Markets trade near highs of the day

Indian equity markets gradually moving up are trading near the high points of the day, after the US Fed Reserve decided to keep the interest rates unchanged. Both the benchmarks are trading higher by over one and half a percent. Traders were also getting support after Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s statement that inflation and deficit are under control. Furthermore, the appreciation in the rupee too supported sentiment. The rupee strengthened by 49 paise to 65.96 against the US dollar in noon trade today at the Interbank Foreign Exchange after the American currency tumbled against major world currencies. In scrip specific development, share of National Buildings Construction Corporation (NBCC) was trading up by over 2% after the company said it is foraying into e-commerce business. 8K Miles Software is trading up by over 1% after the company announced the acquisition of US-based NexAge Technologies USA Inc.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 26408.77, up by 444.80 points or 1.71% after trading in a range of 26130.36 and 26430.78. There were 24 stocks advancing against 6 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 1.66%, while Small cap index gained 1.46%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 3.71%, Bankex up by 3.34%, PSU up by 1.96%, Power up by 1.54% and Capital Goods up by 1.54%, while FMCG down by 0.04% was the losing index on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Axis Bank up by 4.97%, ICICI Bank up by 3.77%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 3.59%, SBI up by 3.53% and Lupin up by 3.03%. On the flip side, Tata Motors down by 2.31%, GAIL India down by 1.40%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.15%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.96% and Bajaj Auto down by 0.27% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, global credit rating agency Moody's has said that the imposition of a safeguard duty on certain categories of hot-rolled coil steel imported into the country is credit positive for Indian steel producers because the duty will support domestic steel prices, improve producers profitability and their leverage metrics.

Moody's Investors Service in its report said that domestic prices fell 25 percent between June 2014 and June 2015 owing to a 57 percent increase in cheaper imports, one third of which came from China, adding that the safeguard duty and a depreciating rupee will provide a stabilising impact on domestic prices and demand-supply equations. It added that the weak rupee makes steel imports more expensive and therefore, helps domestic steel producers indirectly.

The report further highlighted that surging imports, especially from China, South Korea and Japan, have resulted in an imbalance between the supply and demand of steel in India and led to a sharp drop in prices. Earlier the government had announced a 20% safeguard duty on hot-rolled flat products of non-alloy and other alloy steel, in coils of a width of 600 mm or more, effective September 14 and levied for 200 days. The levy will be applicable uniformly to the aforesaid category of steel imported from all countries, even the ones with whom India has an FTA (free trade agreement).

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8031.95, up by 132.80 points or 1.68% after trading in a range of 7958.75 and 8043.20. There were 43 stocks advancing against 7 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Axis Bank up by 4.88%, Bank of Baroda up by 4.30%, PNB up by 3.85%, ICICI Bank up by 3.81% and SBI up by 3.51%. On the flip side, Tata Motors down by 2.04%, GAIL India down by 1.55%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.34%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.07% and Cairn India down by 0.83% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Straits Times increased 13.5 points or 0.47% to 2,909.31, Taiwan Weighted increased 16.64 points or 0.2% to 8,462.14, KOSPI Index increased 19.48 points or 0.99% to 1,995.97, Shanghai Composite increased 27.46 points or 0.89% to 3,113.52, Jakarta Composite increased 33.67 points or 0.77% to 4,412.06 and Hang Seng increased 104.62 points or 0.48% to 21,959.25, while Nikkei 225 decreased 310.95 points or 1.69% to 18,121.32 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 6.25 points or 0.37% to 1,675.29.