Markets come off the day’s high; still hold gains of over half a percent

Indian markets despite coming off the day’s high were holding major part of their early gains in noon trade. Some bluechips have lost momentum that was dragging the markets, also there was some concern with a poll conducted by global ratings agency Moody's Investor Service, showing that market concerns over India's economic exposure to external risks have risen over the past seven months. Also, there was a clear consensus on expectations of further weakness for public-sector banks, with 89% expecting single digit loan growth for these banks, due to capital constraints. However, markets were getting some support with gains in currency, which has strengthened on increased selling of the American unit by exporters and banks, apart from dollar's weakness against other currencies overseas. Covering-up of short positions in view of an approaching January expiry in the derivatives segment on Thursday too was influencing the mood. On sectoral space most of them were trading higher, however, select oil & gas stocks were witnessing a mild selling pressure, also there was selling in capital goods stocks. On the other hand, metal stocks were witnessing buying interest. Vedanta, Tata Steel, NALCO, SAIL, NMDC, Hindalco and Hindustan Zinc all were trading in green.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 24568.37, up by 132.71 points or 0.54% after trading in a range of 24521.59 and 24650.57. There were 22 stocks advancing against 7 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were outperforming the benchmarks; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 1.07%, while Small cap index gained 1.54%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 1.88%, Consumer Durables up by 1.78%, Realty up by 0.89%, Power up by 0.62%, PSU up by 0.61% while, Capital Goods down by 0.02% was the lone losing index on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Sun Pharma Inds. up by 2.63%, Tata Steel up by 2.39%, ICICI Bank up by 1.91%, HDFC up by 1.53% and Coal India up by 1.52%. On the flip side, Hero MotoCorp down by 2.55%, GAIL India down by 2.01%, Axis Bank down by 1.39%, Larsen & Toubro down by 1.35% and Wipro down by 0.67% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, amid fall in global prices and demand, Exports of 15 of the sectors out of the 30 closely monitored by the Commerce Ministry were in the negative zone in the month of December 2015. According to the data of the Commerce Ministry, top two sectors - engineering and petroleum products contracted by 15.68 per cent and 47.69 per cent, respectively during the month. Besides, the exports of Gems and Jewellery too shrank by about 7.75 per cent to $2.46 billion in the same month.

Further, agri-products, which constitute over 10 per cent of the country's total shipments, too recorded a negative growth during the month. Overall, seven out of 13 main agriculture products slipped into negative territory.  Exports of rice, cashew and oil meals fell 35.58 per cent, 15.38 per cent and 83 per cent, respectively. Other products that have reported a negative growth include cereals, oil seeds, fruits and vegetables, marine products and iron ore. 

On the other hand, exports of pharmaceuticals, textiles, plastic, carpet, chemicals, tea and coffee have recorded positive growth in December 2015.  Exporters' body Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) has said that though the pace of fall has moderated in December, the government should take steps in the Budget to boost the shipments. It said the government should address the inverted duty structure in many sectors in the Budget besides exempting exports from service tax and create an export development fund.

Reflecting sluggish global demand, India's merchandise exports contracted for the thirteenth consecutive month in December, registering 14.75% decline over last year to $22.2 billion, pushing up the trade deficit to $11.66 billion, highest in the last four months. The continuous decline in exports is expected to impact jobs and put pressure on the current account deficit. India has aimed at taking exports of goods and services to $900 billion by 2020 and raising the country's share in world exports to 3.5 per cent from 2 per cent.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7462.25, up by 39.80 points or 0.54% after trading in a range of 7447.85 and 7487.15. There were 36 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Cairn India up by 4.96%, Sun Pharma Inds. up by 2.76%, Ambuja Cement up by 2.54%, Tata Steel up by 2.22% and Vedanta up by 2.16%. On the flip side, Hero MotoCorp down by 2.79%, Axis Bank down by 1.45%, Larsen & Toubro down by 1.42%, GAIL India down by 1.36% and ITC down by 0.76% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading in green, Shanghai Composite was up by 6.45 points or 0.22% to 2,923.01, KOSPI Index gained 14 points or 0.74% to 1,893.43, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 24.29 points or 1.52% to 1,625.21, Jakarta Composite was up by 54.31 points or 1.22% to 4,511.05, Taiwan Weighted increased 137.97 points or 1.78% to 7,894.15, Nikkei 225 added 152.38 points or 0.9% to 17,110.91 and Hang Seng surged by 280.29 points or 1.47% to 19,360.80.