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 as investors booked profits at higher levels after they rallied on rebound in global crude oil prices. Sentiments got some support with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s statement that it is important for India to emerge out of the crisis stronger as it is on a much higher and stabler footing than other nations. He also added that lower prices of oil and metal commodities substantially suit us. Furthermore, buoyed by a rise in incoming new work, strengthening underlying demand and improved weather conditions, India's service sector output touched a 19-month high in January with the seasonally adjusted Nikkei Services Business Activity Index climbing to 54.3 compared with 53.6 in December 2015, also supported upside. However, gains remained capped on report that foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 357 crore on February 03, 2015.

On the global front, Asian markets trading mostly in green as investors got some respite  after a weak US services data dampened hopes of a further rate hike by the Federal Reserve in the near future which in turn hammered the dollar and spurred a rise in the oil prices. Besides, US stocks ended mostly higher on Wednesday tracking rebound in global crude oil prices. Back home, all BSE sectoral indices were trading in the green. Among them, Capital Goods index gained the most, up by 1.58 per cent, followed by Consumer Durables up by 1.10 per cent, Metal up by 0.99 per cent and Auto up by 0.69 per cent. In scrip specific development, shares of La Opala RG have rallied after the company reported a healthy 46% year-on-year (yoy) growth in net profit at Rs 20.22 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2015 (Q3FY16) on back of strong sales. On the other hand, shares of Tata Communications have declined after the company has reported a net loss of Rs 69.64 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2015 as compared net profit of Rs 120.20 crore for the same quarter in the previous year.

The market breadth on BSE was positive, out of 2220 stocks traded, 1261 stocks advanced, while 864 stocks declined on the BSE. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 24320.15, up by 96.83 points or 0.40% after trading in a range of 24279.21 and 24449.42. There were 20 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.04%, while Small cap index up by 0.13%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Capital Goods up by 1.58%, Consumer Durables up by 1.10%, Metal up by 0.99%, Auto up by 0.69% and TECK up by 0.67%, while there were no losers on the sectoral front.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Larsen & Toubro up by 2.54%, ONGC up by 2.51%, Asian Paints up by 1.92%, Adani Ports &Special up by 1.74% and Bharti Airtel up by 1.25%. On the flip side, Lupin down by 4.10%, Cipla down by 3.09%, NTPC down by 2.56%, GAIL India down by 1.62% and Sun Pharma Inds. down by 1.48% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley stressing that India is on a stabler and higher footing when compared to other nations  and as unpredictability and volatility have become the new global norm, has said India should emerge out of the global crisis much stronger as it is relatively unimpacted by some of the factors that have caused the global crisis. Jaitley stated that 'the world faces a very difficult and challenging situation. In the global situation, India is being distinctively noticed. It is being noticed for the reason, that even though there is the global slowdown, India has comparatively stood out. “

Jaitley further said that though the lower prices of oil and metal commodities substantially suits the country, it indirectly impacts as it make our exports shrinks and makes the market more volatile. However, the country is still on much higher and stable footing compared to rest of the world.

Highlighting the 2001, 2008 and 2015 global crisis, he said that the country should get solace from the fact that during those times India displayed a considerable amount of resilience. The Minister said that while looking down the tunnel over the next two to three years, it is still not clear which way the global situation will be moving. In the current fiscal Indian economy is expected to grow between 7-7.5 per cent . Last fiscal, it grew 7.2 per cent.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7398.35, up by 36.55 points or 0.50% after trading in a range of 7382.55 and 7431.90. There were 37 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Cairn India up by 6.16%, Vedanta up by 4.22%, Tata Power up by 4.12%, Hindalco up by 3.45% and ONGC up by 2.51%. On the flip side, Lupin down by 4.11%, Cipla down by 3.29%, NTPC down by 2.45%, GAIL India down by 1.97% and Tata Steel down by 1.52% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was up by 1.33%, KOSPI Index up by 1.26%, Shanghai Composite up by 1.06%, Jakarta Composite up by 1.33% and Hang Seng was up by 1.49%. On the flip side, Nikkei 225 was down by 1 % and Taiwan Weighted was down by 0.84%.