Benchmarks continue firm trade; Realty, IT lead

Indian equity markets continued their firm trade in late afternoon session on account of buying in frontline blue chip counters. The sentiments were on upbeat note after a survey report of CII ASCON, which highlighted 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. Traders were seen piling position in Realty, IT and Bankex stocks, while selling was witnessed in Oil & Gas, Infra and PSU sector stocks. In scrip specific development, Mukta Arts was locked at upper circuit limit on tie-up with Foxconn Technology, the world’s largest contract manufacturer of electronic gadgets including iPhone. Divis Laboratories was trading firm after it reported that its net profit jumped 45 percent to Rs 243 crore compared to Rs 168 crore during the same period last year.

On the global front, the Asian markets traded mostly in red, while the European markets were trading on pessimistic note. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading above the psychological 8,550 and 28,300 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was positive in the ratio of 1623:1195 while 123 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 28338.41, up by 102.02 points or 0.36% after trading in a range of 28228.27 and 28417.59. 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 0.61%, while Small cap index up by 0.35%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.82%, IT up by 0.74%, Bankex up by 0.66%, TECK up by 0.65% and Power up by 0.40%, while Oil & Gas down by 0.14%, INFRA down by 0.09%, PSU down by 0.07% and Metal down by 0.04% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were BHEL up by 2.65%, Hero MotoCorp up by 2.06%, HDFC up by 2.03%, SBI up by 1.37% and Lupin up by 1.25%.

On the flip side, ONGC down by 1.90%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.86%, NTPC down by 1.08%, Sun Pharma down by 0.98% and Coal India down by 0.73% 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 8594.65, up by 30.05 points or 0.35% after trading in a range of 8564.45 and 8621.55. There were 34 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were BHEL up by 2.93%, Hero MotoCorp up by 2.06%, HDFC up by 2.04%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.45% and SBI up by 1.30%.

On the flip side, ONGC down by 2.21%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 2.12%, Idea Cellular down by 1.47%, NTPC down by 1.05% and Sun Pharma down by 1.04% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Jakarta Composite decreased 34.78 points or 0.73% to 4,735.52, Hang Seng decreased 31.35 points or 0.13% to 24,521.12, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 28.95 points or 1.72% to 1,653.70 and KOSPI Index decreased 7.06 points or 0.35% to 2,003.17.

On the other hand, Taiwan Weighted increased 24.55 points or 0.29% to 8,466.84, Nikkei 225 increased 84.13 points or 0.41% to 20,808.69 and Shanghai Composite increased 184.21 points or 4.92% to 3,928.42.

The European markets were trading in red; UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 55.11 points or 0.82% to 6,663.38, Germany’s DAX decreased 39.46 points or 0.34% to 11,451.37 and France’s CAC decreased 14.13 points or 0.27% to 5,140.62.