Markets retain gain aided by capital goods and power stocks

The Indian markets seem to be in jubilant mood retaining their gains in early noon session, despite the debt default by the Greece after the nation became the first advanced economy to miss a payment on IMF debt. The Alexis Tsipras government though on Tuesday pleaded for a short-term bailout extension to avert a midnight default as frantic efforts gathered pace to salvage a deal that could keep Greece in the euro. Back home, traders were getting support from the upbeat news of core sector data , which coming out of the contraction mood of last two months surged by 4.4% in the month of May, also government reported that for the first two months (April-May ) of 2015-16, the Centre’s fiscal deficit stood at Rs 2.08 lakh crore, or 37.5 per cent of the 2015-16 Budget estimate of Rs 5.56 lakh crore, compared with 45.3 per cent in the corresponding period last year. However, there was some cautiousness too that has dragged the Sensex off the crucial psychological level of 28000, as though the country received 16 per cent more rainfall than normal in June, monsoon has slowed down in several parts which have recorded deficient rain. Meanwhile, Indian corporate leaders have urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take steps to further reduce the cost of capital to help boost manufacturing in the country and generate consumer demand. Back on street, while the broader markets were outperforming the benchmarks, on sectoral front capital goods, power, healthcare, IT, tech and metal were gaining over a percent each

In scrip specific action Indraprastha Gas (IGL) surged by 11% after the Supreme Court rejected Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board's (PNGRB) plea against the company. The Apex Court in its ruling upheld Delhi High Court verdict and said the regulator has no power to set retail gas rate.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 27946.78, up by 165.95 points or 0.60% after trading in a range of 27799.91 and 28007.42. There were 26 stocks advancing against just 4 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 1.12%, while Small cap index surged by 1.25%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Capital Goods up by 1.43%, Power up by 1.42%, IT up by 1.31%, TECK up by 1.26% and INFRA up by 1.23%

The top gainers on the Sensex were Cipla up by 2.87%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.67%, BHEL up by 1.55%, Larsen & Toubro up by 1.39% and Infosys up by 1.17%. On the flip side, Hero MotoCorp down by 0.70%, HDFC down by 0.42%, Bajaj Auto down by 0.18% and ITC down by 0.13% were the losers.

Meanwhile, showing a better situation of finance, for the first two months (April-May ) of 2015-16, the Centre’s fiscal deficit stood at Rs 2.08 lakh crore, or 37.5 per cent of the 2015-16 Budget estimate of Rs 5.56 lakh crore, compared with 45.3 per cent in the corresponding period last year. The narrower fiscal deficit was mainly due to higher non-tax revenue and lower non-Plan expenditure. For 2015-16, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had set a fiscal deficit Budget estimate of 3.9 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP), compared with four per cent in 2014-15.

For the first two months of the fiscal net tax revenue stood at Rs 19,889 crore, or 2.2 per cent of the full-year Budget estimate, compared with 2.9 per cent or 14.6 per cent of the full-year estimate Rs 32,472 crore, in the year-ago period. Total receipts stood at Rs 52,361 crore, or 4.6 per cent of the 2015-16 Budget estimate, compared with 3.2 per cent for April-May 2014.

According to the data compiled the Controller General of Accounts the total expenditure for April-May this year was Rs 2.63 lakh crore, 13.4 per cent of the full-year estimate. Total expenditure in the corresponding period last year was R2.8 lakh crore, or 15.6% of the BE for the year. Of the total expenditure, Non-Plan expenditure for April-May stood at Rs 2.01 lakh crore, 15.3 per cent of the full-year estimate, compared with 18.1 per cent for the first two months of the last financial year. Plan expenditure was 13.4 per cent at Rs 62,106 crore, compared with 10.4 per cent last year.

However, tax revenues haven’t performed very well. The April-May net tax collection was Rs 19,889 crore, which is 2.2% of the estimate for the full year; in the corresponding period a year ago, the net tax revenue stood at 2.9% of that year’s target. Revenue deficit, a better measure of government finances, stood at R1.73 lakh crore, 43.8% of the full year target in April-May, as against 54.2% in the year ago period.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8422.50, up by 54.00 points or 0.65% after trading in a range of 8370.15 and 8440.35. There were 43 stocks advancing against 7 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Ambuja Cement up by 3.59%, Cipla up by 3.02%, HCL Tech. up by 2.94%, Power Grid Corpn. up by 2.16% and Tech Mahindra up by 1.73%. On the flip side, Zee Entertainment down by 0.88%, Hero MotoCorp down by 0.74%, NMDC down by 0.63%, Bajaj Auto down by 0.51% and HDFC down by 0.49% were the top losers.

All the Asian markets barring Shanghai Composite, which was down by 34.61 points or 0.81% to 4,242.61 were trading in green.

Jakarta Composite was up by 4.3 points or 0.09% to 4,914.96, Straits Times added 4.83 points or 0.15% to 3,322.16, KOSPI Index increased by 23.69 points or 1.14% to 2,097.89, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was higher by 30.56 points or 1.79% to 1,737.20, Taiwan Weighted gained 52.21 points or 0.56% to 9,375.23, Nikkei 225 was up by 93.59 points or 0.46% to 20,329.32 and Hang Seng surged by 283.05 points or 1.09% to 26,250.03.