Benchmarks trade slightly in green on Thursday morning

After posting sharp gain in previous session, Indian equity benchmarks made a positive opening and are trading slightly in green, following the positive cues from global front. At present, Sensex and Nifty were trading above the crucial 28,000 and 8,450 levels respectively. Meanwhile, the session was also proving cheerful for broader indices, which were trading with gains in the range of 0.70-0.80%. Sentiment remained up-beat with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s statement that India is no longer satisfied being in the 6 to 8 percent growth. It wants to transcend to another level and aim for 8 to 10 percent growth. In scrip specific development, Nestle India was trading higher after the UK Food Standards Agency gave a clean chit to Maggi produced in India saying it is safe to eat.  Ashok Leyland was also trading higher after the company reported a 41% year-on-year (yoy) increase in total sales of commercial vehicles at 10,461 units in June 2015.

On the global front, the US markets ended higher on the back of better-than-expected economic data. Asian markets were trading mostly in green on hopes for a deal to keep Greece in the eurozone as the country prepares for a crucial weekend referendum, but Shanghai tumbled again despite authorities relaxing trading rules to temper recent volatility.

Back home traders were seen piling position in Oil & Gas, Realty, FMCG, Auto and INFRA while, selling was showed in IT, Bankex and TECK. The market breadth on BSE was positive in the ratio of 1282: 447 while 61 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 28049.41, up by 28.54 points or 0.10% after trading in a range of 27961.08 and 28115.96. There were 19 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.70%, while Small cap index gained 0.79%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 1.03%, Realty up by 0.91%, FMCG up by 0.50%, Auto up by 0.50% and INFRA up by 0.45% while, IT down by 0.43%, Bankex down by 0.08% and TECK down by 0.07% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bajaj Auto up by 2.00%, Hero MotoCorp up by 1.04%, Reliance Industries up by 0.97%, Tata Steel up by 0.96% and Hindalco up by 0.93%. On the flip side, HDFC Bank down by 1.10%, Infosys down by 0.77%, TCS down by 0.57%, Coal India down by 0.56% and Cipla down by 0.52% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the manufacturing sector of India eased in June due to weak growth in new business inflows as companies took a cautious line on hiring and a weaker rise in new business inflows. Recording above the 50.0 no-change mark for the twentieth successive month, the seasonally adjusted Nikkei India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index TM (PMI) TM - a composite single figure indicator of manufacturing performance index fell from 52.6 in May to 51.3 in June.

The survey stated that the PMI for June were weighed down by slower increases in both output and new orders. Production growth eased since May and was moderate overall. Incoming new work expanded at a modest pace that was the weakest since last September.

India’s manufacturing sector saw employment remain broadly unchanged in June. Significant changes in payroll numbers have not been recorded since the opening month of 2014, and firms reportedly maintained a cost-cautious approach to hiring in the survey period.

The survey however stated that workforce numbers were, once again, unchanged during the month, reflecting firms’ efforts to keep expenses stable. Encouragingly, inflation rates softened, with both input costs and output charges rising at below-trend rates. Pre- and post-production stocks both increased in June with survey participants linking the rise in holdings of finished goods to forecasts of higher inflows of new work. Nonetheless, the rate of accumulation was modest and weakened since May. Growth of stocks of purchases also eased and was the slowest in eight months.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8465.75, up by 12.70 points or 0.15% after trading in a range of 8437.20 and 8477.50. There were 31 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were BPCL up by 2.02%, Idea Cellular up by 1.87%, Bajaj Auto up by 1.61%, Zee Entertainment up by 1.26% and GAIL India up by 1.15%. On the flip side, Grasim Industries down by 1.17%, HDFC Bank down by 1.12%, Cipla down by 0.81%, Infosys down by 0.75% and Power Grid Corpn. down by 0.63% were the top losers.

Asian markets were mostly trading in green; FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 6.44 points or 0.37% to 1,734.40, Straits Times increased 7.7 points or 0.23% to 3,338.84, KOSPI Index increased 12.16 points or 0.58% to 2,110.05, Taiwan Weighted increased 14.56 points or 0.16% to 9,389.79, Jakarta Composite increased 35.56 points or 0.73% to 4,939.63, Hang Seng increased 144.13 points or 0.55% to 26,394.16 and Nikkei 225 increased 237.07 points or 1.17% to 20,566.39.

On the flip side, Shanghai Composite decreased 50.16 points or 1.24% to 4,003.54