Benchmarks continue firm trade; Metal, Capital Goods lead

Indian equity markets continued its firm trade in the late afternoon session on account of buying in frontline blue chip counters and on optimism that Greece and its creditors can arrive at a deal to avert bankruptcy. The sentiments also got support after a better-than-forecasted monsoon reignited hopes among market participants that a rate cut by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) may be a possibility. Traders were seen piling up position in Metal, Capital Goods and PSU stocks, while selling was witnessed in IT, TECK and Consumer Durables stocks. In scrip specific development, Venus Remedies was trading firm after the company announced the issue of equity shares to promoters on a preferential basis. The stock market was a bit volatile as traders were rolling over positions in the Futures & Options (F&O) segment from the near month series i.e. June 2015 to next month i.e. July 2015 series. The near month June 2015 derivatives contracts will expire on Thursday i.e. June 25, 2015.

On the global front, the Asian markets were trading mostly in green, while the European markets too were on optimistic note. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading above the psychological 8,350 and 27,750 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was positive in the ratio of 1347:1182 while 123scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 27788.28, up by 58.07 points or 0.21% after trading in a range of 27666.59 and 27882.66. There were 20 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.05%, while Small cap index up by 0.41%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 1.83%, Capital Goods up by 1.45%, PSU up by 1.07%, Oil & Gas up by 0.73%, Realty up by 0.55% while, IT down by 0.94%, TECK down by 0.70%, Consumer Durables down by 0.60%, Power down by 0.00% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Coal India up by 4.33%, Cipla up by 2.18%, Larsen & Toubro up by 1.89%, Tata Steel up by 1.16% and Bharti Airtel up by 1.16%.

On the flip side, Lupin down by 2.05%, Infosys down by 1.83%, Hero MotoCorp down by 1.57%, Tata Motors down by 0.72% and TCS down by 0.51% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Finance Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi has said that the Indian government intends to provide about Rs 57,000 crore to public sector (PSU) banks towards recapitalisation over the next two fiscal to meet global risk norms and for growth. The government has earmarked Rs 7,940 crore in the Budget for recapitalisation of PSU banks for the current fiscal.

Mehrishi stated that the government is aiming infusion of about $3 billion in the current year and perhaps twice as much in the next year, adding that “It doesn't have to wait for the Budget because it is a process that is ongoing and we can always seek additional funds within the supplementaries. So, it doesn't have to wait for the Budget. We have already some budget allocation provision there, we can use that to begin with and that is a billion dollar plus and we intend to increase that.'

The development follows Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's promise during his recent meeting with the banking heads assuring them more capital infusion into public sector banks, saying there's 'merit' in their demand for more funds over and above what was provided in the Budget. The government has already started assessment of capital requirement of public sector banks and has already received presentation of six public sector banks.

Finance minister Arun Jaitley has said the government will infuse capital in public sector banks in the next three to six months. The Finance ministry has asked state-run banks to draw up a five-year recapitalisation schedule to prepare them to lend support to its long-term growth plans, adding that the five-year road map should take into account cash that can be generated through internal resources to meet funding needs.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8383.40, up by 30.30 points or 0.36% after trading in a range of 8334.95 and 8398.45. There were 35 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Coal India up by 4.44%, PNB up by 3.66%, Ultratech Cement up by 3.17%, Cipla up by 2.20% and Bank of Baroda up by 2.05%.

On the flip side, Hero MotoCorp down by 1.87%, Infosys down by 1.83%, Lupin down by 1.82%, Tata Power down by 1.14% and Zee Entertainment down by 1.13% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Jakarta Composite increased 1.76 points or 0.04% to 4,961.01, Straits Times increased 21.89 points or 0.66% to 3,337.02, KOSPI Index increased 26.04 points or 1.27% to 2,081.20, Taiwan Weighted increased 49.37 points or 0.53% to 9,391.14, Shanghai Composite increased 98.13 points or 2.19% to 4,576.49, Hang Seng increased 252.61 points or 0.93% to 27,333.46 and Nikkei 225 increased 381.23 points or 1.87% to 20,809.42.

On the other hand, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 0.75 points or 0.04% to 1,732.01.

The European markets were trading in green; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 10.03 points or 0.15% to 6,835.70, France’s CAC increased 36.58 points or 0.73% to 5,035.19 and Germany’s DAX increased 122.52 points or 1.07% to 11,583.02.