Benchmarks reverse gears, enters into positive territory

Bouncing back from day's low, benchmark equity indices were trading firmly in green, with gains of over a quarter percent, which took Sensex above the psychological 25,700 level and Nifty above its crucial 7,800 mark. The broader markets outperformed benchmarks with the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices rising over half a percent. Sentiments got a boost with industrial production expanding at better-than-estimated 4.2 per cent in July this year compared to the same month last year as manufacturing activity and offtake of capital goods improved. Some support also came with the report of Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers meeting on Tuesday to finalise the model legislations that have to be approved by state legislatures for rollout of the Goods and Services Tax (GST). Investors would watch out for the August consumer price index (CPI) data and wholesale price index (WPI) which will be announced later in the day. However, concerns over a slowdown in global growth, especially China, a possible hike in interest rate by the US Federal Reserve (US Fed) and slow pace of reforms in the Indian context saw the foreign institutional investors (FIIs) pull out nearly $2.5 billion, or around Rs 16,700 crore in August, weighed on the sentiments.

On global front, Asian shares came under pressure after Chinese markets were hit by soft economic data, while the dollar sagged as investors questioned whether the US Federal Reserve will be confident enough to raise rates for the first time in almost a decade. Back home, Indian rupee recovered 14 paise to 66.40 against the dollar in early trade on fresh selling of the US currency by exporters and banks amid positive economic data.

Back on street, all BSE sectoral indices were trading in the green, among them, realty index gained the most by 1.47 per cent, followed by Power 1.45 per cent, Metal 1.21 per cent and PSU 1 per cent. In scrip specific development, shares of Amtek Auto surged in early trade, extending its Friday’s 54% surge, after the company said it is considering various means to de-leverage the balance sheet including selling of noncore business. Furthermore, Kesoram Industries has rallied after the company announced that it will sell its tyre business at Haridwar to JK Tyre & Industries and JK Asia Pacific Singapore for Rs 2,195 crore.

The market breadth on BSE was positive, out of 2081 stocks traded, 1381 stocks advanced, while 638 stocks declined on the BSE. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 25711.06, up by 100.85 points or 0.39% after trading in a range of 25531.07 and 25733.16. 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 1.02%, while Small cap index added 0.79%.

There were no losers on the BSE Sectoral front, however, prominent gainers on the BSE Sectoral front were Realty up by 1.47%, Power up by 1.45%, Metal up by 1.21%, PSU up by 1.00% and Bankex up by 0.94%

The top gainers on the Sensex were NTPC up by 2.80%, Tata Steel up by 2.27%, Axis Bank up by 1.95%, Wipro up by 1.52% and GAIL India up by 1.42%. On the flip side, ONGC down by 0.42%, Reliance Industries down by 0.35%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.31%, Hero MotoCorp down by 0.23% and Bajaj Auto down by 0.15% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) has cleared 14 foreign investment proposals including Shyam Sistema Teleservices, IIFL Holdings, Eros International Media, Indian Rotorcraft, AGS Transact Technologies and O-Zone Networks, out of 23 FDI proposals considered in its meeting chaired by Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das.

FIPB has however deferred five FDI proposals including that of Reliance Globalcom, Firefly Networks, Apollo Hospitals and Aegon Religare Life Insurance, while four foreign investment proposals were rejected.

As per the data of Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), in the financial year 2015, FDI grew 27 percent year-on- year to $30.93 billion as compared to $24.29 billion in financial year 2014. In the last financial year, FIPB had received 350 proposals and in 11 meetings cleared 241 of them.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7817.50, up by 28.20 points or 0.36% after trading in a range of 7761.85 and 7826.15. There were 38 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were BPCL up by 3.00%, NTPC up by 2.72%, Tata Steel up by 2.40%, Axis Bank up by 1.82% and Tata Power up by 1.68%. On the flip side, Cairn India down by 1.96%, ONGC down by 0.53%, Tech Mahindra down by 0.50%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.45% and Bajaj Auto down by 0.43% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red, though FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was up by 0.56% and Jakarta Composite gained 0.43%. On the other hand, Nikkei 225 was down by 1.5%, Shanghai Composite slumped by 3.2%, Taiwan Weighted lost 0.33%, Hang Seng declined by 0.1%, KOSPI Index was lower by 0.81% and Straits Times was down by 0.42%.