Benchmarks continue firm trade; Consumer Durables, Auto lead

Indian equity markets added gains and continued their firm trade in the late afternoon session on account of buying in front line blue chip counters. Traders were seen piling position in Consumer Durables, Auto and FMCG stocks, while selling was witnessed in Metal, Bankex and TECK sector stocks. In the scrip specific development, National Building Construction Company (NBCC) was trading firm after the state-run engineering and construction firm has been awarded the work to carry out work on feasibility study and entry-level activities under the Clean Ganga project for all towns and cities of Bihar on the bank of the river. On the global front, the Asian markets were trading mostly in red, while the European markets were trading on optimistic note. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading above the psychological 7,650 and 25,200 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was positive in the ratio of 1352:1064 while 178 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 25254.39, up by 104.04 points or 0.41% after trading in a range of 25075.54 and 25257.46. There were 19 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.19%, while Small cap index up by 0.41%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 1.24%, Auto up by 0.98%, FMCG up by 0.66%, Realty up by 0.58% and Oil & Gas up by 0.38%, while Metal down by 0.23%, Bankex down by 0.18%, TECK down by 0.12%, IT down by 0.07% and Power down by 0.02% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Hindustan Unilever up by 2.25%, ONGC up by 1.76%, Lupin up by 1.55%, Tata Motors up by 1.49% and Sun Pharma up by 1.22%.

On the flip side, ICICI Bank down by 1.29%, Vedanta down by 1.12%, Wipro down by 1.06%, BHEL down by 0.90% and NTPC down by 0.68% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, for the financial year 2016-17, the Department of Disinvestment is keen on having a less ambitious fund raising target of about Rs 35,000- 40,000 crore, through stake sales in public sector units. The issue will be discussed with the Departments of Expenditure and Economic Affairs, which will ultimately finalize Budget targets for 2016-17. However, the Department of Disinvestment is more optimistic about PSU stake sales in 2016-17, with a policy on strategic sales which likely to be in place soon. 

For the financial year 2015-16, Union budget had set a target of Rs 69, 500 crore from PSU stake sales. Out of which Rs 41,000 crore is to be raised from minority stake sales and Rs 28,500 crore through strategic sales. So far the department has been able to raise just Rs 12,701 crore

Notably, the reliance on disinvestment proceeds is unlikely to ease even next fiscal year, with the Centre facing heavy and multiple expenditure demands, including those for implementation of the Seventh Pay Commission recommendations and the One Rank, One Pension scheme for defence personnel. Government in its Medium Term Fiscal Policy Statement of Union Budget 2015-16 has outlined plans to raise Rs 55,000 crore and Rs 50,000 crore in 2016-17 and 2017-18, respectively, as disinvestment proceeds.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7670.05, up by 20.00 points or 0.26% after trading in a range of 7625.10 and 7674.50. There were 27 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bosch up by 2.49%, Hindustan Unilever up by 2.02%, ONGC up by 1.80%, Lupin up by 1.72% and Tata Motors up by 1.45%.

On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 3.99%, Idea Cellular down by 3.19%, PNB down by 2.37%, ICICI Bank down by 1.31% and Adani Ports &Special down by 1.02% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Nikkei 225 decreased 317.52 points or 1.68% to 18,565.90, Hang Seng decreased 35.48 points or 0.17% to 21,274.37, Shanghai Composite decreased 10.31 points or 0.29% to 3,510.35 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 0.76 points or 0.05% to 1,629.20.

On the other hand, KOSPI Index increased 5.15 points or 0.27% to 1,932.97, Jakarta Composite increased 7.27 points or 0.17% to 4,381.46 and Taiwan Weighted increased 33.19 points or 0.41% to 8,073.35.

The European markets were trading in green; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 64.4 points or 1.1% to 5,938.46, France’s CAC increased 74.74 points or 1.67% to 4,547.81 and Germany’s DAX increased 140.06 points or 1.38% to 10,279.40.