Benchmarks trim gains; trade continues in green

After getting a gap-up start, Indian equities trimmed gains but continued to trade in green in the late morning session on account of value-buying in blue-chips amid a firm trend in other Asian bourses. Sentiments got some support with the report that India's current account deficit may narrow to 0.5 percent of GDP in 2016 from 0.7 percent in 2015 owing to lower commodity prices, particularly oil.  Furthermore, with global headwinds hitting emerging markets as well, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said volatility has become a global norm, but India can certainly grow at 8-9 per cent in a friendlier global climate. However, investors remained cautious as volatility in the crude oil prices and the recent sell off by the FIIs may dent the sentiment. Meanwhile, Stating that monetary policies alone cannot change the world, RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan said the governments need to create an underlying framework for growth in the long term for the world economy. He also downplayed concerns about China and said that the good thing about China is that they keep making fresh efforts to resolve their economic problems.  On the global front, Asian markets snapped a losing streak in global markets on Thursday after Wall Street trimmed losses and oil paused after a steep fall, but analysts said sentiment was fragile and more losses could be in store. Overnight, the Wall Street witnessed a roller coaster ride with Dow Jones recovering in the last trading session. However, S&P 500 closed 1.1% lower while Dow Jones ended about 250 points lower. Back home, stocks from Banking, Realty and Power counters were supporting the markets’ uptrend, while those from Auto and FMCG counters were adding to the underlying cautious undertone. In scrip specific development, shares of Axis Bank have rallied after the bank reported a 15% year-on-year (y-o-y) jump in net profit at Rs 2,175 crore in the October-December quarter (Q3FY16) on the back of higher net interest income and other income. On the flip side, shares of Gati have dipped after the company reported 33% Y-o-Y drop in its net profit at Rs 7.67 crore for the third quarter ended December 2015.

The market breadth on BSE was positive, out of 2198 stocks traded, 1309 stocks advanced, while 771 stocks declined on the BSE. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 24088.38, up by 26.34 points or 0.11% after trading in a range of 24050.20 and 24351.83. There were 15 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.58%, while Small cap index up by 1.01%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Bankex up by 1.58%, Realty up by 0.74%, Power up by 0.65%, Capital Goods up by 0.50% and IT up by 0.27%, while Auto down by 0.67% and FMCG down by 0.38% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Axis Bank up by 4.67%, BHEL up by 2.59%, Tata Steel up by 2.29%, ICICI Bank up by 1.90% and GAIL India up by 1.62%. On the flip side, Tata Motors down by 1.72%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.66%, Coal India down by 1.33%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.30% and ONGC down by 1.29% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, signaling a new chapter of peace and prosperity and representing a significant success for patient diplomacy, India welcomed the announcement of lifting of nuclear-related sanctions against Iran and External Affairs Ministry said that India is keen to further develop its longstanding economic cooperation with Tehran, including in the spheres of energy and regional connectivity, with the fear of being sanctioned by the US and Europe, so far.

Indian firms have avoided from investing in Iran, which was discouraging New Delhi from claiming rights to invest nearly $7 billion in the biggest gas discovery ever made by an Indian firm abroad. However, now after the lifting of sanctions, India is making a renewed pitch for rights to develop 12.8 Trillion cubic feet of gas reserves.

Recently, following the UN nuclear watchdog’s finding that Tehran had curbed its nuclear program as promised, the US and the EU have lifted crippling sanctions against Iran.  Earlier, under the pressure from US and other western powers, India had cut down purchases to 11 million tons in 2013-14 from 21.2 million tons in 2009-10 from its second biggest oil supplier.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7318.30, up by 9.00 points or 0.12% after trading in a range of 7308.00 and 7398.70. There were 27 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Axis Bank up by 4.85%, Ultratech Cement up by 3.27%, BHEL up by 2.06%,, Ambuja Cement up by 1.98% and Tata Steel up by 1.98%. On the flip side, ONGC down by 2.37%, Tata Motors down by 2.05%, Idea Cellular down by 2.00%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.73% and Coal India down by 1.49% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green, Shanghai Composite was up by 0.51%, Jakarta Composite up by 0.34%, Taiwan Weighted up by 0.03%, Hang Seng up by 0.31% and Nikkei 225 was up by 0.11%. On the flip side, KOSPI Index was down by 0.12% and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was down by 0.32%.