Benchmarks hover near the highest point of the day

Indian equity benchmarks extended gains and are hovering near the highest point of the day in the late afternoon session on account of buying in front line blue chip counters. The sentiments were on optimistic note after government report showed that India’s fiscal deficit stood at 4.88 trillion rupees ($71.90 billion) during April-December, or 87.9 percent of the full-year target.  The deficit was 100.2 percent of the full-year target during the same period a year ago. Net tax receipts were 6.22 trillion rupees in the first nine months of the fiscal year that ends in March 2016, while total spending touched 13.14 trillion rupees. Traders were seen piling position in Consumer Durables, Metal and Oil & Gas stocks. In scrip specific development, ICICI Bank was trading under pressure after the company reported 4.4 percent fall in consolidated net profit at Rs. 3,122 crore for the December quarter, as its provisions for stressed accounts rose three-fold after the RBI asked banks to recognize asset quality stress of large accounts.

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 7,500 and 24,700 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was positive in the ratio of 1539:905 while 163 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 24792.48, up by 322.91 points or 1.32% after trading in a range of 24340.06 and 24795.89. There were 24 stocks advancing against 6 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 1.48%, while Small cap index up by 0.90%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 2.43%, Metal up by 2.27%, Oil & Gas up by 1.71%, Power up by 1.68%, IT up by 1.61%.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Coal India up by 5.40%, Hero MotoCorp up by 3.90%, Dr. Reddy’s Lab up by 3.14%, Sun Pharma up by 2.92% and Hindustan Unilever up by 2.63%.

On the flip side, SBI down by 2.91%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.48%, ICICI Bank down by 1.14%, Maruti Suzuki down by 0.96% and Tata Steel down by 0.47% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, amid government efforts to attract investment in the various sector, the quality of foreign direct investment (FDI) coming into the country has improved substantially, according to Reserve Bank of India data. Much of these FDI flows in the country have surged in the September 2014-November 2015 period after Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Make in India campaign and bettered portfolio inflows during the preceding 15 months.

Modi's Make in India initiative is aimed at turning the country into a global manufacturing hub to generate jobs, raise incomes and drive growth. The government has been seeking to drum up investment as part of this effort. India's growth is being driven by public spending and consumption with private investment yet to kick in substantially.

Gross FDI inflows amounted to $62.6 billion, 31% higher than $47.6 billion in the preceding 15 months. This is more than triple the amount of net portfolio inflows of $14.3 billion in the same period. Though a sizeable amount is estimated to have gone to the manufacturing sector, including consumer goods and food processing, among others, a section of the market feels that a portion of the FDI inflows could have come through the private equity route.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7530.50, up by 105.85 points or 1.43% after trading in a range of 7402.80 and 7537.05. There were 39 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Yes Bank up by 9.50%, Vedanta up by 6.32%, Coal India up by 5.17%, Hero MotoCorp up by 4.28% and BPCL up by 3.46%.

On the flip side, Bank of Baroda down by 3.11%, SBI down by 2.83%, ICICI Bank down by 1.67%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.60% and Maruti Suzuki down by 1.12% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading mostly in green; KOSPI Index increased 5.12 points or 0.27% to 1,912.06, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 22.79 points or 1.39% to 1,657.32, Shanghai Composite increased 81.94 points or 3.09% to 2,737.60, Taiwan Weighted increased 175.5 points or 2.22% to 8,080.60, Nikkei 225 increased 476.85 points or 2.8% to 17,518.30 and Hang Seng increased 487.28 points or 2.54% to 19,683.11.

On the other hand, Jakarta Composite decreased 30.64 points or 0.67% to 4,572.19.

The European markets were trading in green; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 59.91 points or 1.01% to 5,991.69, France’s CAC increased 46.07 points or 1.07% to 4,368.23 and Germany’s DAX increased 93.57 points or 0.97% to 9,733.16.