Markets trade higher for the fifth straight day in early deals; Nifty reclaims 7,500 mark

Extending their northward journey for the fifth continuous day, Indian equity benchmarks are trading in fine fettle with gains of around half a percent in early deals, on account of sustained buying by fund and retail investors, which helped both the Sensex and Nifty to recapture their psychological 24750 and 7500 levels.  Meanwhile, the session was also positive for broader indices. Sentiment remained on optimistic with international rating agency Fitch maintaining India's growth forecast at 7.5 percent for the financial year 2015-16 and projecting the GDP growth of 7.7 per cent in the FY2017, which is 0.3 per cent lower than its December forecast of 8 per cent, but much in line with the government’s projection. Further, support also came on report that the foreign institutional investors bought shares worth Rs 671.57 crore on Friday. However, the rupee fell 16 paise to 67.24 against the US dollar in early trade on Tuesday, amid mixed cues from most Asian currency markets that restricted the markets go further up. 

In the scrip specific development, VA Tech Wabag surged 5% on the BSE after the company in consortium with IDE Technologies won an Rs 594 crore contract from Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board, Chennai, for construction and operation & maintenance (O&M) of a 45 MLD tertiary treatment plant at Koyambedue, Chennai.

On the global front, the US markets ended higher on Monday with energy shares leading the gains after crude oil prices firmed up. Asian markets were trading in red following weak trade data from China. China's exports in February fell 25.4 percent in dollar terms from a year ago, while imports declined for a sixteenth straight month.

Back home, traders were seen piling up position in Metal, Oil & Gas, Realty, Capital Goods and PSU, while selling was witnessed in IT, TECK and Bankex.  The market breadth on BSE was positive in the ratio of 1178: 419, while 69 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 24754.17, up by 107.69 points or 0.44% after trading in a range of 24629.23 and 24754.91. 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 0.68%, while Small cap index gained 0.70%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 2.54%, Oil & Gas up by 1.35%, Realty up by 1.14%, Capital Goods up by 0.95% and PSU up by 0.86% while, IT down by 0.65%, TECK down by 0.47% and Bankex down by 0.46% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were BHEL up by 2.94%, Lupin up by 2.58%, ONGC up by 2.24%, Tata Steel up by 2.15% and GAIL India up by 1.94%. On the flip side, ICICI Bank down by 1.70%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.62%, TCS down by 1.44%, SBI down by 1.06% and Hero MotoCorp down by 0.56% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, international rating agency Fitch Ratings has maintained India’s growth forecast at 7.5 percent for the financial year 2015-16, but added the economy would gradually accelerate to 7.7 percent in 2016-17, which is 0.3 per cent lower than its December forecast of 8 per cent, but much in line with the government’s projection. The agency had earlier affirmed India's BBB- rating with a stable outlook and stated that India would continue to post good growth rate.

In its latest Global Economic Outlook (GEO), while it made widespread downward revisions to growth forecasts, it kept the Indian GDP growth forecast for the fiscal year ending March 2016 at 7.5 per cent and said that the gradual implementation of the structural reform agenda is expected to contribute to higher growth, even though progress is lacking so far on big-ticket reforms such as the Land Acquisition Amendment Bill and the Goods and Services Tax.

The rating agency in its report noted that implementation of legislative reforms has so far been difficult given the government’s limited support in the Rajya Sabha, but executive reforms continue to be rolled out and added that the Budget for FY17 contained some further announcements of reforms, including measures related to the FDI regime, the financial sector and agriculture, illustrating that the government continues to gradually broaden its reform agenda. It also said that it expects another 0.25 per cent cut in monetary policy, as the government has decided to stick to the fiscal deficit roadmap for next fiscal.

As regards global growth, Fitch said on a weighted average of 20 of the largest advanced and emerging market countries, it forecast growth in advanced countries as a whole at 1.7% in 2016 down from 2.1% in December's edition of the GEO. For emerging markets, 2016 growth is now pegged at 4.0%, down from 4.4% in December. It said that though there are widespread cuts in GDP forecasts, but it’s not global recession in 2016.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7521.15, up by 35.80 points or 0.48% after trading in a range of 7482.65 and 7524.20. There were 35 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Hindalco up by 5.73%, Vedanta up by 4.98%, Cairn India up by 4.80%, Lupin up by 2.63% and BHEL up by 2.56%. On the flip side, ICICI Bank down by 1.70%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.63%, Bank Of Baroda down by 1.48%, SBI down by 1.35% and TCS down by 1.30% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading in red, Nikkei 225 decreased 232.13 points or 1.37% to 16,679.19, Hang Seng decreased 145.87 points or 0.72% to 20,013.85, Shanghai Composite decreased 47.01 points or 1.62% to 2,850.33, Taiwan Weighted decreased 44.58 points or 0.51% to 8,614.97, KOSPI Index decreased 15.87 points or 0.81% to 1,942.00, Jakarta Composite decreased 7.97 points or 0.16% to 4,823.61 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 3.4 points or 0.2% to 1,694.53.