Indian equities continue to show lackluster moves in Friday noon trades

Indian equity markets are displaying listless performance in the Friday afternoon session as the frontline indices look to consolidate the gains amassed in the previous sessions. The aimless benchmarks appear exhausted as they are gradually crawling only sideways in a tight band around the psychological 5,250 (Nifty) and 17,450 (Sensex) levels, lacking any significant upside triggers. The upside for local bourses was limited as investors squared off positions from the Metal and rate sensitive Banking counters which traded with around half a percent losses. However, the downside for the bourses too was capped by hefty buying in high beta - Realty and defensive Healthcare pockets which prevented the benchmarks from drifting to lower levels. Meanwhile, sentiments got some support from services PMI data which indicated that the sector grew at its fastest pace in six months during January as new business swelled, while the Composite Index which covers both the manufacturing and service sectors, posted the sharpest increase in activity in nine months. On the global front investors at large lacked conviction to take big bets ahead of the US non farms payrolls data which is scheduled to be announced later in the global day. Markets from the Asian space exhibited mixed signals while European stock futures too indicated the markets there would start on a subdued note.

Moreover, the broader markets traded on strong note with around a percent gains and comprehensively outclassed their larger peers. The bourses rose on good volumes of over Rs 0.50 lakh crore while market breadth on BSE was in favor of advances in the ratio of 1495:1106 while 116 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 17,451.29 up by 19.44 points or 0.11% after trading as high as 17,474.38 and as low as 17,382.70. There were 18 stocks advancing against 12 declines on the index.

The broader indices were trading on a positive note; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.96% and Small cap climbed 0.92%.

On the BSE sectoral space, Realty up 1.27%, Healthcare up 0.97%, Power up 0.90%, TECk up 0.81% and IT up 0.59% were the major gainers while Metal down 0.83%, Bankex down 0.48%, Capital Goods up 0.44% and Oil & Gas up 0.28% were the only losers in the space.

Bharti Airtel up 2.89%, M&M up 2.03%, Coal India up 1.91%, Sun Pharma up 1.79% and HUL up 1.52% were the major gainers on the Sensex, while Hindalco down 2.60%, Jindal Steel down 1.93%, Tata Steel down 1.85%, L&T down 1.34% and SBI down 1.01% were the major losers in the index.

Meanwhile, the Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure (CCI) has cleared a proposal to upgrade 20,000 km roads in various states under its flagship programme National Highways Development Project (NHDP), Phase IV. The estimated cost of the project is likely to be around Rs 25,000 crore. Earlier the Cabinet had approved 5,000 km of roads under NHDP phase IV A and of this, 2,000 km were approved by an Empowered Group of Ministers on highways to be 4-laned. The new proposal clears an additional 2000 km of highways to be converted to four lanes.

The CCI has also approved the proposal for tentative list of 8,525 km of roads under the build, operate and transfer (BOT) toll mode.  The build-operate-transfer (BOT) model is an arrangement where the private developer builds and operates the roads and then transfers it to the government. Any risk involved in the projects is borne by the private developer. There are two types of BOTs based on returns- one based on tolls and the other on a government annuity payout. The self-funding toll model is preferred as annuity payments become a big drag on the budget. The government is keen that the BOT model be increasing used to cut down the fiscal deficit.

NHDP, which falls under the Road, Transport and Highways Ministry, is a project to upgrade, rehabilitate and widen major highways. NHDP is being implemented by the National Highways Authority of India in various phases.

The S&P CNX Nifty is currently trading at 5,275.40, higher by 5.50 points or 0.10% after trading as high as 5,279.45 and as low as 5,255.55. There were 27 stocks advancing against 23 declines on the index.

The top gainers on the Nifty were Bharti Airtel up 2.90%, IDFC up 2.85%, Grasim up 2.35%, Power Grid up 2.19% and Coal India up 1.94%.

R Com down 3.41%, Hindalco down 3.20%, Tata Steel down 2.37%, Jindal Steel down 2.34% and L&T down 1.33% were the major losers on the index.

In the Asian space, Shanghai Composite climbed 0.81%, Jakarta Composite rose by 0.12%, Straits Times ascended 0.72%, and Taiwan Weighted garnered 0.29%.

On the flipside, Hang Seng eased 0.08%, Nikkei 225 declined 0.51% and Seoul Composite shed 0.60%.