Benchmarks continue firm trade; Realty, Power lead

Indian equity markets continued their firm trade in the late afternoon session on account of buying in front line blue chip counters. The sentiments 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. Traders were seen piling position in Realty, Power and Oil & Gas stocks while selling was witnessed in Capital Goods sector stocks. In scrip specific development, Aptech was trading firm after touching 52-week high on reports that Rekha Jhunjhunwala, wife of ace investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala had acquired 3.73% stake in the company from Aptech Investments at Rs 67.50 per share on January 4, 2016.

On the global front, the Asian markets were trading mostly in green while the European markets were trading on optimistic note. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading above the psychological 7,600 and 25,000 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was positive in the ratio of 1913:688 while 189 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 25003.65, up by 151.82 points or 0.61% 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 1.33%, while Small cap index up by 1.38%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 2.72%, Power up by 1.77%, Oil & Gas up by 1.42%, IT up by 1.28% and TECK up by 1.10%, while Capital Goods down by 0.13% was the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Motors up by 3.09%, ITC up by 1.91%, Tata Steel up by 1.84%, Sun Pharma up by 1.70% and ONGC up by 1.68%.

On the flip side, Cipla down by 2.22%, Bajaj Auto down by 2.07%, Coal India down by 1.56%, Adani Ports &Special down by 1.29% and Larsen & Toubro down by 1.17% 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 7617.25, up by 48.95 points or 0.65% after trading in a range of 7581.05 and 7634.10. There were 35 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Motors up by 3.10%, Tech Mahindra up by 2.77%, Yes Bank up by 2.45%, Tata Power up by 2.11% and Power Grid up by 2.10%.

On the flip side, Cipla down by 2.22%, Bajaj Auto down by 2.12%, Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone down by 1.65%, Coal India down by 1.65% and Larsen & Toubro down by 1.37% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading mostly in green; FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 5.12 points or 0.31% to 1,660.25, Jakarta Composite increased 10.23 points or 0.23% to 4,540.68, KOSPI Index increased 13.29 points or 0.7% to 1,917.62, Taiwan Weighted increased 41.91 points or 0.53% to 7,893.97, Shanghai Composite increased 61.41 points or 1.97% to 3,186.41 and Hang Seng increased 120.37 points or 0.59% to 20,453.71.

On the other hand, Nikkei 225 decreased 69.38 points or 0.39% to 17,697.96.

The European markets were trading in green; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 39.28 points or 0.66% to 5,993.36, France’s CAC increased 16.14 points or 0.37% to 4,419.72 and Germany’s DAX increased 72.81 points or 0.73% to 10,052.66.