Benchmarks continue firm trade; Sensex surpasses 27,500 mark

Indian equity markets continued their firm trade in the late afternoon session on account of buying in frontline blue chip counters. The sentiments were on upbeat mood after Moody’s Investor Service’s latest report showed that India is less exposed to global risks because of resilient economic growth and impact of positive policy reform momentum. Traders were seen piling position in Bankex, FMCG and Oil & Gas stocks, while selling was witnessed in Capital Goods, TECK and Auto sector stocks. In the scrip specific development, Shriram Transport Finance Company was trading in green after the central bank withdrew restrictions on buying of shares by foreign investors after foreign shareholding fell below the revised threshold limit of 74%. On the other hand, Idea Cellular was trading weak after its consolidated net profit dropped 13.06% to Rs.809.26 crore on 1.24% decline in total revenue to Rs.8,689.06 crore in Q2 September 2015 over Q1 June 2015.

On the global front, the Asian markets were trading in green, while the European markets were trading on optimistic note. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading above the psychological 8,300 and 27,500 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was positive in the ratio of 1376:1156 while 163 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 27509.81, up by 222.15 points or 0.81% after trading in a range of 27451.23 and 27555.06. There were 22 stocks advancing against 8 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.07%, while Small cap index up by 0.16%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Bankex up by 1.43%, FMCG up by 1.31%, Oil & Gas up by 0.99%, PSU up by 0.99% and Metal up by 0.87%, while Capital Goods down by 0.94%, TECK down by 0.35% and Auto down by 0.01% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ITC up by 2.65%, NTPC up by 2.19%, GAIL India up by 2.00%, ICICI Bank up by 2.00% and ONGC up by 1.97%.

On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 2.80%, Larsen & Toubro down by 1.73%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.71%, Vedanta down by 1.62% and Wipro down by 1.51% 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 8309.70, up by 58.00 points or 0.70% after trading in a range of 8289.40 and 8328.10. There were 37 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Cairn India up by 3.01%, ITC up by 2.65%, NTPC up by 2.35%, GAIL India up by 2.30% and ONGC up by 2.11%.

On the flip side, Idea Cellular down by 7.24%, Bharti Airtel down by 2.79%, Larsen & Toubro down by 1.89%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.77% and Wipro down by 1.71% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading in green; FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 6.72 points or 0.39% to 1,711.81, KOSPI Index increased 17.4 points or 0.86% to 2,040.40, Shanghai Composite increased 43.7 points or 1.3% to 3,412.43, Jakarta Composite increased 64.78 points or 1.41% to 4,649.34, Taiwan Weighted increased 65.35 points or 0.76% to 8,673.81, Hang Seng increased 306.57 points or 1.34% to 23,151.94 and Nikkei 225 increased 389.43 points or 2.11% to 18,825.30.

The European markets were trading in green; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 42.47 points or 0.67% to 6,418.75, France’s CAC increased 61.27 points or 1.28% to 4,863.45 and Germany’s DAX increased 135.38 points or 1.29% to 10,627.35.