Markets trade marginally higher in early deals

After a modestly positive close in previous session, Indian equity markets have made a green opening and on selective buying by funds and retail investors. Traders were getting encouragement with the global ratings agency Moody’s Investors Service statement that an increase in public sector expenditure and an upturn in capital replacement cycle are driving investment in India, and it will take a while for private investment to show a sustainable revival. Further, appreciation in Indian rupee against dollar too supported sentiments. The rupee rose by 3 paise to 66.46 against the US dollar in early trade today at the Interbank Foreign Exchange on continued selling of the American currency by exporters and banks. However, gains remained capped on reports that foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 106.78 crore yesterday as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges. On the sectoral front, traders were seen piling up position in Metal, Oil & Gas, Consumer Durables, Power and Realty, while selling wad witnessed in TECK, IT and Auto.

In the scrip specific development, Ceat surged on the BSE after the company and Italian tyre maker, Pirelli entered an exclusive partnership for distribution of Pirelli’s global range of motorcycle tyres in the Indian market.

On the global front, the US stocks ended higher on Tuesday reversing some of their recent losses, amid weak global manufacturing data, as factory activity in both the US and China slumped to multi-year lows in November. Asian markets were trading mostly lower, failing to sustain gains from the previous session, as data released overnight showed an unexpected contraction in U.S. manufacturing activity.

Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading above the psychological 7,950 and 26,150 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was positive in the ratio of 1191: 604 while 83 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 26197.23, up by 27.82 points or 0.11% after trading in a range of 26189.51 and 26256.42. There were 20 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.29%, while Small cap index gained 0.38%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 0.70%, Oil & Gas up by 0.63%, Consumer Durables up by 0.57%, Power up by 0.25% and Realty up by 0.25%, while TECK down by 0.23%, IT down by 0.16% and Auto down by 0.04% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Dr. Reddys Lab up by 1.16%, GAIL India up by 1.16%, Vedanta up by 1.06%, Cipla up by 0.89% and Coal India up by 0.89%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 1.04%, Bajaj Auto down by 0.82%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.57%, Infosys down by 0.52% and ICICI Bank down by 0.44% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Reserve Bank of India while maintaining status quo in its fifth bi-monthly monetary policy review, has said that despite constant weakness in global trade, the early signs of recovery are visible in some export sectors such as readymade garments, pharmaceuticals and electronics, in the current fiscal. These sectors together contribute about 14-15 per cent in the country's total exports.

However, RBI has excluded petroleum products stating that with global commodity prices, especially those of crude, softening further, both petroleum products and non-petroleum products exports continued to contract. Further it said that the global trade has been sluggish with declining demand and oversupply in several primary commodities and industrial materials.

Meanwhile, highlighting the trade condition it said that the decline in bullion imports despite the festival season helped narrow the trade deficit in October as well as over the financial year so far, moderating the current account deficit further. Net foreign direct investment (FDI), external commercial borrowings and accretions to non-resident deposits have risen in relation to last year. It also said that underlying liquidity conditions tightened in October-November with the festival season draining currency from the system and some slowdown in government expenditure.

Indian merchandise exports contracting for the eleventh straight month plunged by 17.33 percent in the month of October to $21.35 billion. The significant fall in exports is attributed to weak global demand, amid a tepid global economic recovery.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7968.95, up by 14.05 points or 0.18% after trading in a range of 7956.95 and 7979.30. There were 35 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Asian Paints up by 2.39%, GAIL India up by 1.55%, Dr. Reddys Lab up by 1.35%, Vedanta up by 1.33% and BPCL up by 1.22%. On the flip side, HCL Tech. down by 1.18%, SBI down by 0.72%, Bajaj Auto down by 0.72%, Infosys down by 0.67% and Bosch down by 0.64% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red, Nikkei 225 decreased 49.71 points or 0.25% to 19,962.69, Jakarta Composite decreased 10.6 points or 0.23% to 4,547.07, Taiwan Weighted decreased 9.55 points or 0.11% to 8,453.75, KOSPI Index decreased 6.29 points or 0.31% to 2,017.64 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 1.58 points or 0.09% to 1,680.79.

Shanghai Composite increased 12.01 points or 0.35% to 3,468.32 and  Hang Seng increased 50.53 points or 0.23% to 22,431.88.