Markets continue to trade in green in early noon session

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade in green on account of buying in the frontline bluechip counters such as Metal, Oil & Gas and Realty. Sentiment got some support as Global rating agency Fitch has maintained its gross domestic produce (GDP) growth forecast for India for the fiscal year ending March 2016 at 7.5 percent. Growth is expected to gradually accelerate to 7.7 percent in 2016-17 and 7.9 percent in 2017-18. Further, investors got some encouragement with the Urban Development Minister Venkiah Naidu's statement that the Real Estate Bill will become a “reality” in the ongoing Budget session of Parliament itself. He has informed all domestic and global investors by saying “I am holding discussion with all stakeholders”. He said that the law would be a regulation and not strangulation. However, the selling pressure in some of the banking shares and index heavy weights such as Infosys and TCS capped the upside. Meanwhile, metal stocks are gaining for the eight straight day on the back of surge in the base metal prices.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red, as investors’ book profits ahead of ECB and Fed meetings. Back home, in scrip specific development, shares of Elecon Engineering Company were trading higher as the company has received fresh order from Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers for supply of marine gearboxes aggregating worth Rs 225 crore.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 24695.82, up by 49.34 points or 0.20% after trading in a range of 24629.23 and 24793.62. 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 0.36%, while Small cap index up by 0.65%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 2.77%, Oil & Gas up by 2.06%, Realty up by 1.43%, PSU up by 0.81%, FMCG up by 0.55% while, Bankex down by 0.82%, IT down by 0.54%, TECK down by 0.37% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Steel up by 2.43%, GAIL India up by 1.99%, ONGC up by 1.77%, Lupin up by 1.76% and Adani Ports &Special up by 1.75%. On the flip side, Hindustan Unilever down by 2.57%, SBI down by 2.07%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.65%, ICICI Bank down by 0.91% and Dr. Reddys Lab down by 0.76% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) in its 232nd meeting chaired by Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das has given approval for 16 Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) proposals out of the 34 on agenda amounting Rs 14,000 crore. The proposals include that of Japan's Nippon which sought approval for hiking another 23 per cent stake in Reliance Life Insurance to 49 per cent.

Besides, other proposals approved were of Yes Bank to hike foreign investment limit to 74 per cent, from present 41 per cent, making it the first bank to get approval for hiking FDI limit after the new regulations were announced in November. In November 2015, the government had removed sub-limit restrictions for foreign investments in private sector banks within the overall sectoral limit of 74 per cent.

Furthermore, FIPB cleared Sun Life Financial Investments Inc's proposal to hike stake in Birla Sunlife Insurance Company to 49 per cent, Aviva Life Insurance and Raheja QBE General Insurance Company’s proposal to hike foreign investment limit in their respective companies to 49 percent. FIPB also cleared the proposal of Tata AIA Life Insurance Company, Tata Sikorsky Aerospace and International Asset Reconstruction Co.

In order to boost FDI in the country, the government has earlier relaxed FDI norms in as many as 15 sectors, including defence, single brand retail, construction development, civil aviation and LLPs. According to data of Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), India has received $29.44 billion foreign direct investment (FDI), surging by 40 percent during April-December in the current fiscal.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7498.05, up by 12.70 points or 0.17% after trading in a range of 7482.65 and 7527.15. There were 31 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Cairn India up by 7.80%, Vedanta up by 5.09%, Hindalco up by 5.04%, Tata Steel up by 2.39% and Adani Ports &Special up by 2.07%. On the flip side, Bank of Baroda down by 3.43%, Hindustan Unilever down by 2.76%, SBI down by 2.20%, PNB down by 1.81% and HCL Tech. down by 1.51% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Hang Seng decreased 146.84 points or 0.73% to 20,012.88, Nikkei 225 decreased 111.19 points or 0.66% to 16,800.13, Shanghai Composite decreased 40.72 points or 1.41% to 2,856.62, Jakarta Composite decreased 15.16 points or 0.31% to 4,816.41, KOSPI Index decreased 11.75 points or 0.6% to 1,946.12 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 5.5 points or 0.32% to 1,692.43, while Taiwan Weighted increased 4.76 points or 0.05% to 8,664.31.