Benchmarks continue firm trade in late afternoon session

Indian equity benchmarks continued their firm trade in the late afternoon session on account of buying in frontline blue chip stocks. The post-Budget rally continued following creation of fresh bets coupled with a fresh spell of foreign fund inflows. The sentiments remained on optimistic note from early trade after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) projected a robust growth rate of 7.3% for the country this fiscal, picking up to 7.5% next year. Traders were seen piling up position in Metal, Capital Goods and Auto sector stocks. In scrip specific development, ONGC and Reliance Industries were trading in green after the government planned to raise natural gas price by about 60 percent for their undeveloped gas discoveries in difficult areas. Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories was trading in green after the drug maker got approval from US health regulator to start selling generic version of anti-nausea injection called Aloxi from 2018.

On the global front, the Asian markets were trading mostly in green, while the European markets were trading on pessimistic note. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading above the psychological 7,450 and 24,500 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was positive in the ratio of 1521:942, while 140 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 24555.46, up by 312.48 points or 1.29% after trading in a range of 24383.28 and 24599.00. There were 25 stocks advancing against 5 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.11%, while Small cap index up by 0.90%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 3.72%, Capital Goods up by 2.97%, Auto up by 1.60%, IT up by 1.40%, TECK up by 1.21%.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Steel up by 6.38%, Dr. Reddy’s Lab up by 5.79%, BHEL up by 4.99%, Tata Motors up by 4.65% and Larsen & Toubro up by 4.65%.

On the flip side, ICICI Bank down by 1.11%, NTPC down by 0.51%, Lupin down by 0.45%, Maruti Suzuki down by 0.13% and ITC down by 0.03% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, amid subdued growth in new orders, growth in India's services industry fell a three month low in February, adding to expectations of a rate cut by the Reserve Bank. The seasonally adjusted Nikkei Services Business Activity Index stood at 51.4 in February compared to 54.3 in January, but chalked up its eighth straight month above the 50-level that distinguishes growth from contraction. Demand conditions in the country appear to be weak, as indicated by lacklustre increases in new orders.

As per survey the seasonally adjusted Nikkei India Composite PMI Output index, which maps both manufacturing and services sectors, dipped to 51.2 in February from January's 11-month high of 53.3. Data indicated that output rose in four of the six tracked categories, the exceptions being Post & Telecommunication and Transport & Storage.

The survey further noted that although new orders at services firms continued to rise in February, the rate of expansion eased to the weakest since last November as firms reportedly faced strong competition for new work during the month. A quicker increase in order book volumes in the manufacturing economy was insufficient to prevent growth of private sector new orders from easing to a three-month low. The report further highlighted that Input costs faced by Indian service providers increased during February, as has been the case for five consecutive months. Although the strongest since December 2015, the rate of cost inflation was modest in the context of historical data.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7457.80, up by 88.95 points or 1.21% after trading in a range of 7406.05 and 7472.40. There were 39 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Vedanta up by 7.55%, Tata Steel up by 6.37%, Dr. Reddy’s Lab up by 5.70%, Hindalco up by 5.40% and BHEL up by 5.25%.

On the flip side, Zee Entertainment down by 2.65%, ICICI Bank down by 0.95%, BPCL down by 0.64%, NTPC down by 0.55% and Lupin down by 0.51% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Shanghai Composite increased 10.08 points or 0.35% to 2,859.76, KOSPI Index increased 10.75 points or 0.55% to 1,958.17, Taiwan Weighted increased 67.74 points or 0.79% to 8,611.79 and Nikkei 225 increased 213.61 points or 1.28% to 16,960.16.

On the other hand, Hang Seng decreased 61.73 points or 0.31% to 19,941.76, Jakarta Composite decreased 11.77 points or 0.24% to 4,824.43 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 4.81 points or 0.28% to 1,686.22.

The European markets were trading in red; UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 15.95 points or 0.26% to 6,131.11, Germany’s DAX decreased 37.63 points or 0.38% to 9,738.99 and France’s CAC decreased 13.73 points or 0.31% to 4,411.16.