Markets recover most of previous session losses in early deals

With a positive opening Indian equity markets have recovered most of the previous session losses and are now trading with gains of over half a percent, helped by a rebound in beaten down bank shares along with index heavyweight Reliance Industries and Infosys. Meanwhile, the session was also proving positive for broader indices. Further, the rupee edged higher by 8 paise to 66.60 against the dollar at the Interbank Foreign Exchange in early trade today, on account of fresh selling of the American currency by exporters and banks that too supported the sentiments. However, Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan has said that implementation remains the major challenge for India's economy and if it can deliver on its promises the country will be 'the place to be'. On the sectoral front, traders were seen piling up position in Bankex, Power, FMCG, TECK and Auto, while selling was witnessed in Metal, Capital Goods, Oil & Gas, Consumer Durables and PSU.

In the scrip specific development, Bharat Bijlee surged 12% on the NSE after the company reported net profit of Rs 8.89 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2015 (Q3FY16) against loss of Rs 4.09 crore in year ago quarter.

On the global front, US markets were closed on Monday for Martin Luther King Day. Asian markets were trading mixed, following data that showed China's economic growth was mostly in line with expectations. China's economy grew 6.9 percent in 2015, just short of the government's 7 percent target and at its slowest pace in 25 years.

Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading below the psychological 7,450 and 24,450 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was negative in the ratio of 800: 868 while 83scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 24345.06, up by 156.69 points or 0.65% after trading in a range of 24247.23 and 24345.06. There were 17 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.20%, while Small cap index gained 0.27%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Bankex up by 0.73%, Power up by 0.40%, FMCG up by 0.12%, TECK up by 0.05% and Auto up by 0.01%, while Metal down by 1.31%, Capital Goods down by 0.79%, Oil & Gas down by 0.71%, Consumer Durables down by 0.54% and PSU down by 0.53% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were NTPC up by 2.19%, Tata Motors up by 1.85%, ICICI Bank up by 1.66%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.63% and Hero MotoCorp up by 1.58%. On the flip side, BHEL down by 2.92%, Coal India down by 2.41%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.80%, Asian Paints down by 1.66% and ONGC down by 1.40% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, emphasizing that the gap in India has always been between the promise and the execution, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Raghuram Rajan has said that implementation remains the major challenge for India's economy and if it can deliver on its promises the country will be 'the place to be.”

Elaborating further, Rajan said that we have enormous infrastructure projects planned. Some of them are in the process of being rolled out. We need to keep at it. We need to do it faster. We need to get these new roads, these new airports, these new railway lines built ... we know what we have to do. We just have to do it.'

Rajan also said that 'If anybody was to look towards a big source of demand in future it would be hard for them to miss India,' he said adding 'If our implementation matches our promise I have no doubt that in the next five or 10 years this will be the place to be so good to get in early'.

The RBI governor though said that that he believes the “implementation gap” which had plagued India in the past is narrowing but also pointed out that it will be some time before India can match China as a global growth engine. He also said that India needed to improve its infrastructure, human capital (knowledge base of the population), regulations and access to finance.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7401.35, up by 50.35 points or 0.68% after trading in a range of 7364.15 and 7402.55. There were 35 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were NTPC up by 2.30% and Tata Motors up by 2.18% and Tata Power up by 2.03% and Bharti Airtel up by 1.72% and Axis Bank up by 1.51%. On the flip side, Cairn India down by 3.34%, BHEL down by 2.74%, HCL Tech. down by 2.42%, Coal India down by 2.24% and Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.73% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading in red, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 0.76 points or 0.05% to 1,623.40, Taiwan Weighted increased 2.67 points or 0.03% to 7,813.85, Shanghai Composite increased 47.74 points or 1.64% to 2,961.58 and Hang Seng increased 111.55 points or 0.58% to 19,349.00.

On the flip side, Nikkei 225 decreased 121.44 points or 0.72% to 16,834.13, Jakarta Composite decreased 10.27 points or 0.23% to 4,471.00 and KOSPI Index decreased 2.5 points or 0.13% to 1,875.95.