Markets trade flat with positive bias in early deals

After falling over quarter a per cent in last session, Indian equity markets have made flat but positive opening and are now trading marginal gains, tracking sharp recovery in US stocks in overnight trades. Meanwhile, the session also remained upbeat for broader indices, which were trading with gains in the range of 0.30-0.70%. The sentiments were further supported by Indian rupee appreciating 4 paise to 67.25 against the US dollar in early trade on fresh selling of the American currency by exporters and banks. However, upside remained capped on report that United Nations has downgraded its GDP growth forecast for India for 2016 to 7.5 per cent from 8.2 per cent estimated earlier, largely due to slow progress in implementing reform policies. Meanwhile, foreign funds continue to remain sellers in equities worth Rs 1,222 crore on Thursday, as per provisional stock exchange data. On the sectoral front, traders were seen piling up position in IT, TECK, Realty, Power and Metal, while selling was witnessed in FMCG, Auto and PSU.

In the scrip specific development, Idea Cellular was trading higher on the Bombay Stock Exchange after the company announced the launch of world class high-speed 4G LTE services in three more telecom service areas expanding its 4G offering to 7 circles.

On the global front, US markets closed higher as a rebound in oil prices allowed the main indexes to claw back much of the steep fall seen in the previous session. Asian markets were trading in red tracking the positive lead overnight from Wall Street and the rebound in crude oil prices. However, some of the markets have pared their initial gains after crude oil prices slipped in early Asian trades.

Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading below the psychological 7,500 and 24,800 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was positive in the ratio of 1161: 617 while 92 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 24819.19, up by 46.22 points or 0.19% after trading in a range of 24771.54 and 24912.64. There were 10 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.38%, while Small cap index up by 0.70%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 0.80%, TECK up by 0.68%, Realty up by 0.58%, Power up by 0.27% and Metal up by 0.21%, while FMCG down by 0.19%, Auto down by 0.12% and PSU down by 0.04% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Infosys up by 1.92%, Reliance Industries up by 1.53%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.42%, Dr. Reddys Lab up by 0.87% and Sun Pharma Inds. up by 0.64%. On the flip side, ONGC down by 1.69%, Tata Motors down by 1.34%, GAIL India down by 1.31%, Bajaj Auto down by 1.01% and Wipro down by 0.95% were the top losers. 

Meanwhile, United Nations has downgraded its GDP growth forecast for India for 2016 to 7.5 per cent from 8.2 per cent estimated earlier amid slow progress in implementing reform policies proposed by the new administration. United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) in its report has said that the potential for even higher economic growth in some other major economies in the region has been held back due to slow progress in implementing reform policies. UN has said that implementation of such reforms can lead to significant growth acceleration in India.

The UN report further highlighted that instead of any significant acceleration, India is forecast to record growth that is largely unchanged from that recorded in 2014. In the year 2015, India is expected to see better growth compared to China, but the higher rate is due to a change in the methodology of computing GDP in recent years rather than an increase in the growth rate. ESCAP says that China is expected to grow at 6.5 per cent in 2016, lower from 6.8 per cent estimated earlier.

The report notified that despite expectations of expedient implementation by new administrations, India has already undertaken a number of significant economic reforms. These include reform of land acquisition and labour laws and establishment of a nationwide goods and services tax. It further stated that there have been delays in instituting some major reforms which had been expected. It also stated that the government eased restrictions on foreign direct investment and introduced online services to enhance the business environment.

Meanwhile, the government recently lowered its economic growth forecast for 2015-16 to 7-7.5 per cent from 8.1-8.5 per cent. UN said that Indian government had considerable success in improving financial inclusion, which will help to spur domestic consumption.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7545.90, up by 9.10 points or 0.12% after trading in a range of 7531.00 and 7566.50. There were 20 stocks advancing against 28 stocks declining on the index while 2 stocks remained unchanged.

The top gainers on Nifty were Infosys up by 1.64%, Reliance Industries up by 1.55%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.55%, Idea Cellular up by 1.38% and Dr. Reddys Lab up by 0.96%. On the flip side, GAIL India down by 1.43%, ONGC down by 1.08%, HCL Tech. down by 1.02%, Wipro down by 0.99% and Bajaj Auto down by 0.87% were the top losers

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 4.86 points or 0.3% to 1,638.30, Jakarta Composite increased 17.87 points or 0.4% to 4,531.05, Taiwan Weighted increased 38.57 points or 0.5% to 7,781.45 and Nikkei 225 increased 126.27 points or 0.73% to 17,367.22.

On the flip side, Hang Seng decreased 136.63 points or 0.69% to 19,680.78, Shanghai Composite decreased 44.52 points or 1.48% to 2,963.13 and KOSPI Index decreased 11.33 points or 0.6% to 1,888.68.