Benchmarks trim gains; trade continues in green

Indian equity benchmarks trimmed their gains and continued to trade firm in the late afternoon session on account of buying in frontline counters ahead of the Union Budget 2015-16 to be tabled on Saturday. Besides, covering-up of short positions by speculators ahead of tomorrow’s monthly expiry in the derivatives segment, supported the uptrend. The sentiments were on optimistic note from the early trade thanks to positive global set-up after US Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen's testimony that Fed would not be rushing to hike interest rates. Sentiment got further bolstered after overseas investors bought Indian shares worth Rs 697 crore ($112.3 million) on Tuesday, buying shares worth $884.34 million for the fourth straight session. Some support also came with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s statement that the government is committed to work for the betterment of every citizen. Though, there will be some concern as well, with the 14th Finance Commission suggesting a fiscal deficit target of 3.6 percent of GDP in 2015-16 and 3 percent in the subsequent years on the back of likely pick-up in economic growth. Also, as a Business Confidence Survey by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) showed a marginal dip in the proportion of respondents anticipating 'moderately to substantially better' performance over the near-term at economy, industry and company level.

On global front, Asian markets most ended higher, taking their cues from Wall Street's gains after US Federal Reserve chief Janet Yellen dampened speculation of a rate hike before summer, and as eurozone finance ministers backed Greek reforms critical to avoiding a disastrous default. Back home, Indian rupee trimmed its early gains against dollar and was quoted higher by 13 paise at 62.07 per dollar on selling of the US unit by banks and exporters on the back of lower dollar overseas.

Back on street, all the sectoral indices were trading in the positive territory with BSE IT index leading the rally up 0.79% followed by TECK, Oil & Gas, Realty and Auto indices trading higher over half a percent. In scrip specific development, Shares of Dalmia Bharat surged after the company increased stake in OCL India, one of the largest cement entities in Eastern India with plants in Orissa and West Bengal. Furthermore, Jubilant FoodWorks rose on reports that the company has tied up with Indian Railways to deliver pizzas to the passengers.

The market breadth on BSE was positive, out of 2809 stocks traded, 1356 stocks advanced, while 1328 stocks declined on the BSE. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 29193.15, up by 188.49 points or 0.65% after trading in a range of 29115.32 and 29269.83. 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 0.19%, while Small cap index up by 0.26%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 0.79%, TECK up by 0.78%, Oil & Gas up by 0.77%, Realty up by 0.59% and Auto up by 0.59%, while there were no losers on the sectoral space.

The top gainers on the Sensex were HDFC up by 2.43%, Infosys up by 1.93%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.80%, Tata Motors up by 1.72% and Bharti Airtel up by 1.63%. On the flip side, Sun Pharma down by 1.07%, Tata Steel down by 0.88%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.87%, Hero MotoCorp down by 0.72% and Hindalco down by 0.52% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha, replying to a query  in the Rajya Sabha has informed that the government has raised additional revenue of Rs 20,250 crore on account of increases in the Basic Excise duty (BED) rates of petrol and diesel (branded as well as unbranded), which have been announced since November in 2014-15 Financial Year.

Notably, this is the first time the government has stated just how much it stands to gain from the excise duty hike. It has raised the excise duty on petrol and diesel four times since November, a move that prevented consumers from enjoying the full benefit of 60% fall in crude prices.

The government, in order to achieve the fiscal deficit target for this year, raised excise duty on petrol and diesel on November 12, December 2, January 2 and January 17 respectively.

With the hike, present effective BED on unbranded and branded diesel is Rs 7.96 per litre and 14% + Rs 5 per litre or Rs 10.25 per litre, whichever is lower respectively. Meanwhile, the central excise revenue (provisional) from petrol and diesel during the period from January 31, 2014, to January 31, 2015 stands at Rs 58,000 crore approximately.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8815.70, up by 53.60 points or 0.61% after trading in a range of 8798.00 and 8840.65. There were 35 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Cairn India up by 2.41%, HDFC up by 2.39%, Infosys up by 2.09%, Ambuja Cement up by 2.00% and Tata Motors up by 1.98%. On the flip side, Power Grid down by 1.50%, Sun Pharma down by 1.22%, Zee Entertainment down by 0.96%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.85% and Tech Mahindra down by 0.83% were the top losers.

Most of the Asian markets were trading in green; Hang Seng was up by 0.01%, Jakarta Composite gained 0.24%, Straits Times was up by 0.29%, KOSPI Index gained 0.73% and Taiwan Weighted was higher by 0.73%. On the other hand, Shanghai Composite declined by 0.56%, Nikkei 225 lost 0.1% and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was down by 0.43%.

The European markets were trading mostly in green; France’s CAC increased by 0.5% and Germany’s DAX gained 0.14%, while UK’s FTSE 100 down by 0.54%.