Benchmarks trade in fine fettle in noon deals

Indian equity benchmarks are trading in fine fettle in noon deals as sentiments remained up-beat with RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan’s statement that the Indian economy was in a recovery phase and also that India’s exposure to Greece is limited and there will be little impact of the fallout. Some support also came with report that foreign portfolio investors bought shares worth a net Rs 575.32 crore yesterday, as per provisional data by the stock exchanges. Appreciation in Indian rupee too lifted the sentiments. Rupee hits a 2-month high against the dollar following the positive sentiment in equities. Experts say 63.25 would be a support for the dollar.

On the global front, European markets have made a weak start, CAC, DAX and FTSE all were trading in red in early deals. Asian markets were trading mostly in red at this point of time as investors grappled with heightened uncertainty tied to Greece ahead of a referendum on Sunday, 5 July 2015, to vote on the country's status as a eurozone member. Back home, on the sectoral front, capital goods, consumer durables and healthcare witnessed the maximum gain in trade, while metal and auto remained the only losers on the BSE sectoral space. The broader indices too were trading in green, while the market breadth on the BSE was positive; there were 1809 shares on the gaining side against 945 shares on the losing side while 154 shares remain unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 28103.96, up by 158.16 points or 0.57% after trading in a range of 27897.45 and 28135.43. There were 21 stocks advancing against 8 stocks declining on the index, while 1 stock remained unchanged.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.16%, while Small cap index up by 0.42%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Capital Goods up by 1.04%, Consumer Durables up by 0.97%, Healthcare up by 0.86%, FMCG up by 0.64% and Power up by 0.62%, while Metal down by 0.86% and Auto down by 0.21% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were HDFC up by 2.20%, BHEL up by 1.94%, Lupin up by 1.83%, Cipla up by 1.35% and Dr. Reddys Lab up by 1.33%. On the flip side, Vedanta down by 1.15%, Coal India down by 0.88%, Tata Motors down by 0.82%, Wipro down by 0.63% and Tata Steel down by 0.59% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, mobile service providers have rolled out Mobile number portability (MNP) effective July 3, as per directed by Department of Telecom (DoT). MNP allows mobile subscribers to retain their existing mobile phone number even when they change service provider. The earlier deadline of May 3 to roll out full MNP was delayed by two months after the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) sought extension from DoT as telecom operators needed to make some technical changes to their networks to implement the service.

Previously mobile subscribers were able to switch their service provider within the same telecom circle. The pan-India MNP will allow customers to keep their existing mobile phone numbers while shifting between States and circles. The move is set to benefit millions of Indian phone users as it paves the way for the government's 'one nation, one number' plan aimed at simplifying the system.

Leading telcos, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone India, Idea Cellular and RCom as well as state run BSNL and MTNL have already announced the roll out of full MNP with special offers and aggressive plans, with other private players like Uninor, Sistema Shyam Teleservices and Videocon following the trend. However, Companies stand to lose from lower roaming charges with full MNP in effect.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8487.50, up by 42.60 points or 0.50% after trading in a range of 8424.15 and 8497.75. There were 35 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were HDFC up by 2.15%, Lupin up by 1.86%, BHEL up by 1.74%, Asian Paints up by 1.60% and Grasim Industries up by 1.44%. On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 1.48%, Cairn India down by 1.21%, Vedanta down by 1.09%, Coal India down by 0.87% and Wipro down by 0.83% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Shanghai Composite tumbled 205.56 points or 5.25% to 3,707.21, Hang Seng decreased 95.03 points or 0.36% to 26,187.29, Taiwan Weighted shed 21.01 points or 0.22% to 9,358.23, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI slipped 4.28 points or 0.25% to 1,729.60 and KOSPI Index was down by 2.92 points or 0.14% to 2,104.41. On the flip side, Jakarta Composite increased 12.71 points or 0.26% to 4,957.49, Straits Times rose 16.47 points or 0.49% to 3,344.31 and Nikkei 225 was up by 17.29 points or 0.08% to 20,539.79.

The European markets were trading in red; Germany’s DAX lost 0.22%, France’s CAC decreased 0.21% and UK’s FTSE 100 was down by 0.16%.