Benchmarks continue to trade higher in tight range

Indian equity benchmarks continue to trade in very tight-band with a gain of around a percent in noon deals. Sentiments remained up-beat since beginning of the trade on the back of inflows from foreign funds and widespread buying by investors. Some support came in with a Moody’s Investors Service’s report stating that India will clock the highest growth rate of 7-7.5 per cent among G20 economies in 2015 and 2016. It has said that India is less exposed to global risks because of its more resilient economic growth and the impact of positive policy reforms momentum. Appreciation in the rupee too supported the sentiment. The rupee appreciated 21 paise to 64.91 against the dollar in noon deals, snapping its two-day falling streak.

Firm global cues mainly supported the sentiments with European counters making a positive start and trading with a gain of around a percent in early deals. All the Asian counterparts were trading in green at this point of time after the European Central Bank (ECB) signalled its readiness to inject more stimulus, helping the dollar scale a fresh two-month peak against the euro. Back home, on the sectoral front, fast moving consumer goods, banking and oil and gas witnessed the maximum gain in trade, while capital goods and technology remained the only losers on the BSE sectoral space. The broader indices too were trading in green terrain, while the market breadth on the BSE was positive; there were 1,432 shares on the gaining side against 958 shares on the losing side while 142 shares remain unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 27503.55, up by 215.89 points or 0.79% after trading in a range of 27456.23 and 27555.06. There were 23 stocks advancing against 7 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.24%, while Small cap index up by 0.32%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were FMCG up by 1.39%, Bankex up by 1.26%, Oil & Gas up by 1.20%, PSU up by 1.08% and Realty up by 0.93%, while Capital Goods down by 0.50% and TECK down by 0.35% were the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ITC up by 2.60%, NTPC up by 2.50%, ONGC up by 2.33%, GAIL India up by 2.04% and Axis Bank up by 1.75%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 2.79%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.71%, Wipro down by 1.48%, Larsen & Toubro down by 1.11% and Vedanta down by 0.95% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in its first global report on implementation of measures to simplify import, export and transit procedures, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), together with all four other UN regional commissions, has said that India is top trade facilitation performer in South Asian sub-region, while Singapore and Korea lead East Asia in moving goods effectively.

The UN survey report which provides data for 119 countries and serves as a useful basis for benchmarking and monitoring trade facilitation performance has said that India tops the South Asian sub-region, with Russia and Turkey leading in Europe and Central Asia. The top trade facilitation performer among these economies is the Netherlands.

According to the new report, the global average implementation rate of the ambitious set of trade facilitation measures considered in the report is about 53 percent. Developed economies average more than 75 percent implementation, while Pacific Island developing economies barely reach 26 percent.

The report outlines the extent to which key measures of the recent WTO Facilitation Agreement are currently being implemented, showing that a significant number of developing economies, particularly in East Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, have already acted on many of the commitments associated with the arrangement. As highlighted in the report, accelerating implementation of paperless trade measures will be crucial to reducing trade costs.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8307.60, up by 55.90 points or 0.68% after trading in a range of 8300.55 and 8328.10. There were 39 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Cairn India up by 3.08%, ITC up by 2.50%, NTPC up by 2.50%, ONGC up by 2.47% and GAIL India up by 2.24%. On the flip side, Idea Cellular down by 5.73%, Bharti Airtel down by 2.77%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.73%, Wipro down by 1.53% and Larsen & Toubro down by 1.19% were the top losers.

All the Asian market were trading in green; FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 6.01 points or 0.35% to 1,711.10, KOSPI Index gained 17.4 points or 0.86% to 2,040.40, Shanghai Composite surged 45.84 points or 1.36% to 3,414.58, Jakarta Composite jumped 60.16 points or 1.31% to 4,644.72, Taiwan Weighted added 65.35 points or 0.76% to 8,673.81, Hang Seng strengthened 315.27 points or 1.38% to 23,160.64 and Nikkei 225 was up by 389.43 points or 2.11% to 18,825.30.

European Markets were trading in the green; Germany’s DAX gained 1.04%, France’s CAC added 1.01% and UK’s FTSE was up by 0.49%.