Benchmarks trade in green; WPI ebbs to -0.39% in January

Indian equity markets extended gains and continued trading in green in the late afternoon session on account of buying in frontline blue chip counters and taking cues from Asian counterparts which rose mostly after Japan posted growth in the fourth quarter though at a slower pace than expected, but managed to exit recession. The sentiments got some support after January wholesale price index inflation dropped to negative 0.39 percent from 0.11 percent in December. Food articles index was down 0.6 percent (M-o-M), while Fuel & Power group was down 2.5 percent (M-o-M). Traders were seen piling position in Realty, FMCG and Infra stocks, while selling was witnessed in Consumer Durables, Oil & Gas and Capital Goods sector stocks. In scrip specific development, Suzlon Energy was trading firm despite increasing loss in December quarter on account of deal with Sun Pharmaceutical founder Dilip Shanghvi who agreed to buy a 23% stake in Indian wind turbine maker for about $290 million.

On the global front, the Asian markets were trading mostly in green. 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 1215:1349 while 98 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 29241.26, up by 146.33 points or 0.50% after trading in a range of 29150.67 and 29325.35. There were 19 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.20%, while Small cap index up by 0.21%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.77%, FMCG up by 1.41%, INFRA up by 1.02%, Auto up by 0.88%, Power up by 0.85% while, Consumer Durables down by 0.91%, Oil & Gas down by 0.18%, Capital Goods down by 0.03% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Hindustan Unilever up by 2.29%, Bharti Airtel up by 2.20%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.06%, Tata Motors up by 1.95% and ITC up by 1.80%.

On the flip side, Sun Pharma down by 2.07%, Hero MotoCorp down by 1.49%, Axis Bank down by 0.96%, BHEL down by 0.77% and Larsen & Toubro down by 0.72% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in the second tranche of ongoing auction for 21 coal mines, the government has received 130 preliminary bids from companies like Essar Power, Hindalco, Adani Power and Jindal Power. A maximum of 16 bids came for Utkal C coal block in Odisha from bidders including Jindal Power, Essar Power, Sesa Sterlite and Adani Power Maharashtra, while another block Gare Palma IV/8 in Chhattisgarh received 13 bids from companies like Hindalco, JSPL, Sesa Sterlite and Balco among others.

Notably, Hindalco Industries piped six companies, including Monnet Ispat & Energy, Rungta Mines, UltraTech Cement and the prior allottee Usha Martin to bag the Kathautia mine in Jharkhand by offering Rs 2,860 per tonne of coal. While, Sunflag Iron & Steel beat Balco, Reliance Cement and Topworth Urja and Metals bagged Belgaon block in Maharashtra at Rs 1785 per tonne. The block was earlier owned by Sunflag and has 14 million tonne reserves.

In the first stage of the auction, the government found as many as 134 applications “technically qualifiable” of the total 176 preliminary bids received for 21 coal blocks that have been put for electronic auction The government had initially planned to auction 23 mines in first lot but had put on hold bidding for two mines due to litigations. The Ministry would go ahead of with the auction of mines as per schedule though there have some court cases as a consequence of which there have been some changes.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8826.45, up by 20.95 points or 0.24% after trading in a range of 8815.25 and 8870.10. There were 26 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.31%, Bharti Airtel up by 2.28%, Hindustan Unilever up by 2.15%, ITC up by 1.85% and Tata Motors up by 1.79%.

On the flip side, Sun Pharma down by 2.44%, Hero MotoCorp down by 1.84%, Axis Bank down by 1.39%, IDFC down by 1.38% and ICICI Bank down by 1.13% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading mostly in green; KOSPI Index increased 0.73 points or 0.04% to 1,958.23, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 4.44 points or 0.25% to 1,805.39, Shanghai Composite increased 18.69 points or 0.58% to 3,222.52, Taiwan Weighted increased 33.2 points or 0.35% to 9,529.51, Hang Seng increased 52.41 points or 0.21% to 24,734.95 and Nikkei 225 increased 91.41 points or 0.51% to 18,004.77.

On the other hand, Jakarta Composite decreased 24.19 points or 0.45% to 5,349.98 and Straits Times lost 2.79 points or 0.08% to 3,423.43.