Markets continue to hold firm in positive territory with gains of over 0.30%

Local equity markets held firmly in green, with gains of around three tenths of a percent that lifted both Sensex and Nifty above psychologically crucial 28,950 and 8,750 levels respectively against the backdrop of weak global cues. Sustained bargain buying activities by market-participants after three consecutive sessions of drubbing lifted the markets higher right from the start of the trade. Additionally, participants also drew some solace from Finance Minister’s statement on fiscal deficit. Arun Jaitley underscored that falling oil prices have been a major windfall for India since just weeks ago it was failing to meet fiscal deficit targets, however now the economy is not only in the position of hitting the target, but also for providing extra cash to support reform. Broader indices succumbing to selling pressure were trading mix at this point of time.

On the global front, Asian stocks edged lower on Thursday after the European Central Bank (ECB) took a hard line stance on Greece’s debt and dampened optimism towards a resolution to the saga. Risk appetite, which had warmed earlier in the week on hopes that Greece would gain relief from its creditors, took a hit after the ECB pulled back its soft treatment of Greek debt and cancelled its acceptance of the country’s bonds in return for funding.

Closer home, most of the sectoral indices on BSE were reeling under pressure, nevertheless stocks from Information Technology, followed by Technology and Fast Moving Consumer Goods counters were the prominent gainers of the session. On the flip side, stocks from Realty, Consumer Durables and Power counters were the notable losers of the session. The overall market breadth on BSE was in the favour of declines which thumped advances in the ratio of 1292:1269; while 106 shares remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 28972.31, up by 89.20 points or 0.31% after trading in a range of 28824.88 and 29054.26. There were 13 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mix; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.08%, while Small cap index down by 0.06%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 1.68%, TECK up by 1.24%, FMCG up by 0.46%, Bankex up by 0.37% while, Realty down by 1.45%, Consumer Durables down by 1.22%, Power down by 1.03%, Metal down by 0.96%, INFRA down by 0.60% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Wipro up by 2.60%, HDFC up by 2.59%, Axis Bank up by 2.22%, Infosys up by 1.72% and TCS up by 1.53%. On the flip side, Tata Power down by 4.38%, ONGC down by 2.97%, Sesa Sterlite down by 2.91%, GAIL India down by 2.26% and Hindalco down by 2.20% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) finally announced and put out the names of applicants for Payments and Small Finance Banks on its website. In all, 113 applications for small finance banks and payment banks were received by RBI. Out of these, for Payments Banks it got 41 applications and for Small Finance Banks it received 72 applications.

There were lots of surprise applicants for the new phase of banking licences, while Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries (RIL) teamed up with state-run behemoth SBI to apply for a payments bank licence. Bharti Airtel, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Airtel M Commerce Services (AMSL), applied for a Payments Bank licence with Kotak Mahindra Bank as a partner. Department of Post, Tech Mahindra, Videocon Group and stock exchange NSE have joined big corporates to seek entry into banking business. Not only big corporate, but as many as 12 individuals like ex-Fino Managing Director Manish Khera and V Balakrishnan former CFO of Infosys have applied under Small Finance Bank category. On the same time six applications from individuals like Kishore Biyani of Future Group, M G George Muthoot, chairman of Muthoot Group and Dilip S Shanghvi, MD of Sun Pharma were submitted for Payments Bank.

RBI has constituted two separate committees and Usha Thorat, former RBI deputy governor has been appointed the chairperson of external advisory committee for Small Finance Bank with other members on the panel for Small Finance Bank including M S Sahoo, secretary of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India, M S Sriram professor at IIM Bangalore, and M Balachandra, chairman of National Payments Corp of India. For the external advisory committee on Payment Bank, Nachiket Mor, a director on RBI’s central board will be heading the panel. With other members including Roopa Kudva, former MD&CEO of Crisil, Shubhalakshmi Panse, for CMD of Allahabad Bank and Deepak Phatak, chair professor IIT Bombay. The RBI though has not suggested any timeframe for the committee to accept or reject the applications.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8751.70, up by 28.00 points or 0.32% after trading in a range of 8705.05 and 8768.30. There were 23 stocks advancing against 27 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were BPCL up by 6.63%, HDFC up by 2.69%, HCL Tech. up by 2.60%, Wipro up by 2.42% and Axis Bank up by 2.31%. On the flip side, Tata Power down by 4.22%, ONGC down by 3.08%, Sesa Sterlite down by 2.75%, Cairn India down by 2.72% and Hindalco down by 2.43% were the top losers.