Benchmarks trades in green in late afternoon session

Indian equity markets were trading in green in the late afternoon session on account of buying in frontline blue chip counters. The sentiments got some support after a poll showed that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is likely to cut interest rates for the fourth time this year at a policy review next week, as falling energy prices have cooled inflation and the economy has slowed. Traders were seen piling position in IT, TECK and Consumer Durables stocks while selling was witnessed in Metal, Capital Goods and Oil & Gas sector stocks. In the scrip specific development, Lupin was trading in green after foreign brokerage firm upgraded the stock to outperform from neutral, betting on its diabetes drugs. The market may remain volatile today as traders may roll over positions in the Futures & Options (F&O) segment from the near month i.e. September 2015 series to next month i.e. October 2015 series. The near month September 2015 derivatives contracts will expire today i.e. September 24, 2015.

On the global front, the Asian markets were trading mostly in red, while the European markets were trading on optimistic note. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading above the psychological 7,850 and 25,900 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was positive in the ratio of 1457:1028 while 126 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 25915.80, up by 92.81 points or 0.36% after trading in a range of 25670.96 and 25949.90. There were 15 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.48%, while Small cap index up by 0.72%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 1.90%, TECK up by 1.60%, Consumer Durables up by 1.47%, Auto up by 0.73% and FMCG up by 0.69%, while Metal down by 1.18%, Capital Goods down by 0.88%, Oil & Gas down by 0.52%, PSU down by 0.50% and Bankex down by 0.12% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Lupin up by 3.54%, Infosys up by 2.67%, Bajaj Auto up by 2.13%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.99% and GAIL India up by 1.55%.

On the flip side, Coal India down by 2.96%, ONGC down by 2.48%, Larsen & Toubro down by 1.60%, Tata Steel down by 1.45% and Reliance Industries down by 1.38% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, government's chief economic adviser (CEA) Arvind Subramanian, despite GDP growth seen at the lower end of an 8.1 percent to 8.5 percent target in the current financial year, has reiterated that India does not need further fiscal stimulus to revive the economy. Subramanian said that 'I don't think extra stimulus at this stage is necessary,' the government 'will and must' meet a fiscal deficit target of 3.9 percent of GDP in the current fiscal year.

Subramanian who was instrumental in Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s decision to soften the fiscal deficit target from an initial 3.6 per cent, to free up resources for a growth-boosting splurge on roads and railways, said this public spending along with consumption will be the “big engines” of the economy in the short-term as debt-ridden private companies could take time to raise investments.

He further noted that despite the shortfall in rains and export slump, the economy was still expected to grow at just over 8 percent in the current financial year, higher that private economists’ forecast, though he added that “The external environment has been much worse than what we thought. May be, we will be at the lower end of our forecast”.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7880.15, up by 34.20 points or 0.44% after trading in a range of 7804.10 and 7894.50. There were 25 stocks advancing against 25 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Power up by 4.11%, Lupin up by 3.66%, Infosys up by 2.80%, Zee Entertainment up by 2.53% and HCL Tech up by 2.25%.

On the flip side, Coal India down by 2.99%, ONGC down by 2.58%, Vedanta down by 1.68%, Larsen & Toubro down by 1.62% and Tata Steel down by 1.47% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Nikkei 225 decreased 498.38 points or 2.76% to 17,571.83, Hang Seng decreased 206.93 points or 0.97% to 21,095.98 and Taiwan Weighted decreased 70.32 points or 0.86% to 8,123.10.

On the other hand, KOSPI Index increased 2.46 points or 0.13% to 1,947.10 and Shanghai Composite increased 26.8 points or 0.86% to 3,142.69.

Stock markets at Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore were closed on account of holiday.

The European markets were trading in green; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 16.4 points or 0.27% to 6,048.64, France’s CAC increased 13.84 points or 0.31% to 4,446.67 and Germany’s DAX increased 76.02 points or 0.79% to 9,688.64.