Markets continue to trade in high spirit; Nifty above 7,150 mark

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade in high spirit in early noon session, on account of broad based buying in blue chip counters amid positive Asian cues. Besides, renewed hopes of a rate cut by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) too boosted the sentiments. Sentiment remained upbeat with the government’s decision to stick to its projected fiscal consolidation path and reduce its net borrowing program from Rs 4.8 lakh crore in FY16 to Rs 4.25 lakh crore in FY17 which would open up space for another interest rate cut by the RBI to stimulate the economy. Meanwhile, core sectors in the country once again locked themselves into a faster growth trajectory by jumping to a three-month high of 2.9% in January 2016 as compared to 0.9% in December 2015, on a back of sharp pick-up in coal, cement and electricity generation. The eight industries - crude oil, petroleum refinery products, natural gas, fertilisers, coal, electricity, cement and finished steel have a weight of 38% in the overall Index of Industrial Production (IIP) had grown at 2.3% in the same month of last year. Futhermore, India's manufacturing growth remained unchanged in February following price reductions even as new orders registered the strongest upturn since last September too supported markets.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green, as markets digested the surprise move by China's central bank to cut banks' reserve requirement ratio (RRR) to free up liquidity, shrugging off fresh negative economic data from the mainland. Back home, in scrip specific development, shares of Maruti Suzuki India were trading higher despite company reported a marginal 0.9% year on year (YoY) drop in total sales at 117,451 units for the month of February 2016. It had sold 118,551 units in the same month last year.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 23524.16, up by 522.16 points or 2.27% after trading in a range of 23133.18 and 23549.95. There were 27 stocks advancing against 3 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 1.74%, while Small cap index up by 1.95%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were FMCG up by 3.86%, IT up by 2.95%, TECK up by 2.75%, Auto up by 2.50% and Realty up by 2.43%, while they were no losers on the sectoral index.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ITC up by 8.01%, ICICI Bank up by 5.63%, Hero MotoCorp up by 5.15%, Maruti Suzuki up by 4.85% and GAIL India up by 4.55%. On the flip side, ONGC down by 1.39%, HDFC down by 0.99% and Hindustan Unilever down by 0.37% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in line with global trends, PSU oil marketing companies (OMCs) have slashed price of petrol by Rs 3.02 per litre and have raised diesel rates by Rs 1.47 per litre. Revised prices will take effect from the midnight of February 29 and March 1. The revision in fuel prices comes on a day when Finance Minister Arun Jaitley presented a rural-focused Budget in Parliament.

Post the revision, the price of petrol in Delhi will be Rs 56.61 per litre as against Rs 59.63 currently, whereas a litre of diesel will cost Rs 46.43 per litre as against Rs 44.96. This is the seventh straight reduction in the price of petrol and the second price increase in case of diesel. In the last revision on February 17, the price of petrol was cut by 32 paise per litre and diesel rate was hiked by 28 paise a litre.

PSU oil marketing companies Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum Corp and Hindustan Petroleum Corp revise petrol and diesel prices on 1st and 16th of every month based on average imported cost and rupee-dollar exchange rates in the previous fortnight. The oil companies have said that the movement of prices in the international oil market and INR-USD exchange rate shall continue to be monitored closely and developing trends of the market will be reflected in future price changes.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7151.95, up by 164.90 points or 2.36% after trading in a range of 7035.10 and 7154.70. There were 46 stocks advancing against 4 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ITC up by 8.20%, ICICI Bank up by 5.76%, Hero MotoCorp up by 5.43%, Maruti Suzuki up by 5.04% and Zee Entertainment up by 4.53%. On the flip side, ONGC down by 0.93%, HDFC down by 0.89%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.47% and Dr. Reddys Lab down by 0.40% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Jakarta Composite increased 0.71 points or 0.01% to 4,771.66, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 7.71 points or 0.47% to 1,662.46, Nikkei 225 increased 20.01 points or 0.12% to 16,046.77, Shanghai Composite increased 22.03 points or 0.82% to 2,710.00, Taiwan Weighted increased 74.53 points or 0.89% to 8,485.69 and Hang Seng increased 103.73 points or 0.54% to 19,215.66.