Benchmarks continue firm trade; Bankex, Metal lead

Indian equity markets continued its firm trade in the late afternoon session on account of buying in frontline blue chip counters tracking rally in global markets. Investors overlooked weak economic data that exports fell for the ninth consecutive month, dipping by 20.66% in August to $21.26 billion on the back of a steep decline in engineering and petroleum shipments. Traders however lighten positions ahead of the US Federal Reserve rate decision. The two-day meet of the US central banks begins today. Traders were seen piling position in Bankex, Metal and Auto stocks while selling was witnessed in Consumer Durables, Oil & Gas and Capital Goods sector stocks. In the scrip specific development, United Spirits was trading under pressure after the corporate affairs ministry launched a probe against alleged irregularities in the books of accounts of the country’s largest liquor distiller and it’s now grounded Kingfisher Airlines. The ministry’s Serious Fraud Investigation Office has taken over the probe. The markets will remain closed tomorrow on Thursday i.e. September 17, 2015 on account of Ganesh Chaturthi holiday.

On the global front, the Asian markets were trading mostly in green, while the European markets were also trading on optimistic note. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading above the psychological 7,900 and 25,900 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was positive in the ratio of 1296:1153 while 119 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 25979.42, up by 273.49 points or 1.06% after trading in a range of 25816.50 and 26006.75. There were 27 stocks advancing against 3 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green and red; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.01%, while Small cap index down by 0.12%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Bankex up by 1.49%, Metal up by 0.81%, Auto up by 0.74%, TECK up by 0.72%, IT up by 0.61% while, Consumer Durables down by 1.27%, Oil & Gas down by 0.68%, Capital Goods down by 0.39% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel up by 2.85%, Bajaj Auto up by 2.75%, Hero MotoCorp up by 2.55%, Axis Bank up by 2.43% and Vedanta up by 2.17%.

On the flip side, BHEL down by 0.52%, Larsen & Toubro down by 0.46% and Dr. Reddy’s Lab down by 0.16% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Indian exports extending its decline for the ninth month in a row, plunged by 20.66 percent in August at $21266.31 million. The significant fall in country's exports is attributed to global slowdown and declining commodity prices worldwide. Though, the trade deficit has narrowed in August as compared with July this year, as the imports too declined. The trade deficit for April-August, 2015-16 estimated at $57516.09 million, too was lower than the deficit of $58218.04 million during April-August, 2014-15.

According to the data released by the Commerce Ministry, Indian exports in dollar terms stood at $21266.31 million against $26803.48 million during August, 2014. In rupee term the Exports valued at Rs.138384.74 crore which was 15.22 per cent lower than the level of Rs.163220.33 crore in the same period last year. Cumulative value of exports for the period April-August 2015-16 was $111094.47 million as against $132529.64 million,  registering a negative growth of 16.17 per cent in Dollar terms and down by 10.94 percent in rupee term at Rs 708933.92 crore, compared to Rs 796013.40 crore over the same period last year.

The main sectors which reported decline in exports include petroleum products which account for 18 percent of the country's total exports, fell by 47.88 percent, engineering declined by 29 per cent, leather and leather goods by 12.78 percent, marine products by 20.83 percent and carpet by 2222 percent. On the other hand, Gold imports rose by 140 percent to $4.95 billion in the month, compared to $2.06 billion in August last fiscal.

Meanwhile, Imports during August, 2015 declined by 9.95 percent, while cumulative value of imports for the period April-August 2015-16 too declined by 11.61 per cent to $168.6 billion, resulting in a trade deficit of $57.5 billion. Imports during August, 2015 were valued at $33744.28 million, down by 9.95 per cent in Dollar terms over imports valued at $37472.78 million. In rupee term the Imports valued at Rs 228191.26 crore, lower by 3.77 percent from Rs 219581.77 crore in August, 2014. Cumulative value of imports for the period April-August 2015-16 was $168610.56 million as against $190747.68 million, registering a negative growth of 11.61 per cent in Dollar terms and Rs 1076178.14 crore in rupee terms, down by 6.06 per cent at Rs 1145604.44 crore over the same period last year.

Oil imports which accounts for 31 percent of the total imports dropped by 42.59 percent at $7357.47 million, compared to $12814.77 million in the corresponding period last year. Oil imports during April-August, 2015-16 valued at $41502.37 million were down by 38.79 per cent than the oil imports of $67805.81 million in the corresponding period last year.

However, non-oil imports grew by 7.01 percent to $26386.81 million, compared to $24658.01 million in August, 2014. Non-oil imports during April-August, 2015-16 were up by 3.39 per cent at $127108.19 million, compared to imports valued at $122941.87 million in April-August, 2014-15. Gold imports increased to $4.95 billion in the month under review from $ 2.06 billion in August last year.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7907.65, up by 78.55 points or 1.00% after trading in a range of 7853.30 and 7913.90. There were 42 stocks advancing against 8 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Yes Bank up by 4.16%, Bajaj Auto up by 2.86%, Bharti Airtel up by 2.85%, Hero MotoCorp up by 2.66% and Axis Bank up by 2.61%.

On the flip side, BPCL down by 2.18%, Cairn India down by 1.34%, BHEL down by 0.78%, NMDC down by 0.54% and Asian Paints down by 0.51% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Straits Times increased 32.79 points or 1.15% to 2,874.73, KOSPI Index increased 37.89 points or 1.96% to 1,975.45, Taiwan Weighted increased 73.3 points or 0.89% to 8,333.29, Nikkei 225 increased 145.12 points or 0.81% to 18,171.60, Shanghai Composite increased 147.09 points or 4.89% to 3,152.26 and Hang Seng increased 511.43 points or 2.38% to 21,966.66.

On the other hand, Jakarta Composite decreased 20.33 points or 0.47% to 4,326.83. KLSE Composite was closed on account of ‘Malaysia Day’ holiday.

The European markets were trading in green; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 49.31 points or 0.8% to 6,186.91, France’s CAC increased 59.37 points or 1.3% to 4,628.74 and Germany’s DAX increased 87.84 points or 0.86% to 10,275.97.