Markets hold firmly in into positive territory on sustained buying activities

Local equity markets continue to hold fairly firm into positive territory with gains of around three tenths of a percent, which has lifted both Sensex and Nifty above psychologically crucial 29,150 and 8,800 levels respectively on sustained buying activities after the annual rate of inflation, based on monthly wholesale price index (WPI) ebbed way below street expectation at -0.39% in January as compared to 0.11% in December on the back of sharp correction in oil prices. Nevertheless, sentiments were bolstered right from the early deals after Prime Minister Narendra Modi, just a fortnight ahead of Union Budget assured more reforms as he rolled out the red carpet to investors, especially the multinationals. Meanwhile, broader indices also contributing to gains, were trading with gains of around 0.10%-0.20%.

On the global front, Most Asian stocks gained on Monday in morning trade following a record close on Wall Street as data showed Japan’s economy exited recession. Gross domestic product grew at an annualized 2.2% in the three months through December, government data showed Monday, undershooting street’s forecast for a 3.6% rise. Meanwhile, European shares opened lower on Monday, taking a breather following last week’s sharp gains as investors awaited the euro zone finance minister’s meeting in Brussels to see if common ground would be found with Greece’s new government.

Closer home, most of the sectoral indices on BSE were trading into positive territory, nevertheless stocks from Realty, FMCG and Infrastructure counters were the prominent gainers of the session. On the flip side, stocks from Consumer Durables, Oil & Gas and Banking counters were the notable losers of the session. The overall market breadth on BSE was in the favour of advances which thumped declines in the ratio of 1377:1251; while 96 shares remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 29189.19, up by 94.26 points or 0.32% after trading in a range of 29147.39 and 29325.35. There were 20 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.23%, while Small cap index up by 0.11%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.44%, FMCG up by 1.40%, INFRA up by 0.86%, Power up by 0.83%, Auto up by 0.77% while, Consumer Durables down by 0.73%, Oil & Gas down by 0.62%, Bankex down by 0.37% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.42%, ITC up by 2.06%, TCS up by 1.88%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.84% and HDFC up by 1.66%. On the flip side, Sun Pharma Inds. down by 2.48%, Hero MotoCorp down by 1.52%, ICICI Bank down by 1.22%, Axis Bank down by 1.21% and Hindalco down by 1.11% 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 8832.45, up by 26.95 points or 0.31% after trading in a range of 8815.25 and 8870.10. There were 29 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.44%, ITC up by 2.12%, TCS up by 1.98%, HDFC up by 1.87% and Bharti Airtel up by 1.83%. On the flip side, Sun Pharma Inds down by 2.72%, Hero MotoCorp down by 1.54%, Hindalco down by 1.27%, Axis Bank down by 1.22% and Lupin down by 1.20% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading into positive territory; with KOSPI Index trading higher by 0.73 points or 0.04% to 1,958.23; FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI trading higher by 8.16 points or 0.45% to 1,809.11; Shanghai Composite trading higher by 18.54 points or 0.58% to 3,222.36; Taiwan Weighted trading higher by 33.2 points or 0.35% to 9,529.51; Hang Seng trading higher by 43.99 points or 0.18% to 24,726.53; Nikkei 225 trading higher by 91.41 points or 0.51% to 18,004.77. On the flip side, Jakarta Composite trading lower by 45.28 points or 0.84% to 5,328.88 and Straits Times trading lower 4.72 points or 0.14% to 3,421.50.

European markets were trading lower; with Germany’s DAX trading lower by 25.48 points or 0.23% to 10,937.92; UK’s FTSE 100 trading lower by 10.81 points or 0.16% to 6,862.71 and France’s CAC trading lower by 2.44 points or 0.05% to 4,756.92