Benchmarks add gains; Nifty surpasses 8,500 mark

Indian equity markets added gains and continued their firm trade hovering near the highest point of the day in late afternoon session on account of buying in frontline blue chip counters. The sentiments were on upbeat mood after Wholesale Price Index (WPI) inflation contracted further in July 2015 to (-) 4.05 percent from (-) 2.4 percent in June. It was ninth straight monthly fall in wholesale inflation. Traders were seen piling position in Realty, Bankex and Auto sector stocks. In scrip specific development, National Buildings Construction Corporation (NBCC) was trading firm a day after the company reported a 31.5 percent increase in its consolidated net profit to Rs 44.08 crore for the quarter ended June 30. On the global front, the Asian markets traded mostly in red, while the European markets were trading on optimistic note. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading above the psychological 8,500 and 28,000 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was positive in the ratio of 1705:967 while 102 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 28062.22, up by 512.69 points or 1.86% after trading in a range of 27643.20 and 28081.30. There were 27 stocks advancing against 3 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 2.01%, while Small cap index up by 1.49%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 6.19%, Bankex up by 2.49%, Auto up by 2.20%, INFRA up by 1.94% and Metal up by 1.59%

The top gainers on the Sensex were Hindalco up by 4.46%, Vedanta up by 4.31%, Reliance Industries up by 3.51%, HDFC up by 3.31% and ICICI Bank up by 3.14%.

On the flip side, Dr. Reddy’s Lab down by 0.94%, Axis Bank down by 0.21% and Coal India down by 0.08% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, government has cleared 23 foreign direct investment proposals amounting Rs 10,378.92 crore which include Catholic Syrian Bank and Bandhan Financial Services on the recommendation of Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) which is headed by Finance Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi. Kolkata-based Bandhan Financial Services which earlier received an approval from RBI to set up an universal bank, has got government approval for conversion of pre-existing FDI of 33.14% from an NBFC MFI into core investment company. The proposal of Bandhan Financial Services entails investment worth Rs 1,049 crore. Catholic Syrian Bank has got clearance for raising foreign investment limit in the bank from 49% to 74%. The proposal is worth Rs 1,200 crore and has recently got nod for IPO.

Besides, FIPB also cleared a proposal of Mylan Laboratories, an Indian arm of US-based Mylan Inc which entails investments of Rs 4,960 crore. The Board recommended the proposal for approval of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA)

Other proposals that have been cleared include that of GlaxoSmithKline, Alpha Pharma Healthcare India, Natco Pharma, and Den Networks. Meanwhile, the Board has deferred decision on 13 proposals which include Volkswagen Finance, Amar Ujala Publications, Eros International and Reliance Globalcom, whereas six FDI proposals were rejected including that of Centurion Laboratories, Jasper Infotech, Diabu Diamond Tools and BTL India.

India received $7.45 billion worth of FDI during April-May period of 2015-16 fiscal, up 40 per cent from $5.3 billion in the corresponding period of last fiscal.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8518.40, up by 162.55 points or 1.95% after trading in a range of 8381.20 and 8525.70. There were 46 stocks advancing against 4 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were PNB up by 7.00%, Hindalco up by 4.46%, Bank of Baroda up by 4.36%, Vedanta up by 4.26% and Yes Bank up by 3.79%.

On the flip side, BPCL down by 1.47%, Dr. Reddy’s Lab down by 0.92%, Axis Bank down by 0.38% and Coal India down by 0.01% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Nikkei 225 decreased 76.1 points or 0.37% to 20,519.45, Hang Seng decreased 27.77 points or 0.12% to 23,991.03, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 26.3 points or 1.62% to 1,595.32, Taiwan Weighted decreased 6.1 points or 0.07% to 8,305.64 and Jakarta Composite decreased 0.32 points or 0.01% to 4,583.93.

On the other hand, KOSPI Index increased 7.99 points or 0.4% to 1,983.46, Shanghai Composite increased 10.78 points or 0.27% to 3,965.34 and Straits Times increased 22.75 points or 0.74% to 3,114.53.

The European markets were trading in green; France’s CAC increased 20.45 points or 0.41% to 5,007.30, Germany’s DAX increased 48.23 points or 0.44% to 11,062.86 and UK’s FTSE 100 increased 21.14 points or 0.32% to 6,589.47.