Benchmarks trim gains; Nifty holds 8,000 mark

Indian equity markets trimmed their gains but continue to trade firm in the late afternoon session on account of buying in frontline blue chip counters. The sentiments were on optimistic note as investors are anticipating for a rate cut by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) at its policy meeting on September 29. Some support also came with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s statement that India, with 8-9 percent growth rate, can replace China as the driver of world economy. Traders were seen piling position in TECK, Infra and IT stocks while selling was witnessed in Realty and Consumer Durables sector stocks. In scrip specific development, Aurobindo Pharma was trading in green after foreign brokerage firm maintained a buy call on the company with an upside target price. NTPC was trading in green after the country’s largest power utility recorded highest single day generation of 733.12 million units, the highest so far in FY16, from its 18 coal based, 7 gas based, 8 solar and hydro power plants on August 27, 2015.

On the global front, the Asian markets traded mostly in green, while the European markets were trading on pessimistic note. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading above the psychological 8,000 and 26,400 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was positive in the ratio of 1376:1187 while 106 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 26432.18, up by 200.99 points or 0.77% after trading in a range of 26319.56 and 26687.33. There were 22 stocks advancing against 8 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.38%, while Small cap index up by 0.33%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were TECK up by 1.68%, INFRA up by 1.57%, IT up by 1.53%, Oil & Gas up by 1.02% and PSU up by 1.01%, while Realty down by 0.36% and Consumer Durables down by 0.27% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ONGC up by 5.27%, Vedanta up by 4.28%, Bajaj Auto up by 3.50%, Infosys up by 2.94% and GAIL India up by 2.71%.

On the flip side, Sun Pharma down by 0.94%, Lupin down by 0.69%, HDFC down by 0.46%, Larsen & Toubro down by 0.42% and TCS down by 0.39% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, NITI Aayog following the footsteps of its erstwhile predecessor, the Planning Commission will be bringing out a new integrated energy policy, which was originally introduced by Planning Commission, calling for decontrolling of energy prices. NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Arvind Panagariya said that India’s demand for energy could increase more than four-fold in the next three-and-a-half decades if no efforts are made on the conservation front.

In 2013-14, the Planning Commission after a major exercise, created India Energy Security Scenarios (IESS) 2047, with an eye on assessing and predicting India's energy needs, domestic supplies and imports, which was launched in February last year. Now the NITI Aayog has brought out IESS 2047 2.0, which allows for three GDP growth scenarios of 7.4 per cent, 6.7 per cent and 5.8 per cent in 2012-47 and offers a range of energy consumption projections. The Aayog working on an integrated energy policy will soon bring out a road map for developing energy security and a right pricing mechanism to promote competition and quality standards.

NITI Aayog’s interactive data tool on the country’s energy security aims to help policy makers and stakeholders make informed choices for better energy planning for the future. Panagariya said that this tool will be of particular use in the framing of the national energy policy being carried out by NITI Aayog. The Indian Energy Security Scenarios 2047 (Version 2.0) calculator, housed within the NITI Aayog, will suggest measures to shift the energy pattern in a way to ensure advancement of the country’s energy security considerations.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8007.95, up by 59.00 points or 0.74% after trading in a range of 7979.25 and 8091.80. There were 33 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ONGC up by 5.47%, Zee Entertainment up by 4.82%, Vedanta up by 4.33%, Bajaj Auto up by 3.83% and Cairn India up by 3.34%.

On the flip side, BPCL down by 2.16%, Bank of Baroda down by 2.02%, PNB down by 1.47%, Ambuja Cement down by 1.45% and Yes Bank down by 1.01% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading mostly in green; FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 10.91 points or 0.68% to 1,612.61, Jakarta Composite increased 13.54 points or 0.31% to 4,444.17, Straits Times increased 24.3 points or 0.83% to 2,969.73, KOSPI Index increased 29.67 points or 1.56% to 1,937.67, Shanghai Composite increased 148.76 points or 4.82% to 3,232.35, Taiwan Weighted increased 194.63 points or 2.49% to 8,019.18 and Nikkei 225 increased 561.88 points or 3.03% to 19,136.32.

On the other hand, Hang Seng decreased 226.15 points or 1.04% to 21,612.39.

The European markets were trading in red; Germany’s DAX decreased 77.14 points or 0.75% to 10,238.48, France’s CAC decreased 16.54 points or 0.36% to 4,641.64 and UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 4.74 points or 0.08% to 6,187.29.