Markets maintains the gain supported by rally in realty

Markets continue to trade with modest gains in the early noon session, though there are bouts of choppiness too and the major indices are being dragged lower on profit booking but were showing resilience and holding the levels of 28200 (Sensex) and 8500 (Nifty). The Greek drama seems to have stabilized and so is the sell-off in the global equity markets with investors once again moving to risky assets from the safe heavens. Meanwhile, Eurozone finance ministers are urging Greece to make new proposals after the country rejected the terms of the international bailout referendum. The domestic markets were also getting some support with strengthening rupee on sustained selling of the American currency by exporters and banks, despite its gains overseas. Back on the street, the broader markets were outperforming the markets, while on sectoral front realty, consumer durables, metal, banking and healthcare were trading with good gains, while some somberness was being seen in the auto and defensive FMCG stocks. In scrip specific movement, Essar Oil extending the gains for the second straight session surged to a fresh 52-week high on reports that the company had received NSE's approval for delisting its shares.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 28276.79, up by 68.03 points or 0.24% after trading in a range of 28200.97 and 28335.23. There were 15 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were outperforming the benchmarks; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.74%, while Small cap index gained 0.88%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.22%, Consumer Durables up by 0.56%, PSU up by 0.46%, Bankex up by 0.35%, IT up by 0.34%, while Power down by 0.11%, FMCG down by 0.07%, Auto down by 0.06% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were HDFC up by 2.05%, Coal India up by 1.75%, Wipro up by 1.67%, Sun Pharma Inds. up by 1.33% and SBI up by 0.76%. On the flip side, NTPC down by 2.79%, Vedanta down by 1.87%, Hero MotoCorp down by 1.32%, Hindalco down by 1.15% and Hindustan Unilever down by 0.95% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the day Indian chief economic advisor (CEA) tried to soothe the nerves of the investors, dismissing the possibility of any material impact on the Indian economy from the developments in Greece, anticipating some impact on the rupee from investors pulling out in fear, the Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has supported the view and said that the government is “very closely” monitoring the developments in Greece as that could have implications on the international currency market.

Sitharaman stated that 'I think the Greece affair is going to play out for a few more days and we will certainly have to watch that...India's foreign exchange reserves are comfortable. The RBI and the government are very closely monitoring the developments. I think we have to be alert and keep watching what is happening.'

The Commerce and Industry Minister though said that is too early to gauge the impact on the domestic currency as it is euro vs dollar taking a fluctuation with euro resulting in further weakening and all this is going to have an implication on the international currency market.

Sitharaman also said that negotiations of India-EU free trade agreement will not get impacted by the development as chief negotiators have been mandated. India and the European Union are expected to resume negotiations in August on the proposed free trade agreement for boosting two-way commerce and investment.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8540.65, up by 18.50 points or 0.22% after trading in a range of 8523.45 and 8561.35. There were 26 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Asian Paints up by 3.09%, HDFC up by 2.14%, Coal India up by 1.97%, Wipro up by 1.68% and Tech Mahindra up by 1.66%. On the flip side, NTPC down by 2.86%, Vedanta down by 2.14%, HCL Tech. down by 1.95%, Hero MotoCorp down by 1.34% and Zee Entertainment down by 1.26% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were showing mostly a weak trend and barring Straits Times which was up by 6.75 points or 0.2% to 3,339.69 and Nikkei 225 which surged by 256.42 points or 1.27% to 20,368.54, rest of the major indices were in red.

Hang Seng lost 286.58 points or 1.14% to 24,949.70, Shanghai Composite slumped by 115 points or 3.05% to 3,660.91, Jakarta Composite declined by 22.62 points or 0.46% to 4,894.12, KOSPI Index was down by 13.64 points or 0.66% to 2,040.29, Taiwan Weighted lost 5.8 points or 0.06% to 9,250.16 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was tad lower by 0.86 points or 0.05% to 1,716.19.