Benchmarks trade higher in early deals; Nifty recaptures 8,400 mark

Resuming their northward journey, Indian equity benchmarks have made a gap-up start and are trading higher in early deals on Wednesday as investors opted to buy beaten down but fundamentally strong stocks. Some support came in with an UN report, saying that Indian economic growth is projected to surpass that of China, with the GDP expected to zoom by 7.7% in 2016, while China is projected to grow by 7 per cent in 2015 and 6.8 per cent next year. Also, due to falling prices of some food items, retail inflation based on consumer price index (CPI) for rural labourers eased to 5.49% in March from 6.19% in the previous month. The rate of price-rise based on CPI for agricultural labourers too softened to 5.24% in March from 6.08% in February.

On the global front, the US markets made a mixed closing after a choppy trade, though the Dow still managed to reach another new record closing high. On economy front there was report showing a substantial increase in housing starts in the month of April. The Asian markets were trading mostly in the green at this point of time with some of the indices showing strength led by the Japanese market which surged around a percent after the country’s economy expanded for a second straight quarter at an annualized rate of 2.4 percent in the first quarter, while the yen weakened against the dollar.

Back home, there was broad based buying witnessed in the markets and apart from the blue chips, the broader markets too equally participated in the rally. None of the sectoral indices, barring metal, were trading in the red, while software and technology witnessed the maximum gain in trade. Infrastructure, power, banking, consumer durables, oil and gas, realty and auto too were trading significantly. The broader indices too were trading in-line with benchmarks, while the market breadth on the BSE was positive; there were 1,271 shares on the gaining side against 474 shares on the losing side while 74 shares remain unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 27879.93, up by 234.40 points or 0.85% after trading in a range of 27743.99 and 27903.01. There were 27 stocks advancing against 3 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 gained 0.75%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 1.42%, TECK up by 1.30%, INFRA up by 1.16%, Power up by 1.13%, and Bankex up by 1.04% while, Metal down by 0.26% was the lone losing index on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Power up by 3.30%, ICICI Bank up by 1.59%, HDFC up by 1.40%, TCS up by 1.40% and HDFC Bank up by 1.38%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 1.43%, Hindalco down by 0.86% and Coal India down by 0.12% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, on account of recent appreciation of US dollar against rupee, the prices of compressed natural gas (CNG) and piped cooking gas (PNG) prices have been hiked by 45 paise per unit in the National Capital Region (NCR) with effect from Sunday midnight. After the latest revision, CNG price in Delhi will go up to Rs 38 per kg in Delhi, while the same in Noida, Greater Noida and Ghaziabad will increase by 50 paisa to Rs 43.30 per kg.

Similarly, the rates of piped cooking gas supplied to households have been revised from Rs 24.90 per cubic meter to Rs 25.35 per scm in Delhi. However, on account of differential tax structure in Uttar Pradesh, the applicable price of domestic PNG to households in Noida, Greater Noida and Ghaziabad would be Rs 27.05 per scm, which is being increased from existing Rs 26.55 per scm. Notably, the increase follows Rs 3.13 per litre hike in petrol and Rs 2.71 per litre increase in diesel rates effected from Saturday.

Though, in a major relief to domestic consumers, the upper slab of PNG consumption has been abolished and there will only be a single slab rate with effect from May 18. With this, domestic PNG customers with higher consumption slab of usage beyond 36 scm shall be charged at a single rate applicable in their respective city.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8432.50, up by 66.85 points or 0.80% after trading in a range of 8391.45 and 8440.35. There were 39 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Power up by 3.36%, Tech Mahindra up by 2.49%, HCL Tech up by 2.23%, ICICI Bank up by 1.62% and HDFC up by 1.38%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 1.49%, Asian Paints down by 0.87%, Hindalco down by 0.86%, Idea Cellular down by 0.53% and Cairn India down by 0.12% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in the green; FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 1.14 points or 0.06% to 1,810.86, KOSPI Index rose 15.73 points or 0.74% to 2,136.58, Jakarta Composite gained 26.71 points or 0.51% to 5,296.08, Shanghai Composite surged 58.54 points or 1.33% to 4,476.09 and Nikkei 225 was up by 190.47 points or 0.95% to 20,216.85.

On the flip side, Hang Seng decreased 55.17 points or 0.2% to 27,638.37, Taiwan Weighted slipped 27.1 points or 0.28% to 9,689.67 and Straits Times was down by 12.13 points or 0.35% to 3,441.91.