined on the BSE. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 29380.63, up by 101.79 points or 0.35% after trading in a range of 29286.09 and 29456.63. There were 16 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.85%, while Small cap index up by 0.43%.The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Capital Goods up by 1.67%, Realty up by 1.36%, Consumer Durables up by 1.21%, Bankex up by 1.11% and Power up by 1.04% while, IT down by 1.67%, TECK down by 1.17%, Metal down by 0.90% and PSU down by 0.48% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Cipla up by 3.34%, Axis Bank up by 2.84%, ICICI Bank up by 2.82%, ITC up by 2.62% and Tata Motors up by 2.22%. On the flip side, Dr. Reddys Lab down by 4.27%, Coal India down by 3.44%, Infosys down by 3.39%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 2.91% and Hindustan Unilever down by 2.34% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Igniting hope for India’s skilled workers, President Barack Obama has assured Prime Minister Narendra Modi of looking into country’s concerns on the H-1B visa issue as part of his comprehensive immigration reform.

Further, the Prime Minister also acknowledged President’s ongoing efforts to work with Congress in pursuit of comprehensive immigration reform. While, Obama assured that PM that his administration would be in touch with the Indian government on issues related to H-1B visas, popular among Indian techies. 

Notably, Obama had in November bypassed the Congress and unveiled immigration reforms to protect millions of illegal immigrants from deportation. The reforms have yet to be completely implemented.

This development definitely is encouraging for the information technology and outsourcing industry, which earns billions of dollars sending Indian engineers and programmers to the U.S and wants America to raise the ceiling on the number of skilled-worker visas it issues every year. Presently, the ceiling for H-1B visas is 65,000 per year, a quota that is usually reached in a matter days.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8859.70, up by 24.10 points or 0.27% after trading in a range of 8825.45 and 8878.20. There were 27 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Asian Paints up by 3.29%, Cipla up by 2.92%, Axis Bank up by 2.81%, ICICI Bank up by 2.75% and ITC up by 2.48%. On the flip side, Dr. Reddys Lab down by 4.30%, Cairn India down by 3.87%, Coal India down by 3.78%, Infosys down by 3.42% and Mahindra & Mahindra down by 3.08% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly higher; with FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI trading higher by 0.26%, KOSPI Index trading higher by 0.86%, Jakarta Composite up by 0.01%, Straits Times trading higher by 0.71%, Taiwan Weighted trading higher by 0.46% and Nikkei 225 trading higher by 1.72%. On the flip side, Hang Seng trading lower by 0.41% and Shanghai Composite trading lower by 0.89%.