Benchmarks continue to trade in green in late morning session

After getting a positive start, Indian equity benchmarks showed some strength in early morning trades and continued to trade in tight range in late morning deals, with the Sensex over the 27,500 and the Nifty above 8,350 marks. Apart from blue chips, broader indices too participated in the gain with both mid cap and small cap indices trading up by 0.66% and 0.87% respectively. The sentiments were on optimistic note with the report that oil subsidy during the current fiscal could be limited to just two-thirds of last fiscal and a little over 40 per cent of the all-time high during 2012-13 due to drop in global crude prices. The strength in rupee which extended its appreciation for the second consecutive session was also supporting the sentiments. However, gains remained capped with the report that Reserve Bank of India is likely to keep the benchmark repo rate unchanged at 7.25% in its policy review meet next week. Further, the market remains disappointed by the deadlock in both houses of parliament as the opposition continues to thwart any meaningful discussion on important reforms like land acquisition bill and Goods and Services Tax Bill.

On global front, Asian markets were trading mixed as the recent plunge in Chinese shares kept investors on edge and attention turned to a Federal Reserve meeting that might give clues about the timing of a US interest rate hike. Back home, Indian rupee strengthened by 6 paise to 63.85 against the dollar in early trade on increased selling of the US currency by exporters and banks amid firm domestic equity markets.

Back on street, stocks from IT, Teck and Auto counters were supporting the markets’ uptrend, while those from Consumer Durables, FMCG  and PSU  counters was adding to the underlying cautious undertone. In scrip specific development, Shares of SpiceJet have surged after the company has posted a net profit of Rs 72 crore for the quarter ended June 2015, owing to lower fuel prices, improved fleet utilisation and renegotiation of contracts. Furthermore, shares of Dalmia Bharat have gained after the company reported consolidated net profit of Rs 42 crore for the quarter ended June 2015, supported by an increase in sales volume and realization.

The market breadth on BSE was positive, out of 2213 stocks traded, 1479 stocks advanced, while 656 stocks declined on the BSE. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 27537.52, up by 78.29 points or 0.29% after trading in a range of 27470.09 and 27591.65. There were 16 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.66%, while Small cap index up by 0.87%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 1.18%, TECK up by 0.89%, Auto up by 0.63%, Capital Goods up by 0.39% and Realty up by 0.38%, while Consumer Durables down by 0.76%, FMCG down by 0.36%, PSU down by 0.16% and Infrastructure down by 0.06% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were HDFC up by 1.82%, Infosys up by 1.75%, Hindalco up by 1.66%, Tata Motors up by 1.24% and BHEL up by 1.24%. On the flip side, ITC down by 2.54%, Dr. Reddys Lab down by 1.16%, NTPC down by 0.91%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.84% and SBI down by 0.64% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in order to facilitate cooperation and exchange of information about standards formulation, testing facilities and third party product certification, among others, India has signed an agreement with Slovak Republic.

The agreement will allow exchange of scientific and technical information on rules and procedures for standards formulation, comments on international standards at different stages of development, rules and procedures for third party product certification and Management Systems Certification and technical information on certification activities.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) and the Slovak Office of Standards, Metrology and Testing (SOSMT), which is the central state administration body for technical standardisation, metrology and quality and conformity assessment in Slovak Republic.

BIS the national standards body of India engaged in harmonious development of activities of standardization, marking, and quality certification of goods has said that the objectives of this MoU were to facilitate closer cooperation and provide a mechanism by which BIS and SOSMT could work together towards the common aim of strengthening standardization, and conformity assessment activities and facilitate sharing of expertise and mutual trade. 

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8362.45, up by 25.45 points or 0.31% after trading in a range of 8338.45 and 8374.90. There were 29 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were HCL Tech up by 2.05%, HDFC up by 1.92%, Infosys up by 1.89%, Hindalco up by 1.80% and BPCL up by 1.41%. On the flip side, PNB down by 3.81%, ITC down by 2.60%, Tata Power down by 1.41%, NTPC down by 1.06% and Bank of Baroda down by 1.04% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; Straits Times was up by 0.04%, KOSPI Index up by 0.48%, Hang Seng up by 0.05% and Jakarta Composite was up by 0.23%. On the flip side, Nikkei 225 was down by 0.03%, Taiwan Weighted down by 0.12%, Shanghai Composite down by 0.21% and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI down by 0.04%.