Markets bounce back into positive territory; Sensex above 28,900 mark

In the volatile session of trade, frontline equity indices were now trading in green albeit with slender gains on lower level buying activities that lifted both Sensex and Nifty above psychologically crucial 28,900 and 8,750 levels respectively. Meanwhile, the broader markets outperformed equity benchmarks with the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices gaining over half a percent each. Sentiments got a boost with OECD’s latest report, which has said that India’s economic growth is firming up, while projecting stable growth momentum for most major economies. Meanwhile, the government has said that proceeds from the ongoing coal block auctions are likely to cross Rs 2 lakh crore, surpassing CAG’s estimate of Rs 1.86 lakh crore loss. Investors turned optimistic after foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows into the services sector grew by 44 per cent to $ 2.29 billion in the April-December period of the current fiscal, as compared to $ 1.59 billion during April-December, 2013-14. Some support also came in from reports that foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 838.30 crore on March 09, 2015. However, weakness in the rupee which fell to a fresh two-month low of 62.80 against the dollar, weighed on the sentiment. Besides, some traders remained cautious ahead of IIP numbers for January and CPI data for February, to be announced on Thursday

On global front, Asian stock markets mostly fell as the prospect of higher U.S. interest rates dimmed the outlook for equities. Exceptionally strong U.S. jobs data on Friday, and the higher inflation that will eventually bring, raised the chances that the U.S. Federal Reserve will bring forward the timing of its first interest rate hike since the 2008 global financial crisis. Back home, Indian rupee weakened further by 25 paise to trade at a fresh two-month low of Rs 62.80 against the US dollar in early trade due to rise in the greenback's value against other currencies overseas.

Back on street, stocks from Auto, Capital Goods and Consumer Durables counters were supporting the markets’ uptrend, while those from Realty, Oil & Gas and IT counters were adding to the underlying cautious undertone. In scrip specific development, Shares of Natco Pharma surged after the company launched the first generic version of sofosbuvir in Nepal. Furthermore, agrochemicals maker Dhanuka Agritech rose after the company launched herbicide-'SEMPRA' in February. The market breadth on BSE was positive, out of 2200 stocks traded, 1303 stocks advanced, while 811 stocks declined on the BSE. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 28915.51, up by 70.73 points or 0.25% after trading in a range of 28748.29 and 28949.11. 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 0.62%, while Small cap index up by 0.73%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 1.26%, Auto up by 1.18%, Capital Goods up by 1.05%, Metal up by 0.73% and  infrastructure up by 0.66% while, Oil & Gas down by 0.53%, IT down by 0.45%, Realty down by 0.44% and TECK down by 0.03% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Coal India up by 2.37%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.16%, Bharti Airtel up by 2.15%, Cipla up by 2.02% and Bajaj Auto up by 1.89%. On the flip side, HDFC down by 2.06%, GAIL India down by 1.91%, TCS down by 1.52%, Wipro down by 1.48% and ONGC down by 1.30% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Paris-based think tank, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has given a pat on governments reform measures and has said that India's economic growth is firming up and prospects are also looking better in most of the other major economies.

The global think tank based on its Composite Leading Indicators (CLIs) readings, which are designed to anticipate turning points in economic activity relative to trend has said that Indian CLI continues to indicate firming growth and has risen to 99.5 in January from 99.3 registered in December. The indicator has been inching up since September last when it stood at 99.

OECD has however red-flagged Russia and said that its CLI still points to a loss in growth momentum, while euro area is expected to see positive change in growth momentum. The readings have further indicated that in Germany, the CLI point towards positive change in momentum, while outlook for Italy and France too has improved.

For euro zone, the readings, expressed as an index where 100 denotes the long-term average, rose to 100.7 for the euro zone as a whole from 100.6 in the preceding month’s report. For US was it was stable at 100.2 and for Japan it stayed at 99.8. In large non-OECD economies, the index rose to 99.1 in China from 99.0.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8775.40, up by 18.65 points or 0.21% after trading in a range of 8724.10 and 8776.40. There were 32 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Coal India up by 2.43%, Zee Entertainment up by 2.26%, Bharti Airtel up by 2.26%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.18% and Bajaj Auto up by 2.05%. On the flip side, HDFC down by 2.34%, GAIL India down by 1.92%, TCS down by 1.65%, Wipro down by 1.59% and Hindustan Unilever down by 1.45% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in the red; Hang Seng decreased 0.45%, Nikkei 225 slipped 0.88%, Taiwan Weighted decreased 0.11%, KOSPI Index shed 0.24% and Shanghai Composite was down by 0.11%. On the flip side, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 0.86%, Straits Times rose 0.09% and Jakarta Composite was up by 0.32%.