Markets trade in fine fettle in early noon deals

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade in fine fettle in early noon session, on the back of buying by foreign funds and retail investors, tracking a firming trend in other Asian markets following overnight gains in Europe and the US, after ECB chief signaled more stimulus before the end of the year. Appreciation in the rupee too supported the sentiment. The rupee strengthened by 24 paise to 64.87 against the dollar in early trade today, snapping its two-day falling streak on fresh selling of the US currency by exporters and banks amid sustained foreign funds inflows. Some support also came with report that the government is likely to meet its fiscal deficit target this year despite risks of shortfall in tax collection and disinvestment proceeds, as it may go for a small reduction in public spending.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading in green, after the European Central Bank signaled that it's considering more stimuli to revive the continent's ailing economy. Back home, in scrip specific development, share of KPIT Technologies surged over 11% after reporting a robust 69% quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) growth in consolidated net profit at Rs 75 crore for the quarter ended September 2015 (Q2FY16), on back of strong operational performance. Cadila Healthcare was trading up by over 2% after the company posted 40.56 per cent jump in consolidated net profit to Rs 390.91 for the second quarter ended on September 30, 2015-16.

The market breadth on BSE was positive, out of 2406 stocks traded, 1447 stocks advanced, while 834 stocks declined on the BSE.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 27498.01, up by 210.35 points or 0.77% after trading in a range of 27456.23 and 27555.06. There were 21 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.39%, while Small cap index was higher by 0.42%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 1.41%, Realty up by 1.28%, FMCG up by 1.20%, Bankex up by 1.17% and PSU up by 1.15%, while TECK down by 0.36% and Capital Goods down by 0.29% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were NTPC up by 2.77%, ONGC up by 2.64%, GAIL India up by 2.33%, ITC up by 2.01% and ICICI Bank up by 1.82%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 2.18%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.48%, Wipro down by 1.45%, Vedanta down by 0.90% and Larsen & Toubro down by 0.67% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, giving a momentum to ease of doing business the Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has cleared two ordinances for speedy settlement of commercial disputes in the country. It has issued an ordinance to amend the Arbitration and Conciliation Act and the another one to bring into force the Commercial Courts, Commercial Division and Commercial Appellate Division of High Courts Bill, 2015 pending before a Parliamentary standing committee.

Earlier in august the Cabinet had decided to bring a bill to amend the Arbitration Act to set a fixed timeline to clear arbitration cases but the bill was not introduced in the Monsoon session of parliament. The ordinance will give force to the provisions of the bill that provides for time-bound settlement of cases. Under the proposed amendments to the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, an arbitrator will have to settle a case within 18 months. However, after the completion of 12 months, certain restrictions will be put in place to ensure that the arbitration case does not linger on.

The ordinance will give force to the Commercial Courts, Commercial Division and Commercial Appellate Division of High Courts Bill, 2015. The bill is with the standing committee on Law and Personnel that will submit its report by November 30, after two extensions. This move will allow the Delhi High Court to transfer thousands of cases to the district courts of the capital, mostly related to property disputes, helping settle them faster and improve ease of doing business.

Once the winter session of Parliament starts, which is likely to commence after November 19, the government will have to seek Parliament's approval for the ordinances within 42 days/six weeks or else these will lapse. In its report submitted last year, the Law Commission had also supported amendment to the arbitration law to help India become a favoured destination for international arbitration, after Singapore and London. According to an estimate put before the Parliamentary committee which examined the bill, there are over 12,000 cases which will stand transferred to the lower courts.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8305.15, up by 53.45 points or 0.65% after trading in a range of 8300.55 and 8328.10. There were 36 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Cairn India up by 3.34%, ONGC up by 2.74%, NTPC up by 2.73%, GAIL India up by 2.49% and ITC up by 1.98%. On the flip side, Idea Cellular down by 5.43%, Bharti Airtel down by 2.23%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.54%, Wipro down by 1.53% and Vedanta down by 1.05% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading in green; FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 7.12 points or 0.42% to 1,712.21, Shanghai Composite increased 10.4 points or 0.31% to 3,379.14, KOSPI Index increased 16.73 points or 0.83% to 2,039.73, Jakarta Composite increased 60.16 points or 1.31% to 4,644.72, Taiwan Weighted increased 66.14 points or 0.77% to 8,674.60, Hang Seng increased 294.84 points or 1.29% to 23,140.21 and Nikkei 225 increased 425.72 points or 2.31% to 18,861.59.