Benchmarks continue firm trade in late afternoon session

Indian equity markets continued their firm trade in the late afternoon session on account of buying in frontline blue chip counters. There were bouts of profit taking that were restricting any major gains and consistency in the markets. Traders were seen piling position in Capital Goods, IT and Auto stock while selling was witnessed in Consumer Durables, FMCG and Realty sector stocks. In scrip specific development, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals was trading in red on reports that US court rejected drug firm’s patent plea for Finacea. Germany’s Bayer had sued Glenmark in 2013 after Glenmark filed an application to market a copycat version of the $95 million drug in the United States. Tata Communications was trading weak after the company reported its net loss which widened in the June quarter to Rs 33.86 crore compared with Rs 21.38 crore a year ago. The markets may remain volatile today as traders may roll over positions in the Futures & Options (F&O) segment from the near month i.e. July 2015 series to next month i.e. August 2015 series. The near month July 2015 derivatives contracts expire on Thursday i.e. July 30, 2015.

On the global front, the Asian markets were trading mostly in green, while the European markets were trading on optimistic note. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading above the psychological 8,350 and 27,500 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was positive in the ratio of 1555:1094 while 119 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 27526.66, up by 67.43 points or 0.25% after trading in a range of 27470.09 and 27609.29. There were 21 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.53%, while Small cap index up by 0.67%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Capital Goods up by 1.46%, IT up by 1.23%, Auto up by 1.07%, TECK up by 1.06% and Power up by 0.13%, while Consumer Durables down by 1.98%, FMCG down by 0.75%, Realty down by 0.49%, PSU down by 0.49% and Oil & Gas down by 0.44% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were BHEL up by 2.43%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.66%, Infosys up by 1.66%, Wipro up by 1.54% and Larsen & Toubro up by 1.26%.

On the flip side, ITC down by 2.75%, SBI down by 2.20%, Dr. Reddy’s Lab down by 1.51%, Reliance Industries down by 0.99% and NTPC down by 0.91% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Finance Ministry has asked the market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to consider the proposal of giving retail investors two days to buy shares which are being divested in an offer for sale (OFS) against a single day available to them at present, in order to attract more participation from retail investors.

The government could also explore the option of increasing the trading hours for retail investors on the day of an issue. The main aim is that the government’s holding should pass on to the public and not be limited only to a few institutional investors.

Currently an issue is opened for a day for both retail and institutional investors where the portion of shares is reserved for retail investors whose bids don’t exceed Rs 2 lakh in value. Apart from this, retail investors are allowed to buy the shares at a discount.

Earlier this year, SEBI had partially agreed to the suggestion of Finance Ministry and allowed the notice period for disinvestment to include one banking day in addition to a trading day to contain speculation in shares of a company coming out with an offer for sale.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8353.70, up by 16.70 points or 0.20% after trading in a range of 8338.45 and 8381.50. There were 29 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bosch up by 3.29%, BHEL up by 2.31%, Yes Bank up by 2.30%, HCL Tech up by 1.80% and Wipro up by 1.72%.

On the flip side, Tata Power down by 4.44%, PNB down by 3.17%, ITC down by 2.72%, SBI down by 2.14% and Dr. Reddy’s Lab down by 1.63% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading mostly in green; FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 0.12 points or 0.01% to 1,699.82, Straits Times increased 5.06 points or 0.15% to 3,286.15, Jakarta Composite increased 17.16 points or 0.36% to 4,731.92, Hang Seng increased 115.51 points or 0.47% to 24,619.45 and Shanghai Composite increased 126.17 points or 3.44% to 3,789.17.

On the other hand, Nikkei 225 decreased 25.98 points or 0.13% to 20,302.91, Taiwan Weighted decreased 19.01 points or 0.22% to 8,563.48 and KOSPI Index decreased 1.48 points or 0.07% to 2,037.62.

The European markets were trading in green; Germany’s DAX increased 0.7 points or 0.01% to 11,174.61, France’s CAC increased 20.53 points or 0.41% to 4,997.85 and UK’s FTSE 100 increased 32.62 points or 0.5% to 6,587.90.