Benchmarks continue to trade in tight band in noon deals

Indian equity benchmarks are trading range bound in noon deals with a gain of around quarter a percent. Sentiments remained up-beat with the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) raising India's growth forecast compared to 7.3 percent expansion projected in November 2015. It has said that Indian economy will continue to see robust growth at 7.4 percent in the next financial year even as only modest recovery is expected in advanced economies. However, gains remained capped as investors are keenly awaiting the Railway Budget and Economic Survey report later during the week. On currency front, the rupee trimmed its initial losses, but was still trading down 8 paise at 68.54 against the American currency in the afternoon deals today on bouts of dollar demand from some banks and importers.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green at this point of time but gains remained capped as investors remained on sidelines ahead of manufacturing data from Japan and Europe. Closer home, buying in energy stocks too aided sentiments on the back of rise in the crude oil prices. Shares of cement companies edged higher ahead of the February 29 Union Budget amid hopes of an increase in infrastructure spending. The sector is expecting that the government will increase infrastructure spending by 29 per cent this year, including for smart cities and low-cost airports. The broader indices too were trading with traction, while the market breadth on the BSE was positive; there were 1,278 shares on the gaining side against 947 shares on the losing side while 141 shares remain unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 23778.08, up by 68.93 points or 0.29% after trading in a range of 23674.86 and 23817.32. There were 18 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.57%, while Small cap index up by 0.36%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Energy up by 1.45%, Telecom up by 1.10%, Healthcare up by 1.06%, Oil & Gas up by 0.95%, Realty up by 0.82%, while Utilities down by 0.29%, IT down by 0.20%, Consumer Durables down by 0.15% and FMCG down by 0.10% were the few losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Hindustan Unilever up by 2.85%, Sun Pharma up by 2.08%, Reliance Industries up by 2.01%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.47% and ONGC up by 1.44%. On the flip side, ITC down by 2.25%, Adani Ports &Special down by 1.53%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.43%, Wipro down by 1.30% and GAIL India down by 0.80% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, with a view to attract more overseas inflows, the government is contemplating a proposal to permit 49 percent Foreign Direct investments (FDI) via automatic route in the insurance sector. The government could announce this decision in the forthcoming Budget. This move would help in improving ease of doing business.

Currently, FDI as much as 26% is permitted by means of automatic approval route. For FDI as much as 49%, the approval of FIPB is required. Apart from Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDAI), RBI is also looking at and the management is in the hands of Indian then the government may do away with the FIPB approval route. At present, there are 52 insurance companies operating in India, of which 24 are in the life insurance business and 28 in the general insurance. State-owned General Insurance Corporation (GIC), in addition, is the sole national reinsurer.

India has received $4.5 billion foreign direct investment (FDI), recording a whopping 114 percent growth during December 2015 which was more than double against the same period in 2014. During the period, the sectors which attracted FDI include computer software and hardware, trading, services, automobile and telecommunications. India receives maximum FDI from Singapore, Mauritius, the Netherlands and Japan.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7226.55, up by 15.80 points or 0.22% after trading in a range of 7200.70 and 7243.05. There were 30 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bosch up by 3.40%, Zee Entertainment up by 2.67%, Hindustan Unilever up by 2.65%, Ultratech Cement up by 2.38% and Sun Pharma up by 2.12%. On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 2.35%, ITC down by 2.10%, Vedanta down by 1.94%, Adani Ports &Special down by 1.84% and Maruti Suzuki down by 1.55% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; KOSPI Index rose 0.12 points or 0.01% to 1,916.36, Jakarta Composite gained 0.36 points or 0.01% to 4,697.92, Taiwan Weighted increased 1.64 points or 0.02% to 8,326.68, Shanghai Composite soared 64.83 points or 2.27% to 2,924.86, Nikkei 225 added 143.88 points or 0.9% to 16,111.05 and Hang Seng was up by 147.77 points or 0.77% to 19,433.27. On the flip side, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was down by 0.39 points or 0.02% to 1,674.49.