Benchmarks continue firm trade; Realty, FMCG lead

Indian equity markets continued its firm trade in the late afternoon session on account of buying in frontline blue chip counters. The markets got some support after vice-chairman of NITI Aayog, Arvind Panagariya, made a strong pitch for 50-100 bps cut in the RBI’s key rates. Panagariya isn’t the only one from the government to build pressure on Rajan to cut rate. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) Arvind Subramanian, another reputed economist at the government, too have been making public comments citing the need for steeper rate cuts. Investors have started eyeing Index of Industrial Production (IIP) data for the month of July scheduled to be released later today. However, some caution prevailed ahead of the next week’s US Federal Reserve meet on interest rate hike. Traders were seen piling position in Realty, FMCG and IT stocks while selling was witnessed in Metal, Capital Goods and Infra sector stocks.

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 7,750 and 25,600 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was positive in the ratio of 1479:1009 while 111 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 25649.69, up by 27.52 points or 0.11% after trading in a range of 25602.45 and 25875.96. There were 14 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.10%, while Small cap index up by 0.55%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.11%, FMCG up by 0.69%, IT up by 0.58%, Consumer Durables up by 0.51% and TECK up by 0.38%, while Metal down by 0.91%, Capital Goods down by 0.48%, Infra down by 0.27%, Power down by 0.21%, Bankex down by 0.19% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ONGC up by 1.48%, Wipro up by 1.33%, Infosys up by 1.26%, HDFC up by 1.15% and SBI up by 0.86%.

On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 2.58%, BHEL down by 2.40%, GAIL India down by 2.16%, Tata Motors down by 1.09% and Coal India down by 1.02% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) will be taking 25 Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) proposals, in its 224th meeting which will be held on September 22; under the chairmanship of Secretary (Economic Affairs).The proposal includes those of Aditya Birla Nuvo, Cipla, Sun Pharma Advanced Research and HDFC Capital Advisors.  Among others, the board in its meeting later this month will also take up FDI proposals of Strides Acrolab Ltd, Multi Screen Media, IVF Trustee Company, Sharekhan, International Trade and Exhibitions India, Blue Star Infotech and Gulf Packaging Machines.

Last month, based on the recommendation of FIPB Government had approved 16 FDI proposals amounting Rs 1,152.53 crore approximately, including that of Edelweiss Tokio Life Insurance, Encore Asset Reconstruction Company and News Laundry Media.

According to the data of Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), during 2014-15 fiscal, FDI grew 27 percent year-on- year to $30.93 billion compared to that of $24.29 billion in 2013-14 fiscal year. In the previous financial year, FIPB had received 350 proposals and in 11 meetings, cleared 241 of them.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7789.05, up by 0.95 points or 0.01% after trading in a range of 7776.30 and 7864.85. There were 20 stocks advancing against 30 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ONGC up by 1.41%, HDFC up by 1.32%, Infosys up by 1.25%, Wipro up by 1.19% and Asian Paints up by 0.93%.

On the flip side, Tata Power down by 3.20%, BHEL down by 2.93%, Cairn India down by 2.61%, Tata Steel down by 2.60% and GAIL India down by 2.14% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Hang Seng decreased 58.13 points or 0.27% to 21,504.37, Straits Times decreased 40.15 points or 1.37% to 2,888.03, Nikkei 225 decreased 35.4 points or 0.19% to 18,264.22, KOSPI Index decreased 20.74 points or 1.06% to 1,941.37 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 9.77 points or 0.61% to 1,604.25.

On the other hand, Shanghai Composite increased 2.34 points or 0.07% to 3,200.23, Jakarta Composite increased 22.49 points or 0.52% to 4,365.75 and Taiwan Weighted increased 37.14 points or 0.45% to 8,305.82.

The European markets were trading in red; Germany’s DAX decreased 100.64 points or 0.99% to 10,109.80, France’s CAC decreased 35.21 points or 0.77% to 4,561.32 and UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 24.62 points or 0.4% to 6,131.19.