Market trend remains muted; broader indices outperform

Muted trend prevailed at the streets with benchmarks failing to get any clear headway and trading in a tight range, with Sensex and Nifty protecting their respective turf of 28200 and 8550, but cautiousness was clearly visible in the markets ahead of the US monthly jobs data due later today, which will guide the interest rate cycle of the country. On the domestic front, capital markets regulator Sebi has started cracking down on offshore units of major global banks for their suspected role in manipulation of share prices in the Indian stock market. Traders were concerned with Rajya Sabha being adjourned again with no work amid protests by the opposition parties, although Finance Minister expressed his hopes of meeting GST deadline. The GST bill, which proposes to usher in a uniform indirect taxation system throughout the country, is stuck in Rajya Sabha which is unable to function because of opposition protests over various issues. It will be very difficult to roll out the ambitious GST on its targeted date of April 1, 2016, if the bill fails to pass in the Monsoon session of Parliament. Back on street, oil & gas mainly the PSU oil marketing companies were surging on slump in global crude prices. On the other hand rate sensitive realty and banking were suffering profit taking, while broader markets continue to outperform.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 28294.65, down by 3.48 points or 0.01% after trading in a range of 28234.09 and 28335.67. There were 12 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices trading in green were outperforming the benchmarks; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.31%, while Small cap index gained 0.49%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 1.22%, Auto up by 0.57%, IT up by 0.37%, INFRA up by 0.37%, Power up by 0.17%, while Realty down by 0.62%, Bankex down by 0.50%, Metal down by 0.36%, Consumer Durables down by 0.16%, FMCG down by 0.13% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ONGC up by 2.35%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.03%, Vedanta up by 2.01%, Tata Motors up by 1.33% and Reliance Industries up by 0.95%. On the flip side, Coal India down by 1.51%, SBI down by 1.06%, Bajaj Auto down by 0.82%, ITC down by 0.78% and Axis Bank down by 0.74% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, reiterating his commitment to renewable energy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has directed speeding up of the process of rural electrification and called for stern action against power theft, as he reviewed the progress in projects in energy sector. He also called for accelerating the implementation of renewable energy projects.

Prime Minister in a high-level meeting on various energy sectors, which was attended by senior officials from the concerned Ministries, NITI Aayog and PMO, called for speeding up the process, so as to achieve 100 percent electrification, state-wise, progressively, in a well-defined time frame. He reviewed the progress towards targets in power and coal sectors.

Recently, a report published by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), revealed a sharp 24 percentage points drop in the number of rural households using kerosene for lighting, and an equal increase in electrified households since 1999-2000, the date of the last such relevant survey. Presently, 921 projects to electrify 1,20,804 un-electrified villages, intensive electrification of 5,95,883 partially electrified villages had been sanctioned under the flagship Deendayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8582.85, down by 5.80 points or 0.07% after trading in a range of 8563.75 and 8595.95. There were 17 stocks advancing against 33 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ONGC up by 2.16%, Vedanta up by 2.09%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.01%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.99% and Tata Motors up by 1.28%. On the flip side, Bank Of Baroda down by 1.80%, Coal India down by 1.58%, SBI down by 1.37%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.02% and PNB down by 0.96% were the top losers.