Benchmarks continue firm trade in late afternoon session

Indian equity markets continued trading in green in the late afternoon session on account of buying in frontline blue chip counters, taking cues from Asian counterparts. The sentiments were on optimistic mood on positive global cues, hopes of faster economic reforms by the government and optimism over the forthcoming Budget. The sentiments got some support after External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj stated that the new Indian government will unveil more reforms in the coming days, including in the forthcoming budget this month to woo foreign investment and make India a manufacturing destination. Traders were seen piling position in Consumer Durables, Capital Goods and Power stocks, while selling was witnessed in Metal, Oil & Gas and Infra sector stocks. In scrip specific development, Hero MotoCorp was trading in red on reports that the company’s promoter is planning to sell part of its holding through open market today.

On the global front, the Asian markets were trading mostly in green while the European markets were trading on optimistic note. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading above the psychological 8,850 and 29,200 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was positive in the ratio of 1536:1232 while 100 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 29291.04, up by 155.16 points or 0.53% after trading in a range of 29126.91 and 29336.08. There were 17 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.69%, while Small cap index up by 1.03%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 2.06%, Capital Goods up by 1.13%, Power up by 1.08%, FMCG up by 0.78%, Auto up by 0.67% while, Metal down by 0.57%, Oil & Gas down by 0.28%, INFRA down by 0.23% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were HDFC up by 3.26%, Tata Power up by 2.08%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.02%, NTPC up by 1.84% and GAIL India up by 1.34%. On the flip side, Hero MotoCorp down by 5.43%, Sesa Sterlite down by 2.67%, Bharti Airtel down by 2.20%, ONGC down by 1.56% and Tata Steel down by 0.93% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in good news to companies seeking approval for foreign direct investment (FDI), the government has further eased procedures for seeking permission of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) for FDI; companies can now e-file a single copy application with the FIPB. The move aimed at ease of doing business in the country will improve business environment.

The Finance Ministry launched an upgraded and secure portal for e-filing of FDI applications, where applicants will have to submit only a single copy of the application for records with the FIPB Secretariat instead of 15-18 copies being filed earlier.

A Finance Ministry statement said that since the communication between the applicant, FIPB and other departments are online, any queries raised by the user would be replied through online mode. All the correspondence including updates/decisions will be communicated through SMS/emails, eliminating physical delivery and loss of time due to postal delays. Not only this, the applicants would also get SMS/email alerts related to the queries raised by the administrative ministries, inclusion of the proposal in the scheduled FIPB meeting and decisions.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8851.45, up by 42.10 points or 0.48% after trading in a range of 8808.90 and 8862.20. There were 29 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were HDFC up by 3.44%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.09%, Tata Power up by 2.02%, NTPC up by 1.94% and Jindal Steel & Power up by 1.87%. On the flip side, Hero MotoCorp down by 5.38%, NMDC down by 3.97%, Sesa Sterlite down by 2.60%, Bharti Airtel down by 2.39% and DLF down by 2.32% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Straits Times increased 19.75 points or 0.58% to 3,435.66, Shanghai Composite increased 24.54 points or 0.76% to 3,246.91, Hang Seng increased 47.2 points or 0.19% to 24,832.08, Jakarta Composite increased 61.09 points or 1.14% to 5,398.59 and Nikkei 225 increased 212.08 points or 1.18% to 18,199.17.

On the other hand, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 2.22 points or 0.12% to 1,807.87. Seoul Composite was closed today on account of ‘Lunar New Year’ holiday while Taiwan Stock Exchange was closed on account of ‘Lunar New Year’s Eve’ holiday.

The European markets were trading in green; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 21.88 points or 0.32% to 6,920.01, France’s CAC increased 32.72 points or 0.69% to 4,786.71 and Germany’s DAX increased 52.15 points or 0.48% to 10,947.77.