Benchmarks continue to trade higher in tight range in noon deals

Indian equity benchmarks continue to trade in tight-band in afternoon deals with a gain of over half a percent as further fall in crude oil prices boosted sentiment. Some support also came with a survey report of CII ASCON, which has said that the economy is showing signs of a turnaround, albeit moderately, on the back of continued policy actions, implementation and enhanced business and consumer confidence. Buying in software and technology stocks too aided sentiments on the back of robust US jobs data, as most of their revenues come from exports to the US.

Global cues too remained supportive with European counters making a positive opening and CAC, DAX and FTSE all were trading with a gain of around half a percent in early deals. Asian shares recouped early losses and were trading mostly in green at this point of time, with China’s Shanghai Composite surging over five percent shrugging off weak export data. Exports in July dropped 8.3%, the highest decline in four months. Back home, on the sectoral front, realty, banking and software witnessed the maximum gain in trade, while metal and public sector undertaking remained the only losers on the BSE sectoral space. The broader indices too were trading in line with benchmarks, while the market breadth on the BSE was positive; there were 1,654 shares on the gaining side against 1,025 shares on the losing side while 117 shares remain unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 28381.85, up by 145.46 points or 0.52% after trading in a range of 28228.27 and 28417.59. 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 0.88%, while Small cap index up by 0.51%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.60%, Bankex up by 0.86%, IT up by 0.79%, TECK up by 0.73% and Healthcare up by 0.47%, while Metal down by 0.28% and PSU down by 0.01% were the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were HDFC up by 2.49%, Lupin up by 1.35%, Hero MotoCorp up by 1.28%, TCS up by 1.25% and SBI up by 1.08%. On the flip side, ONGC down by 1.42%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.20%, Coal India down by 1.07%, Sun Pharma down by 0.69% and Tata Motors down by 0.59% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, foreign direct investment (FDI) in services sector, which includes banking, insurance, outsourcing, R&D, courier and technology testing, has dipped 15% to $488 million during April-May 2015 as compared to $574 miilion during same period of last year, as per latest data released by Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP). Services sector contributes over 60% to the India’s Gross Domestic Product. Sectors including construction development, telecommunication and pharmaceuticals recorded decline in FDI during the same period.

FDI in services sector is expected to increase in future as government has relaxed FDI norms in insurance sector and has also focused to improve ease of doing business in India. Also the introduction of composite cap would attract more investors to the sectors. During 2013-14, FDI in the sector increased to $3.25 billion from $2.22 billion in 2012-13.

In the same period (April- May) of current financial year, the total FDI soared 40% to $7.45 billion Year-On-Year due to higher investment in trading, automobile and power sectors. Foreign investments which are considered crucial for the country needs around $1 trillion over five years to overhaul its infrastructure sector such as ports, airports and highways in order to boost growth.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8610.95, up by 46.35 points or 0.54% after trading in a range of 8564.45 and 8621.55. There were 39 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were HDFC up by 2.58%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.54%, Lupin up by 1.41%, TCS up by 1.27% and Hindalco up by 1.19%. On the flip side, ONGC down by 1.68%, Idea Cellular down by 1.53%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.46%, Coal India down by 1.09% and Tata Motors down by 0.86% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Taiwan Weighted gained 24.55 points or 0.29% to 8,466.84, Hang Seng rose 25.6 points or 0.1% to 24,578.07, Nikkei 225 jumped 84.13 points or 0.41% to 20,808.69 and Shanghai Composite was up by 194.12 points or 5.18% to 3,938.33.

On the flip side, Jakarta Composite decreased 46.2 points or 0.97% to 4,724.11, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI declined 31.35 points or 1.86% to 1,651.30 and KOSPI Index was down by 7.06 points or 0.35% to 2,003.17.

European Markets were trading in the green; Germany’s DAX gained 0.50%, France’s CAC rose 0.32% and UK’s FTSE was up by 0.61%.