Trade remains range bound; benchmarks modestly in green

Markets are showing a choppy trade in the early noon session, though there were various attempts of moving higher but profit taking from the cautious investors ahead of key macro data of CPI inflation and Industrial production was keeping the markets in range. Traders are not looking convinced with Paris-based think tank OECD’s latest report that Indian economy saw the 'strongest growth' in the first quarter of 2015 among large economies, including China, the US, Germany and Canada. Rupee strength too remained unnoticed, rupee recovering from its last session’s fall was trading higher on fresh selling of the American currency by exporters. Traders were also eyeing interaction of Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani at its 41st AGM, who has said that the company is planning to invest over Rs 2 lakh crore in the next one year. Regarding future plans for Reliance Jio, he has said that the company is prioritising connectivity of Reliance Jio in rural areas, to cover 80% of country’s population by year-end. Reliance Jio would connect over 10 lakh homes over next 3 years. Back on street, the broader indices continue to remain in consolidation mood, while most of the sectoral indices were trading lower led by metal, consumer durables, realty, capital goods and auto.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 26418.26, up by 47.28 points or 0.18% after trading in a range of 26307.56 and 26460.64. There were 13 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.04%, while Small cap index was down by 0.45%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 0.42%, FMCG up by 0.26%, IT up by 0.24%, Bankex up by 0.09%, TECK up by 0.09%, while Metal down by 1.45%, Consumer Durables down by 1.35%, Realty down by 1.24%, INFRA down by 0.87%, Capital Goods down by 0.46% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bajaj Auto up by 2.55%, Tata Power up by 2.07%, HDFC up by 1.44%, Cipla up by 0.96% and BHEL up by 0.95%. On the flip side, Hindalco down by 2.26%, Vedanta down by 2.08%, Tata Motors down by 2.00%, Tata Steel down by 0.89% and Coal India down by 0.82% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in the latest global 'assessment study' of the regulatory framework for financial market infrastructures across the world, India's financial market regulatory framework has received the top-most ratings from the global bodies of banking and capital market regulators, with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) being rated better than their peers in China and the US.

In the assessment study only six countries, including India, have got the highest score of '4' for all eight parameters on a scale of one to four. The other five countries are Australia, Brazil, Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore. The 'Rating Level 4' for India means that the financial market regulators - the RBI and Sebi - have all regulatory measures 'fully in force'.

The annual assessment studies the implementation status of the international Principles for Financial Market Infrastructure (PFMIs) in various countries. The study showed that capital market watchdog Sebi and the RBI have put in place all necessary regulations for the PFMIs, while they also 'have a legal capacity to implement the responsibilities' outlined under these global standards.

The assessment took into account regulations for central counter-parties, trade repositories, payment systems, central securities depositories and securities settlement systems and India scored top ratings on all these counts. The next update of the first-level assessments will be conducted next year.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7975.10, up by 9.75 points or 0.12% after trading in a range of 7940.85 and 7987.85. There were 26 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Power up by 2.43%, Bajaj Auto up by 2.19%, HDFC up by 1.69%, Cipla up by 1.26% and Infosys up by 1.02%. On the flip side, NMDC down by 2.67%, Ambuja Cement down by 2.66%, Hindalco down by 2.35%, Vedanta down by 2.31% and Tata Motors down by 2.06% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading mostly in green; FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was up by 2.26 points or 0.13% to 1,737.02, Straits Times gained 8.47 points or 0.25% to 3,356.14, Jakarta Composite added 10.08 points or 0.2% to 4,938.89, Nikkei 225 was up by 24.11 points or 0.12% to 20,407.08, Shanghai Composite moved up by 34.01 points or 0.66% to 5,155.61 and Hang Seng inched higher by 105.24 points or 0.39% to 27,013.09.

On the other hand, KOSPI Index lost 4.44 points or 0.22% to 2,052.17 and Taiwan Weighted declined by 0.56 points or 0.01% to 9,301.93.