Benchmarks continue firm trade; Realty, Metal lead

Indian equity markets added gains to continue firm trade in the late afternoon session on hopes of the passage of the crucial GST bill during the winter session of the Parliament. Besides, a firming trend in overseas markets on easing tensions over Turkey’s shooting down of a Russian warplane and broadly upbeat US economic data also supported the upside. Some support also came with the report that India's crude oil import bill is likely to dip by 35 per cent to $73 billion this fiscal as global energy prices slumped on weak demand. However, gains remained capped on report that foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 540.12 crore on November 24, 2015. On the global front, European shares edged higher in early deals on Thursday, with a solid quarterly report from Infineon and gains among mining stocks on a rebound in metal prices providing support. Further, Asian markets were trading mostly higher, on growing bets that the European Central Bank was gearing up to deliver further stimulus steps to keep the euro under pressure. Back home, traders were seen piling position mostly in Realty, Metal and PSU stocks. In scrip specific development, shares of DLF have surged after the company’s promoters have bought over two million shares of the company through open market transactions for nearly Rs 25 crore. Furthermore, Sun Pharmaceutical has rallied after the drug maker said that it has shelved plans to invest in wind energy project in the United States (US) following investor concerns.

The market breadth on BSE was positive, out of 2799 stocks traded, 1580 stocks advanced, while 1011 stocks declined on the BSE. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 25956.56, up by 180.82 points or 0.70% after trading in a range of 25769.81 and 25989.52. 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 0.30%, while Small cap index up by 0.47%.

There were no losers on the BSE Sectoral front, however, prominent gainers were Realty up by 2.03%, Metal up by 1.64%, PSU up by 1.03%, TECK up by 0.95% and Consumer Durables up by 0.81%

The top gainers on the Sensex were Sun Pharma Inds. up by 4.03%, Tata Motors up by 3.63%, Coal India up by 2.30%, GAIL India up by 1.97% and Tata Steel up by 1.83%. On the flip side, Dr. Reddys Lab down by 7.67%, Lupin down by 0.86%, Bajaj Auto down by 0.60%, TCS down by 0.51% and Maruti Suzuki down by 0.19% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in order to boost export of gems and jewellery sector, Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has urged the Finance Ministry to consider reduction in the duty on gold imports to 2 per cent from 10 per cent. She further said that the gems and jewellery sector has been very badly affected and is finding it difficult to compete in the global market because of 10 per cent duty on gold imports.

However, the minister added the Finance Ministry may look at the current account deficit (CAD) position before taking decision on the proposal as the higher import of the yellow metal has adverse bearing on India's CAD. Current account deficit happens when value of import of goods and services is more than that of exports. In the previous fiscal 2014-15, the CAD shrank to 1.3 per cent of GDP ($27.5 billion) from 1.7 per cent ($32.4 billion) in 2013-14.

The government data suggest the country’s gold imports reduced to almost half in September this year to $2 billion, as against $3.783 billion in the year-ago period. Besides, labour intensive gems and jewellery exports in October dipped by about 13 per cent to $3.48 billion. India is the largest importer of gold in the world, which mainly caters to the demand of the jewellery industry.  On the flip side, highlighting the government’s efforts on the country's overall exports, Sitharaman said the government has announced benefits such as 3 per cent interest subsidy and enhanced duty drawback rates to push exports. She further said that the Commerce Secretary is going around to all the states to talk with the state industries to discuss ways to enhance exports. The ministry is working on ways to engage more with the states to boost the outbound shipments.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7885.50, up by 53.90 points or 0.69% after trading in a range of 7832.00 and 7895.00. There were 38 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Sun Pharma up by 4.32%, Tata Motors up by 3.69%, Idea Cellular up by 2.75%, Zee Entertainment up by 2.51% and Coal India up by 2.30%. On the flip side, Dr. Reddys Lab down by 7.64%, Lupin down by 0.96%, Cairn India down by 0.90%, Bajaj Auto down by 0.66% and TCS down by 0.48% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Hang Seng was up by 0.05%, KOSPI Index up by 1.06%, Jakarta Composite up by 0.29%, Nikkei 225 up by 0.49% and Taiwan Weighted was up by 1.18%. On the flip side, Shanghai Composite was down by 0.35% and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was down by 0.01%.

European markets were trading in green; Germany’s DAX was up by 0.32%, France’s CAC up by 0.36% and UK’s FTSE 100 was up by 0.65%.