Benchmarks trade range-bound; Sensex holds 24,900 mark

Indian equity benchmarks are trading in fine fettle but in a tight band in afternoon deals, as investors opted to buy beaten down but fundamentally strong stocks after four days of continuous slaughter. Sentiments also got some support from report that government has agreed to accept demands set by the Congress party to back a landmark tax reform, raising hopes a political standoff that blocked the measure throughout last year might be resolved. Appreciation in Indian rupee too aided sentiments. The rupee recovered from its three-week low by surging 27 paise to 66.66 against the US dollar in noon trade at the Interbank Foreign Exchange on fresh selling of the American currency by exporters and banks.

Global cues too supported the sentiments with Asian equity indices trading mostly in green at this point of time led by gains in Chinese markets. However, persistent worries about the health of the Chinese economy and a continued slide in commodity prices sent investors for cover. Closer home, energy shares were trading higher after the oil prices stabilized. The broader indices too were trading with traction, while the market breadth on the BSE was positive; there were 1,675 shares on the gaining side against 796 shares on the losing side while 186 shares remain unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 24917.37, up by 65.54 points or 0.26% after trading in a range of 24887.22 and 25083.55. 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 0.72%, while Small cap index up by 0.88%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Utilities up by 1.74%, Power up by 1.34%, Oil and Gas up by 1.29%, Realty up by 1.04% and IT up by 0.89%, while Metal down by 1.06% and Capital Goods down by 0.92% were the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Motors up by 1.79%, ITC up by 1.65%, Reliance Industries up by 1.48%, TCS up by 1.14% and Sun Pharma Inds. up by 0.96%. On the flip side, Coal India down by 2.68%, Cipla down by 2.68%, Bajaj Auto down by 2.28%, Larsen & Toubro down by 2.27% and Adani Ports &Special down by 1.86% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Raghuram Rajan has made out a case for more powers to banks to deal with stressed debt as the country does not have an efficient bankruptcy or corporate resolution system. Rajan saw consolidation as a solution in the medium term, saying premature mergers might lead to 'a potentially bigger problem'. Gross non-performing assets of public sector banks have gone up to Rs 3.14 lakh crore at the end of September 2015.

For new bank licences, Rajan has expressed hope that the old banks will feel compelled to start offering innovative products in order to match new entrants. In order to make banking sector more competitive, RBI has granted approval to 23 entities to operate as banks, including payments banks.

RBI has taken various steps to increase foreign flows into the country. He further added that at 7.4 per cent, India's 2015 third-quarter GDP growth was the strongest among large economies as the rupee was one of the few stable emerging market currencies in 2015; and a clear financial market liberalisation path is attracting foreign investors and making India's financial markets more sophisticated.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7589.15, up by 20.85 points or 0.28% after trading in a range of 7581.05 and 7634.10. There were 29 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index while 1 stock remained unchanged.

The top gainers on Nifty were BPCL up by 2.12%, Tech Mahindra up by 2.11%, Power Grid up by 1.99%, Tata Motors up by 1.82% and ITC up by 1.60%. On the flip side, Cipla down by 3.35%, Coal India down by 2.57%, Larsen & Toubro down by 2.38%, Bajaj Auto down by 2.22% and Adani Ports &Special down by 2.10% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading in green; FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 3.82 points or 0.23% to 1,658.95, KOSPI Index rose 13.29 points or 0.7% to 1,917.62, Taiwan Weighted gained 41.91 points or 0.53% to 7,893.97, Shanghai Composite surged 79.29 points or 2.54% to 3,204.29 and Hang Seng was up by 174.46 points or 0.86% to 20,507.80.

On the flip side, Nikkei 225 decreased 69.38 points or 0.39% to 17,697.96 and Jakarta Composite was down by 9.77 points or 0.22% to 4,520.68.