Benchmarks continue to trade in green in late afternoon session

Indian equity markets continued their firm trade in the late afternoon session on account of selling in frontline blue chip counters taking cues from global counterparts. The sentiments were up-beat after government dismissed the possibility of any material impact on the Indian economy from the developments in Greece, but it anticipates some impact on the rupee from investors pulling out in fear. Traders were seen piling position in Realty, Consumer Durables and PSU stocks while selling was witnessed in TECK and Power sector stocks. In scrip specific development, L&T Finance was trading firm on media reports that private equity fund Warburg Pincus is in talks to buy 25 percent stake in the financial services company. PSU Oil Marketing Companies HPCL, BPCL and Indian Oil Corporation were trading firm after crude oil prices slumped.

On the global front, the Asian markets were trading mostly in red, while the European markets were trading mostly on optimistic note. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading above the psychological 8,500 and 28,200 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was positive in the ratio of 1710:942 while 115 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 28247.17, up by 38.41 points or 0.14% after trading in a range of 28200.97 and 28335.23. There were 14 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.79%, while Small cap index up by 0.93%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.23%, Consumer Durables up by 0.92%, PSU up by 0.38%, Metal up by 0.37% and Bankex up by 0.29% while, TECK down by 0.10% and Power down by 0.09% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Coal India up by 2.01%, HDFC up by 1.98%, Wipro up by 1.18%, Sun Pharma up by 0.62% and Dr. Reddy’s Lab up by 0.60%.

On the flip side, NTPC down by 2.54%, Vedanta down by 1.90%, Hero MotoCorp down by 1.43%, Hindalco down by 1.28% and Hindustan Unilever down by 1.01% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has called for fresh round of stakeholder consultations with industry representatives, both from e-commerce and brick-and-mortar retail companies for opening up the e-commerce sector and will be meeting the industry, including representatives from industry bodies Confederation of All India Traders (CII) and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), on July 10 to discuss the issue.

The meeting which is likely to be attended by both Indian and foreign e-commerce companies, seems to have been necessitated with pressure mounting from potential free-trade partner countries to open up the e-commerce sector. In the meeting the minister may discuss the pros and cons of opening up the sector to foreign players and the safeguards that might be required if foreign direct investment (FDI) is allowed in the sector. Later the Commerce and Industry Minister is scheduled to meet chief ministers on July 15 to get their views on the matter.

The first round of the meeting which was held in May remained inconclusive as traders’ organisations like the CII had opposed the move, while the Retailers Association of India representing large brick-and-mortar retail companies had boycotted the meeting. Ficci had said that FDI should be allowed in B2C e-commerce but with a focus on sourcing from Indian manufacturers and in a phased manner. At present, India allows 100 percent FDI in business-to-business or B2B e-commerce, but not in B2C companies that sell directly to consumers.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8539.80, up by 17.65 points or 0.21% after trading in a range of 8523.45 and 8561.35. There were 28 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Asian Paints up by 3.99%, Ultratech Cement up by 2.19%, Coal India up by 2.05%, HDFC up by 1.98% and Tech Mahindra up by 1.51%.

On the flip side, HCL Tech down by 2.77%, NTPC down by 2.54%, Vedanta down by 2.11%, Hindalco down by 1.42% and Zee Entertainment down by 1.39% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Hang Seng decreased 260.97 points or 1.03% to 24,975.31, Shanghai Composite decreased 48.79 points or 1.29% to 3,727.13, KOSPI Index decreased 13.64 points or 0.66% to 2,040.29, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 7.11 points or 0.41% to 1,709.94, Jakarta Composite decreased 6.09 points or 0.12% to 4,910.65 and Taiwan Weighted decreased 5.8 points or 0.06% to 9,250.16.

On the other hand, Straits Times increased 2.05 points or 0.06% to 3,334.99 and Nikkei 225 increased 264.47 points or 1.31% to 20,376.59.

The European markets were trading mostly in green; France’s CAC increased 0.73 points or 0.02% to 4,712.27, Germany’s DAX increased 15.4 points or 0.14% to 10,906.03 while, UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 12.79 points or 0.2% to 6,522.89.