Benchmarks make positive start; Nifty reclaims 8000 level

After a mildly negative close in previous session, Indian equity markets have made a positive start and are now trading with the gains of around quarter a percent, which helped both Sensex and Nifty to reclaim crucial 26,250 and 8,000 levels respectively, on account of sustained buying by funds and retail investors amid positive global cues. The sentiment got a boost with Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s statement that notwithstanding a financial crisis being experienced by major economies like China, India “stands out” as a “shining star” in the global economy and is sustaining a certain momentum despite challenges. Some support also came on reports that foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 154.87 croreon September 21, 2015, as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges. Rupee opened higher against the dollar on Tuesday and was trading at 65.64, up 9 paise at the Interbank Foreign Exchange that too kept supporting the markets.

On the global front, US markets ended higher on Monday, though off their highs of the session after a sell-off in healthcare stocks capped gains by the main indexes. The Asian markets were trading mostly in green with investors resorting to bargain-hunting, tracking the overnight gains on Wall Street and European markets as sentiments improved after comments from U.S. Federal Reserve officials hinted at the possibility of an interest rate hike before the end of this year.

Closer home, most of the sectoral indices on BSE were trading in green, with prominent gainers being the stocks from IT, TECK, Consumer Durables, Healthcare and FMCG counters. On the flip side, stocks from INFRA, Metal, Power and Capital Goods counters were the only losers of the session. The market breadth on BSE was positive in the ratio of 1068: 449 while 53 scrips remained unchanged.

 In scrip specific development, Mindtree was trading higher by 4.16% on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) in the early trades after the company announced that it was selected by Molnlycke Healthcare to effectively manage its business operations using SAP application suite.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 26263.18, up by 70.20 points or 0.27% after trading in a range of 26244.98 and 26339.10. There were 17 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.22%, while Small cap index gained 0.50%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 1.25%, TECK up by 0.94%, Consumer Durables up by 0.79%, Healthcare up by 0.42% and FMCG up by 0.37%, while INFRA down by 0.54%, Metal down by 0.25%, Power down by 0.24% and Capital Goods down by 0.08% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Infosys up by 1.82%, Wipro up by 1.13%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 0.89%, SBI up by 0.69% and Hero MotoCorp up by 0.67%. On the flip side, Hindalco down by 2.63%, NTPC down by 1.07%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.58%, GAIL India down by 0.48% and Larsen & Toubro down by 0.44% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in its 2015 outlook update has said that growth in developing Asia will likely be slower than previously thought as a slowdown in China's economy hurts demand. The bank has said that developing Asia is now expected to grow 5.8 percent and 6.0 percent this year and in 2016, down from the ADB's July forecast of 6.1 percent and 6.2 percent. The report, which covers 45 economies, cut forecasts for some of the region's biggest countries including China, India, South Korea and Indonesia. The ADB said that the capital outflows could accelerate ahead of the Fed rate hike and urged policymakers to strengthen financial systems in the region to mitigate shocks.

As per the report India's growth is seen weaker at 7.4 percent and 7.8 percent for this year and next compared with its July forecasts of 7.8 percent and 8.2 percent, citing slower progress on major reforms, which has hindered investment, and sagging exports. The Chinese economy, which grew a revised 7.3 per cent last year, is now tipped to slow to 6.8 per cent growth in 2015 and 6.7 per cent in 2016. That's down from 7.2 per cent and 7.0 per cent forecast previously.

The ADB slashed its growth forecast for South Asia to 6.9 percent this year and 7.3 percent next year compared with the 7.3 percent and 7.6 percent estimates made in July. Southeast Asia's growth will be at 4.4 percent this year, same as last year and down from its July forecast of 4.6 percent, before accelerating to 4.9 percent next year. The report said that despite robust consumption demand, economic activity fell short of expectations in the first eight months of the year as investments and exports underperformed' in China The Manila-based lender has however said that it expects the pressure to ease once the recovery in the world's advanced economies picks up, strengthening global demand.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7999.20, up by 22.10 points or 0.28% after trading in a range of 7992.20 and 8021.60. There were 31 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Infosys up by 1.84%, Bank Of Baroda up by 1.41%, Wipro up by 1.14%, HCL Tech. up by 1.01% and Cairn India up by 0.91%. On the flip side, Hindalco down by 2.62%, Zee Entertainment down by 1.22%, NTPC down by 1.22%, Power Grid down by 1.06% and GAIL India down by 0.39% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; KOSPI Index increased 10.73 points or 0.55% to 1,975.41, Straits Times increased 11.84 points or 0.41% to 2,894.11, Shanghai Composite increased 20.48 points or 0.65% to 3,177.02, Taiwan Weighted increased 43.51 points or 0.52% to 8,350.55 and Hang Seng increased 158.52 points or 0.73% to 21,915.45

On the flip side, Jakarta Composite decreased 23.64 points or 0.54% to 4,352.44 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 5.41 points or 0.33% to 1,634.06.