Indian equities continue firm trade in late afternoon session

Indian equities continued its firm trade in green hovering near the highest point of the day in the late afternoon session. The firm trade was on account of reports that debt laden Greece moved a step closer towards a crucial debt-swap in order to avert an onerous debt debacle.  Traders were seen piling up positions in Metal, Capital Goods and Bankex sector. Investors have started eyeing on Budget announcement by Finance Minister which is scheduled on March 16, 2012 for further direction. Jindal Steel, Tata Steel, Sterlite, Sesa Goa, SAIL and Hindalco from Metal sector were seen trading in green pushing the markets higher. L&T and BHEL from Capital Goods space was seen trading firm pulling the markets up. ICICI Bank, SBI, Axis Bank, PNB, HDFC Bank and Kotak Bank from Banking counter were trading in green edging markets higher. Industry heavyweight RIL was seen trading with gain of around one and half percent giving the much needed support. However, M&M, HUL, Reliance Power, Wipro and ITC were trading in red exerting pressure on the markets. On the global front, Asian markets were trading in green barring Straits Times while the European markets were trading in green on optimistic note. The European Central Bank (ECB) kept interest rates unchanged as expected and lowered its euro zone growth forecast, but noted that with rises in energy prices, inflation is now likely to stay above 2 percent in 2012, with upside risks prevailing. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading above their psychological 5,300 and 17,400 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was in favor of advances in the ratio of 1818:871 while 121 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 17,471.48 up by 325.96 points or 1.90% after trading as high as 17,508.45 and as low as 17,325.82. There were 26 stocks advancing against 4 declines on the index.

The broader indices were too trading on a positive note; the BSE Mid cap index surged 1.82% while Small cap soared 1.36%.

On the BSE sectoral space, Metal up 3.74%, Capital Goods up 3.51%, Bankex up 3.19%, Realty up 2.68% and Consumer Durables up 2.60% were the major gainers, while there were no losers in the space.

ICICI Bank up 5.54%, Jindal Steel up 5.21%, L&T up 5.07%, Tata Steel up 4.86% and Sterlite Industries up 4.53% were the major gainers on the Sensex, while M&M down 0.71%, Wipro down 0.67%, HUL down 0.39% and ITC down 0.33% were the only losers in the index.

Meanwhile, trade between India and Australia is likely to go up to $21 billion in the next five years. This is almost double of its current levels and is a highly realistic target as per Australian High Commissioner in India, Peter N Varghese.

The two nations are likely to increase trade in areas of finance, education and tourism. Australia is interested in India's financial sector and some Australian banks have already got licenses from the Reserve Bank of India. The focus will be on trade finance rather than the retail business. The Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement between the two nations, when signed, is expected to improve market access between the two nations. 

Australia is India’s eighth largest trading partner and India is Australia's fifth largest. India’s ranking among Australia’s export destinations has risen from twelfth to fourth in the period 2003-04 to 2009-10. From A$6.54 billion in 2003-04, trade in goods and services between India and Australia reached A$21.01 billion in 2010-11. India’s exports to Australia were $2.73 billion, while India’s imports from Australia were $18.73 billion.

India is Australia’s largest export market for gold and chickpeas, second largest market for coal and copper ores and third largest market for lead and wool. Further, India’s major exports to Australia in 2010-11 were pearls and gems, jewellery, medicaments and passenger motor vehicles.

The S&P CNX Nifty is currently trading at 5,322.05, higher by 101.60 points or 1.95% after trading as high as 5,332.35 and as low as 5,291.60. There were 43 stocks advancing against 7 declines on the index.

The top gainers on the Nifty were ICICI Bank up 5.51%, Jindal Steel up 5.38%, Tata Steel up 5.20%, Cairn India up 5.01% and L&T up 4.88%.

M&M down 1.05%, Wipro down 0.90%, HUL down 0.66%, Reliance Power down 0.64% and ITC down 0.43% were the major losers on the index.

In the Asian space, Shanghai Composite climbed 0.79%, Hang Seng surged 0.89%, Jakarta Composite advanced 0.51%, KLSE Composite inched up 0.02%, Nikkei 225 soared 1.65%, Seoul Composite amassed 0.88% and Taiwan Weighted added 0.39%. On the flip side, Straits Times lost 0.08%.

The European markets were trading in green with, France’s CAC 40 ascended 0.16%, Germany’s DAX added 0.61% while Britain’s FTSE 100 jumped 0.09%.