Benchmarks make gap-up opening, Nifty reclaims 8,150 mark

Indian equity make have made a gap-up opening, coming out of their three-day losing streak, and are now trading in fine fettle with gain of over half a percent in early deals on Thursday, after weak US economic data buoyed the sentiments that the US Federal Reserve will not hike interest rates in near term. Sustained buying in mostly the key heavyweights along with broader indices supported BSE’s -- Sensex -- and NSE’s -- Nifty -- to regain their crucial 26,900 and 8,150 levels respectively. Further, Some support also came in with government measures to control inflation, as the Finance Minister at an inter-ministerial group meeting, in view of spiking pulses prices said that the government has decided to invoke the Rs 500-crore Price Stabilisation Fund that will be used to pay for transportation, handling, milling and processing -- aimed at reducing the cost of imported pulses. Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 121.75 crore October, 14 2015, as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges, too added positive milieu.

On the global front, the US markets ended lower as Wal-Mart skidded after issuing a weak profit forecast, dragging down other big retailers, and as JPMorgan slipped after disappointing results. The Asian markets were trading in green, shrugging off the weak cues overnight from Wall Street, as weak US economic data boosted expectations that the Federal Reserve will hold off on raising interest rates this year.

Closer home, most of the sectoral indices on BSE were trading in green, with prominent gainers being the stocks from Auto, Bankex, Realty, Oil & Gas up and Power counters. On the flip side, stocks from IT and TECK counters were the only losers of the session. The market breadth on BSE was positive in the ratio of 1202: 431 while 65 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 26939.15, up by 159.49 points or 0.60% after trading in a range of 26836.77 and 26959.42. There were 25 stocks advancing against 4 stocks declining on the index, while one stock remained unchanged.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.65%, while Small cap index gained 0.56%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Auto up by 1.46%, Bankex up by 0.90%, Realty up by 0.83%, Oil & Gas up by 0.80% and Power up by 0.77%, while IT down by 0.24% and TECK down by 0.11% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Motors up by 4.46%, ITC up by 1.58%, Lupin up by 1.41%, SBI up by 1.39% and Maruti Suzuki up by 1.37%. On the flip side, Hindustan Unilever down by 2.60%, Infosys down by 0.66%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.45% and Hindalco down by 0.23% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the spiking pulses prices to a record high has led the government announce different measures including use of price stabilisation fund and imports to cool prices and create a buffer stock. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley reviewing the price situation at an inter-ministerial group, as rates peaked to Rs 187-190 a kilogram in retail markets across the country, said that government is trying hard to contain prices by increasing availability via imports and urged consumers to wait for some time to see results.

After the meeting which was attended by Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu, Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari, Principal Secretary to PMO Nripendra Misra and senior government officials, Finance Minister said that the government is making efforts to ensure that people get pulses at a lower rate than international prices.

Jaitley said the government has decided to invoke the Rs 500-crore Price Stabilisation Fund that will be used to pay for transportation, handling, milling and processing -- aimed at reducing the cost of imported pulses. The government through MMTC has contracted to import 5,000 tonnes each of tur and urad dals, of which, 3,250 tonnes of tur dal has already reached Chennai and Mumbai ports and the rest will arrive soon.  Retail prices of tur dal rose up to Rs 181 per kg, while urad dal prices increased to Rs 187 per kg.

The Finance Minister further stated that the government has also decided to create a buffer stock of lentils mainly through imports and more quantity for the next few days will also be imported into the country so that the supply side problem can be taken care of which will have an impact on prices. It was also informed that besides imports, the government has taken several measures to check price rise, like imposing restrictions on holding of pulses stock beyond a ceiling and taking action against hoarders and black marketeers.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8152.80, up by 44.90 points or 0.55% after trading in a range of 8129.80 and 8161.70. There were 42 stocks advancing against 7 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Motors up by 4.51%, Zee Entertainment up by 2.95%, Yes Bank up by 2.15%, Adani Ports &Special up by 1.66% and Maruti Suzuki up by 1.48%. On the flip side, Hindustan Unilever down by 2.66%, Tech Mahindra down by 0.87%, Infosys down by 0.56%, Hindalco down by 0.51% and Bharti Airtel down by 0.46% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading in green, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 6.9 points or 0.4% to 1,718.04, KOSPI Index increased 25.03 points or 1.25% to 2,034.58, Jakarta Composite increased 44.12 points or 0.98% to 4,527.20, Shanghai Composite increased 45.8 points or 1.4% to 3,308.24, Taiwan Weighted increased 92.27 points or 1.08% to 8,614.78, Nikkei 225 increased 160.07 points or 0.89% to 18,051.07 and Hang Seng increased 442.05 points or 1.97% to 22,881.96.