Benchmarks trim gains; trade continues in green

Indian equity markets trimmed gains but continued trading in green in the late afternoon session on account of buying in frontline blue chip counters. Traders were seen piling positions in FMCG, Consumer Durables and Capital Goods stocks while selling was witnessed in IT and TECK sector stocks. In scrip specific development, Granules India was trading firm after touching fresh 52-week high after the company informed that the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) had inspected its Gagillapur facility last week and the inspection concluded with no observations. Fertilisers and Chemicals Travancore (FACT) was trading firm on hopes of a revival plan by government. Zee Media Corporation was trading in green on fund raising plans amounting Rs 195.59 crore via rights issue. Jindal Steel & Power (JSPL) was trading under pressure amid reports that the government may reject the company’s bids for two coal blocks in Chhattisgarh.

On the global front, the Asian markets were trading mostly in green while, the European market were trading mostly on optimistic note. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading above the psychological 8,650 and 28,400 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was negative in the ratio of 1244:1371 while 115 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 28490.67, up by 52.96 points or 0.19% after trading in a range of 28435.45 and 28783.39. There were 18 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green and red; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.19%, while Small cap index down by 0.13%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were FMCG up by 0.87%, Consumer Durables up by 0.87%, Capital Goods up by 0.69%, Auto up by 0.63%, Oil & Gas up by 0.62% while, IT down by 0.74%, TECK down by 0.56% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Hindalco up by 4.33%, Dr. Reddy’s Lab up by 2.79%, Tata Motors up by 1.64%, Sesa Sterlite up by 1.48% and Cipla up by 1.17%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 1.76%, Wipro down by 1.03%, Coal India down by 0.99%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.96% and Tata Power down by 0.74% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the government received commitments of Rs 103,046 crore from telecom operators at the end of 67th round of bidding on Saturday, the 11th day of radio frequency spectrum e-auctions. This is little higher compared to Rs 102,215 crore on the 10th day. The auction will continue on Tuesday as about 13% of spectrum is yet to be sold.

Robust bidding was witnessed in 1800 MHz, 900 MHz and 800 MHz band, with majority of service areas being sold at a premium over reserve price. Aggressive bidding with price increment in 3 circles in 800 Mhz was witnessed, whereas one circle in 900 MHz and 2 circles in 1800 MHz saw price increment. However, no bidding activity for 2100 MHz used for offering 3G services. On a whole, 12-14 circles witnessed bidding activity on Day 11 of the spectrum auction.

Bidding was seen in Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Kerala in 1800 MHz, and 900 MHz in West Bengal, while 800 MHz band continued to witness good bidding with activity in six circles of Delhi, Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Kolkata, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and North East.

The biggest ever auction of spectrum in the 800, 900, 1,800, and 2,100 MHz bands had started on March 4. The government had initially estimated to earn between Rs 80,000 crore and Rs 1 lakh crore from the sale of radio waves. In the current round of auction, the government is selling a total of 380.75 MHz of spectrum in the 800 -MHz, 900 MHz and 1,800 MHz bands, and five MHz in the 2,100-MHz band across 17 of the 22 telecom areas of the circles in the country.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8651.40, up by 18.25 points or 0.21% after trading in a range of 8630.80 and 8738.45. There were 30 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Hindalco up by 4.61%, Dr. Reddy’s Lab up by 2.92%, Tata Motors up by 1.88%, Sesa Sterlite up by 1.75% and Cairn India up by 1.72%. On the flip side, Jindal Steel & Power down by 11.60%, Infosys down by 1.73%, Bank of Baroda down by 1.29%, Coal India down by 0.96% and Wipro down by 0.87% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading mostly in green; FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 7.38 points or 0.41% to 1,787.92, Jakarta Composite increased 8.52 points or 0.16% to 5,443.79, Taiwan Weighted increased 26.53 points or 0.28% to 9,539.44, KOSPI Index increased 42.58 points or 2.14% to 2,029.91, Shanghai Composite increased 53.54 points or 1.55% to 3,502.85 and Nikkei 225 increased 190.94 points or 0.99% to 19,437.00.

On the other hand, Hang Seng decreased 48.06 points or 0.2% to 23,901.49 and Straits Times decreased 6.42 points or 0.19% to 3,369.62.

The European markets were trading mostly in green; France’s CAC increased 0.9 points or 0.02% to 5,062.06, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 33.72 points or 0.5% to 6,837.80 while, Germany’s DAX decreased 44.84 points or 0.37% to 12,122.88.