Benchmarks add gains; Nifty above 8600 mark

Indian equity markets added gains and continued their firm trade in the late afternoon session on account of buying in frontline blue chip counters. Investors have started eyeing the first bi-monthly Monetary Policy for 2015-16 which is scheduled to release tomorrow i.e. April 07, 2015 which will further give direction to the market. Traders were seen piling positions in FMCG, Consumer Durables and Auto stocks while selling was witnessed in Metal, IT and TECK sector stocks. In scrip specific development, Sun TV Network was trading in red after the Enforcement Directorate attached assets worth Rs 742.58 crore in the name of former Telecom Minister Dayanidhi Maran, his brother Kalanithi and other family members in connection with money laundering probe in Aircel-Maxis deal. Sun Pharmaceutical Industries was trading in green after touching all-time high after Medicines Company has settled Angiomax drug patent litigation with Sun.

On the global front, the Asian markets were trading mostly in green. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading above the psychological 8,600 and 28,300 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was positive in the ratio of 1596:927 while 106 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 28386.49, up by 126.35 points or 0.45% after trading in a range of 28221.99 and 28430.71. There were 15 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.76%, while Small cap index up by 1.13%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were FMCG up by 1.92%, Consumer Durables up by 1.92%, Auto up by 0.84%, Oil & Gas up by 0.67%, PSU up by 0.54% while, Metal down by 0.62%, IT down by 0.44%, TECK down by 0.33% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Sun Pharma up by 6.18%, Cipla up by 3.16%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 3.03%, ONGC up by 2.87% and Tata Motors up by 2.32%. On the flip side, Wipro down by 2.10%, Tata Steel down by 1.67%, Tata Power down by 1.35%, Reliance Industries down by 1.26% and HDFC down by 1.19% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in not so encouraging sign for the economy, growth in India's pivotal services industry lost some momentum in March as input prices rose at the fastest pace in nearly a year with HSBC Services Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) easing to 53.0 in March from February's eight-month high of 53.9. However, March was eleventh straight month of expansion for the index as reading above 50 indicates growth.

Nevertheless the survey, providing signs of much of the weakness seen in 2014 being left behind suggested that India’s service sector ended the first three months of 2015 with a strong performance. The survey although suggested of slightly weaker pace of expansion than in the prior month was indicative of sustained new business growth. Further, output rose in four of the six broad areas of the service economy, the exceptions being financial intermediation and hotels & restaurants.

In yet another positive sign, the month witnessed an increase in the level of new business placed with Indian services companies. Although solid, the rate of expansion eased since the prior month.

Manufacturers, meanwhile, recorded a stronger increase in order book volumes. Also, the employment rose during March, which was an improvement from the broadly unchanged levels recorded in the prior month. In the manufacturing economy, staffing levels stabilized.

Worryingly, however, cost inflationary pressures in the private sector as a whole firmed up. The input prices faced by services firms rose further in March. The rate of cost inflation was solid and the strongest since June 2014 due to increased petrol and transport prices. Also, output charges were raised in response to higher costs.

Notably, despite the slow pace of expansion, service providers remained upbeat towards the prospects for business activity in 12 months’ time, with over 25% of survey members anticipating output growth over the course of the next year, citing strengthening demand conditions.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8624.35, up by 38.10 points or 0.44% after trading in a range of 8573.75 and 8632.70. There were 28 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Sun Pharma up by 5.91%, Cipla up by 3.24%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 3.02%, ONGC up by 2.95% and Cairn India up by 2.51%. On the flip side, HCL Tech down by 2.77%, Wipro down by 2.32%, Tata Steel down by 1.50%, HDFC down by 1.41% and Reliance Industries down by 1.32% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading mostly in green; KOSPI Index increased 1.01 points or 0.05% to 2,046.43, Straits Times increased 2.39 points or 0.07% to 3,456.14, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 7.77 points or 0.42% to 1,842.29 and Jakarta Composite increased 20.58 points or 0.38% to 5,476.98.

On the other hand, Nikkei 225 decreased 37.1 points or 0.19% to 19,397.98.

The European markets were closed today on account of ‘Easter Monday’ holiday.