Markets trade near the highs of the day

Markets continue to trade near the highs of the day in the early noon session, traders apart from the domestic cues were getting support from the humungous surge in the Hong Kong market, which has rallied over two and half a percent after coming from a long weekend of Easter. The PSU sector stocks were in jubilant mood after government’s divestment programme for the current fiscal got a flying start with the Offer for Sale (OFS) of 5 per cent stake in state-run REC getting over-subscribed in just about an hour. On the other hand the banking pack was slightly in somber mood, as some of the country’s biggest banks started announcing base rate cuts and traders were worried that it may impact their profit margin. On the other hand the rate sensitive sectors moved higher after the lenders started passing rate cuts. Auto, Consumer durables and realty were inching higher. Realty gauge was showing gains since morning as the government approved changes to a Bill that seeks to regulate the country's property market. The bill is aimed to protect the interest of consumers from errant developers and ensure timely execution of projects. Back on street, there is across the board buying with all the sectoral indices trading in the green on the BSE.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 28687.43, up by 170.84 points or 0.60% after trading in a range of 28566.61 and 28700.49. There were 21 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were going neck in neck with the benchmarks; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.97%, while Small cap index surged by 1.61%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 2.04%, IT up by 1.70%, Metal up by 1.65%, Consumer Durables up by 1.56%, TECK up by 1.44%, while there were no losers.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Coal India up by 5.18%, Reliance Industries up by 2.56%, Cipla up by 1.94%, Infosys up by 1.64% and TCS up by 1.60%. On the flip side, Sesa Sterlite down by 1.52%, HDFC down by 1.41%, NTPC down by 1.15%, ONGC down by 0.97% and Hero MotoCorp down by 0.65% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, a survey sponsored by RBI has projected the economic growth rate at 7.9 percent for the current fiscal, up from 7.5 percent in 2014-15. Twenty seven professional forecasters who participated in the latest survey round, expect real Gross Value Added at basic price (GVA) to increase by 7.5 per cent in 2014-15. ‘Agriculture & Allied Activities’ and ‘Services’ are expected to grow by 1.1 per cent and 10.6 per cent, respectively. ‘Industry’ growth forecast has been placed at 5.9 per cent, while in 2015-16, GVA is expected to increase by 7.9 per cent, led by growth in ‘Services’ by 10.1 per cent.

Forecasters ascribed maximum 57 per cent chance that GVA growth in 2014-15 will be in the range of 7.0-7.4 per cent, and another 27 per cent probability that it will be in the range of 7.5-7.9 per cent.

Regarding expenditure and savings, the forecasters expect that private final consumption expenditure at current prices will increase by 12.9 per cent in 2014-15 and further by 13.0 per cent in 2015-16, while Gross Saving rate is projected at 30.0 per cent of Gross National Disposable Income (GNDI) in 2014-15 and is expected to improve to 31.0 per cent of GNDI in 2015-16. Forecasters expect Gross Fixed Capital Formation rate at 28.6 per cent of GDP in 2014-15 and 29.3 per cent of GDP in 2015-16.

Central Government’s gross fiscal deficit (GFD) is projected at 4.1 per cent of GDP in 2014-15 and is expected to moderate to 3.9 per cent of GDP in 2015-16. The combined GFD of Central and State Governments is projected at 6.5 per cent of GDP in 2014-15 and is expected to improve to 6.3 per cent of GDP in 2015-16. The survey has projected the Current Account Deficit (CAD) at 1.2 per cent and 1.0 per cent (of GDP) in 2014-15 and 2015-16, respectively. Capital Account Balance is expected at 3.5 per cent of GDP for 2014-15.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8715.20, up by 54.90 points or 0.63% after trading in a range of 8679.80 and 8717.80. There were 32 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Coal India up by 5.24%, BPCL up by 3.68%, Tech Mahindra up by 2.67%, Reliance Industries up by 2.60% and Ultratech Cement up by 2.38%. On the flip side, Idea Cellular down by 2.33%, Sesa Sterlite down by 1.69%, HDFC down by 1.41%, NTPC down by 1.09% and Bank of Baroda down by 1.06% were the top losers.

Asian markets were showing mixed trend, KOSPI Index was up by 12.23 points or 0.6% to 2,059.26, Shanghai Composite gained 29.46 points or 0.74% to 3,990.84, Nikkei 225 was higher by149.27 points or 0.76% to 19,789.81 and Hang Seng surged by 674.79 points or 2.67% to 25,950.43.

On the other hand, Taiwan Weighted was down by 69.93 points or 0.73% to 9,571.97, Jakarta Composite lost 25.44 points or 0.46% to 5,497.85, Straits Times declined by 8.2 points or 0.24% to 3,457.42 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was down by 6.91 points or 0.37% to 1,849.60.