Markets firm up to trade near highs of the day

The sluggish start of the Indian markets has gradually firmed up in the early noon session, though choppiness was still persisting but the benchmarks are near intraday high on the back of buying activity picking up on positive economic data, as industrial production expanded at better than-estimated 4.2 per cent in July this year compared to the same month last year with improving manufacturing activity and offtake of capital goods. Appreciation in the rupee to supported sentiment. The rupee recovered 16 paise to 66.37 against the dollar in early trade at the Interbank Foreign Exchange on fresh selling of the US currency by exporters and banks amid positive economic data. At present, Sensex and Nifty are trading above their crucial 25700 and 7800 levels, respectively.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed, as traders digested a slew of Chinese data released over the weekend and tread cautiously ahead of the Federal Reserve's policy meeting this week. Back home, in scrip specific development, shares of Just Dial is trading higher by over 11% after the company announced that it has launched its latest Android App on the Google Play Store for users. Amtek Auto is trading higher by around 19% after the company said it is considering various means to de-leverage the balance sheet including selling of noncore business.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 25723.02, up by 112.81 points or 0.44% after trading in a range of 25531.07 and 25749.23. 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 1.09%, while Small cap index gained 0.79%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.59%, Power up by 1.46%, Metal up by 1.26%, Bankex up by 1.06% and PSU up by 0.94%, while there were no losers on the sectoral front.

The top gainers on the Sensex were NTPC up by 3.05%, Tata Steel up by 2.72%, Axis Bank up by 1.82%, Wipro up by 1.70% and GAIL India up by 1.53%. On the flip side, Reliance Industries down by 0.66%, Bajaj Auto down by 0.43%, Hero MotoCorp down by 0.38%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.30% and ONGC down by 0.28% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, worried over the downward trend of the exports and to boost overseas shipments, which has been slowing since last December, the Government is likely to extend the interest subsidy scheme for exporters for the next 3 years. The ministries of commerce and finance are working on the issue and their decision is likely to be sent to Cabinet for approval.

Under the interest subvention scheme, exporters get loans at affordable rates. Loans at subsidised rates would help exporters to boost shipments as the country's exports have been in the negative zone for the past seven months, impacted by global slowdown, high interest rates. Earlier, eight sectors including handicrafts, handlooms, carpets, sports goods, and few engineering products were availing the benefit of this scheme. The scheme of 3 per cent interest subvention ended on March 31, last year. The Federation of Indian Exports Organisation (FIEO) has demanded it to be extended retrospectively from April 2014.

The Commerce Ministry is taking several steps to boost exports, which have been hovering at around $300 billion for the last four financial years. It is involving states in pushing the shipments. Besides, in order to reduce transactions cost for exporters, it has also taken steps towards promoting ease of doing business. High growth in exports would help boost manufacturing activities and overall economic growth.

Impacted by global slowdown, India’s exports contracted for the eighth straight month by 10.3 per cent in July to $23.13 billion, pushing the trade deficit to $12.81 billion. Exports registered a positive growth last was in November, when shipments expanded at a rate of 7.27 per cent. 

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7822.30, up by 33.00 points or 0.42% after trading in a range of 7761.85 and 7830.45. There were 39 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were NTPC up by 3.05%, BPCL up by 2.96%, Tata Steel up by 2.83%, Yes Bank up by 2.66% and Asian Paints up by 1.91%. On the flip side, Cairn India down by 1.99%, Bajaj Auto down by 0.66%, Reliance Industries down by 0.63%, Hero MotoCorp down by 0.43% and HDFC down by 0.43% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; Taiwan Weighted increased 1.47 points or 0.02% to 8,307.29, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 8.92 points or 0.56% to 1,612.52, Jakarta Composite increased 18.13 points or 0.42% to 4,378.60 and Hang Seng increased 48.55 points or 0.23% to 21,552.92, while Nikkei 225 decreased 215.1 points or 1.18% to 18,049.12, Shanghai Composite decreased 70.19 points or 2.19% to 3,130.04, Straits Times decreased 13.24 points or 0.46% to 2,874.79 and KOSPI Index decreased 11.56 points or 0.6% to 1,929.81.