Markers make positive opening reacting to earnings of Reliance Industry

After positive opening markets are now trading with the gains of around a quarter percent, on strong buying among index heavyweight Reliance Industry post better than expected Q2 results. The company reported a better-than-expected 12.5% rise in consolidated net profit at Rs 6,720 crore for the quarter ended September on back of higher refining margin. Further, some support also came with report that the government is likely to go for a fresh round of consultations on Goods and Service Tax with the Opposition parties after the Bihar elections. Additionally, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 436.79 crore on October 16, 2015, as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges that too added positive milieu. On the sectoral front, most of the sectoral indices on BSE were trading in fine fettle, with prominent gainers being the stocks from Oil & Gas, Healthcare, Realty, Consumer Durables and IT counters. On the flip side, stocks from Auto, Power and Bankex counters were showing some weakness.

On the global front, the US markets ended higher on Friday posting a third consecutive week of gains as investors appeared to shrug off lackluster corporate earnings and mixed economic data. The Asian markets were trading mostly in green, with some of the markets erasing early losses, after China's gross domestic product for the third quarter beat analysts' estimates. The world's second-largest economy expanded 6.9 percent on year in the third quarter of 2015, beating forecasts for an increase of 6.8 percent although slowing from 7.0 percent growth in the preceding three months.

Closer home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading below the psychological 8,250 and 27,300 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was positive in the ratio of 1110: 532 while 93 scrips remained unchanged. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 27302.09, up by 87.49 points or 0.32% after trading in a range of 27246.79 and 27334.87. There were 16 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.19%, while Small cap index up by 0.52%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 1.29%, Healthcare up by 0.73%, Realty up by 0.44%, Consumer Durables up by 0.31% and IT up by 0.24%, while Auto down by 0.67%, Power down by 0.15% and Bankex down by 0.08% were the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Reliance Industries up by 4.68%, Vedanta up by 2.12%, Lupin up by 1.33%, Sun Pharma Inds. up by 1.28% and Infosys up by 0.89%. On the flip side, Tata Motors down by 1.93%, Bajaj Auto down by 0.83%, ONGC down by 0.76%, HDFC down by 0.55% and Maruti Suzuki down by 0.55% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, putting emphasis on growing Solar Power sector, the government has sought views of developers and other stakeholders on the proposed amendment to the guidelines for setting up of over 2,000 MW grid-connected solar power projects with viability gap funding (VGF). These projects are being set up under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM).

The Mission has set the ambitious target of deploying 20,000 MW of grid connected solar power by 2022, aimed at reducing the cost of solar power generation in the country. Total investment expected under this scheme is around Rs 12,000 crore. The estimated requirement of funds to provide VGF for 2,000 MW capacity solar projects is estimated to be Rs 2,100 crore (Rs 1 crore/MW for open category and Rs 1.31 crore /MW for domestic content requirement category).

The Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE) in its statement has said that “Feedback from SPDs (solar power developers) and other stakeholders are invited on the proposed (amendments in the guidelines for implementation of) a scheme for setting up of over 2,000 MW grid-connected solar PV power projects with VGF under Batch-III of Phase II of the JNNSM”. The comments have been sought till October 23.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs had in June approved setting up of over 2,000 MW of grid-connected solar PV power projects on build, own and operate basis by solar power developers with viability gap funding under Batch-III of Phase-II of JNNSM.

The Viability Gap Funding (VGF) scheme will be implemented for setting up over 2000 MW capacity of grid connected solar power projects by solar power developers on Build, Own and Operate basis through open and transparent competitive bidding to provide solar power at a pre-defined tariff of Rs. 5.43 per kWh for the first year, with escalation of 5 paisa per kWh each year till the tariff reaches the level of Rs 6.43 per kWh.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8251.45, up by 13.30 points or 0.16% after trading in a range of 8239.20 and 8264.95. There were 20 stocks advancing against 30 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Reliance Industries up by 4.78%, Vedanta up by 1.93%, Lupin up by 1.34%, Sun Pharma Inds. up by 1.21% and Bharti Airtel up by 0.82%. On the flip side, Tata Motors down by 2.03%, HCL Tech. down by 1.85%, Zee Entertainment down by 1.36%, Idea Cellular down by 1.13% and Tech Mahindra down by 1.06% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 3.48 points or 0.2% to 1,720.30, Shanghai Composite increased 17.06 points or 0.5% to 3,408.41, Taiwan Weighted increased 23.75 points or 0.28% to 8,628.70 and Jakarta Composite increased 46.06 points or 1.02% to 4,567.94.

On the flip side, Nikkei 225 decreased 101.44 points or 0.55% to 18,190.36, Hang Seng decreased 34.22 points or 0.15% to 23,033.15 and KOSPI Index decreased 4.5 points or 0.22% to 2,025.76.