Benchmarks add gains; trade continues in green

Indian equity markets added gains and started trading firm on account of buying in frontline blue chip counters. The sentiments were on optimistic note after Finance Minister Arun Jaitley exuded confidence that fiscal deficit targets for current year are likely to be met and manufacturing sector is showing turnaround signs. Traders were seen piling positions in Consumer Durables, Realty and Bankex stocks while selling was witnessed in Metal, Capital Goods and Auto sector stocks. In scrip specific development, Amara Raja Batteries was trading under pressure after the company reported a decline in its profitability in the third quarter of FY15. The company’s net profit increased by over 7 percent year-on-year to Rs 102 crore, while its net sales rose 23 percent to Rs 1,060 crore. Indian markets may remain volatile in the near future as traders may roll over positions in the Futures & Options (F&O) segment from the near month i.e. January 2015 series to next month i.e. February 2015 series. The near month January 2015 derivatives contracts expire tomorrow i.e. January 29, 2015.

On the global front, the Asian markets were trading mostly in red. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading above the psychological 8,950 and 29,700 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was negative in the ratio of 1220:1350 while 102 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 29755.16, up by 184.12 points or 0.62% after trading in a range of 29475.23 and 29768.29. There were 18 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.87%, while Small cap index up by 0.15%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 3.51%, Realty up by 1.98%, Bankex up by 1.39%, INFRA up by 1.19% and PSU up by 1.12% while, Metal down by 0.26%, Capital Goods down by 0.19% and Auto down by 0.11% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ICICI Bank up by 1.98%, SBI up by 1.77%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.62%, HDFC up by 1.62% and Sun Pharma up by 1.53%.

On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 2.08%, Tata Motors down by 1.83%, Tata Steel down by 1.08%, Sesa Sterlite down by 0.87% and Hindustan Unilever down by 0.69% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, spectrum auction in 800, 900, 2100 and 1800 MHz band, originally slated to start from February 25 has been deferred by a week to March 4 by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT). The mock auction will now start on March 2-3, instead of February 23-24.

While the government has finalised the base rates for the 900 MHz, 1,800 MHz and 800 MHz bands, it has not yet decided the price for the 2,100-MHz band and the Cabinet is expected to take a final call on the reserve price for the same in its meeting scheduled on Wednesday. The Telecom Commission has recommended a base price of Rs 3,705 crore per MHz for airwaves under this band.

The government has fixed a reserve price of Rs 3,646 crore pan-India per MHz in 800 MHz; Rs 3,980 crore for 900 MHz band pan-India, excluding Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Jammu & Kashmir; and Rs 2,191 crore pan-India (excluding Maharashtra and West Bengal) in the 1800 MHz band. The government plans to sell 380.75 MHz in three bands and expects to earn between Rs 80,000 crore and Rs 1 lakh-crore from the auction.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8976.85, up by 66.35 points or 0.74% after trading in a range of 8889.10 and 8978.65. There were 34 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Asian Paints up by 3.25%, HCL Tech up by 2.89%, PNB up by 2.66%, BPCL up by 2.33% and Tech Mahindra up by 2.28%.

On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 2.68%, Cairn India down by 1.86%, Tata Motors down by 1.73%, Tata Steel down by 1.19% and Sesa Sterlite down by 1.13% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Shanghai Composite decreased 53.63 points or 1.6% to 3,299.33, Taiwan Weighted decreased 10.67 points or 0.11% to 9,510.92, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 5.69 points or 0.32% to 1,797.48, Straits Times decreased 2.9 points or 0.08% to 3,409.30 and Jakarta Composite decreased 0.71 points or 0.01% to 5,276.44.

On the other hand, KOSPI Index increased 9.18 points or 0.47% to 1,961.58, Nikkei 225 increased 27.43 points or 0.15% to 17,795.73 and Hang Seng increased 29.05 points or 0.12% to 24,836.33.