Benchmarks magnify gains; Sensex recaptures 28,200 mark

Indian equity benchmarks continued to break psychological levels one after other and were trading jubilantly in noon deals, breaching their crucial 28,200 (Sensex) and 8,550 (Nifty) bastions. Barometer gauges managed to fervently gain from strength to strength as investors continued hunt for fundamentally strong but oversold stocks. Sentiments remained up-beat on reports that the seasonally adjusted Nikkei India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI)-a composite single-figure indicator of manufacturing performance came at a six-month high of 52.7 in July, from 51.3 in June. Sentiments also remained jubilant after Moody’s said that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is likely to cut the benchmark rate by 0.25% in its monetary policy review tomorrow as inflation is likely to remain subdued on the back of average rainfall and lower commodity prices. Appreciation in Indian rupee too aided the sentiments. The rupee appreciated by 19 paise at 63.94 against the dollar in noon deals, snapping its two-day losing run, on fresh selling of the US currency by exporters amid fall in global crude prices.

On the global front, European counters have made a cautious start with CAC, DAX and FTSE all trading in red in early deals. Most of the Asian equity indices were trading in red at this point of time amid jitters about weakening Chinese manufacturing data and the continued decline in commodity prices. Back home, there was broad based buying witnessed in the markets and apart from the blue chips, the broader markets too equally participated in the rally. On the sectoral front, consumer durables, banking and realty witnessed the maximum gain in trade, while oil and gas, metal and capital goods remained the top losers on the BSE sectoral space. The market breadth on the BSE was positive; there were 1725 shares on the gaining side against 884 shares on the losing side while 109 shares remain unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 28216.90, up by 102.34 points or 0.36% after trading in a range of 28071.37 and 28231.80. There were 19 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.99%, while Small cap index up by 1.14%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 1.74%, Bankex up by 1.47%, Realty up by 1.39%, Auto up by 1.19% and Power up by 0.93%, while Oil & Gas down by 0.71%, Metal down by 0.49%, Capital Goods down by 0.27% and IT down by 0.19% were the few losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were SBI up by 4.20%, ICICI Bank up by 2.58%, Tata Motors up by 2.47%, Maruti Suzuki up by 2.30% and ITC up by 1.44%. On the flip side, Larsen & Toubro down by 1.71%, Coal India down by 1.68%, Lupin down by 1.34%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.20% and Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.09% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha has said that India is aiming to be among the top 30 countries in the world in terms of ease of doing business, from its current 142nd position among 189 nations in World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business 2015 report.

Sinha said that the government is taking various initiatives, including e-biz portal, Goods and Services Tax, mobile platform for setting up business, and is working with states to improve ease of doing business. He also highlighted that India is already on a growth path and should aim to become a $4-5 trillion economy in near future from the current $2 trillion economy.

Recently, a team from the World Bank Group had visited India to collect data and information for Doing Business Report, 2016. The two member mission of World Bank had reviewed metrics relating to ease of doing business in India. Currently at 142nd place India with the exception of two parameters (Getting credit and Protecting minority investors), does not feature in the top 100 in the remaining parameters. Instead for metrics such as ‘dealing with construction permits’ and ‘enforcing contracts’ parameters, India ranks in the bottom 10 economies as per the ranking.

Government on its part highlighted measures including removal of minimum paid-up capital requirement for companies, only three documents required for exports and imports, removal of requirement of filing declaration of commencement for companies among others.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8556.80, up by 23.95 points or 0.28% after trading in a range of 8508.10 and 8563.75. There were 30 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bank of Baroda up by 6.76%, PNB up by 4.80%, SBI up by 4.39%, ICICI Bank up by 2.61% and Tata Motors up by 2.51%. On the flip side, HCL Tech. down by 5.34%, BPCL down by 2.13%, Larsen & Toubro down by 1.77%, Coal India down by 1.61% and Lupin down by 1.47% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Hang Seng decreased 203.94 points or 0.83% to 24,432.34, Taiwan Weighted tumbled 140.93 points or 1.63% to 8,524.41, Shanghai Composite declined 46.17 points or 1.26% to 3,617.55, Nikkei 225 slipped 37.13 points or 0.18% to 20,548.11, KOSPI Index dropped 21.67 points or 1.07% to 2,008.49, Straits Times shed 13.56 points or 0.42% to 3,188.94 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was down by 3.22 points or 0.19% to 1,719.92.

On the flip side, Jakarta Composite was up by 10.18 points or 0.21% to 4,812.71.

European Markets were trading in the red; Germany’s DAX lost 0.12%, France’s CAC dropped 0.06% and UK’s FTSE was down by 0.02%.