Benchmarks continue firm trade in late morning session

After getting flat start, Indian benchmark indices slowly but steadily started gathering steam and surged over half percent in late morning trade on account of buying in frontline blue chip stocks. Sentiments got a boost with IMF's financial counselor Jose Vinals statement that India needs to address the stress emanating from leveraged corporate balance sheets and asset quality woes of state-run banks to sustain the recovery process, even as the country is best placed among emerging markets. Some support also came in from reports that foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 1063.11 crore on March 10, 2016. However, investors remained cautious with the report that Ratings agency Crisil said that there are no signs of Indian economy sharply rebounding in the next financial year as the fiscal policy remains restrictive. He said leverage and non-performing assets (NPAs) of banks will remain a challenge in financial year 2016-17. Meanwhile, realty stocks continued to display a spectacular show after the Rajya Sabha passed by voice vote a real estate regulation Bill, aiming to protect homebuyers from erring developers besides bringing transparency in the sector.

On the global front, Asian stock markets climbed for a second day, with the regional benchmark index heading for a fourth weekly gain, as investors reassessed fresh stimulus measures unleashed by the European Central Bank. The ECB delivered introduced measures to revive Europe's economy by slashing its main interest rates and expanding its massive bond-buying program. Back home, barring Consumer Durables index which declined 0.12%, all the other indices were in the positive, with Realty, Oil & Gas and Capital Goods indices being significant losers. In scrip specific development, shares of Godrej Properties have gained after the company launched phase 2 of its flagship project - ‘The Trees’ at Vikhroli, Mumbai. Furthermore, Aegis Logistics has surged after the company received an approval for setting up of 25,000 MT of LPG storage terminal at Haldia Port at a project cost not exceeding Rs 250 crore to be operational in 15 months and financed out of the internal accruals.

The market breadth on BSE was positive, out of 2238 stocks traded, 1216 stocks advanced, while 883 stocks declined on the BSE.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 24787.76, up by 164.42 points or 0.67% after trading in a range of 24590.28 and 24816.67. There were 28 stocks advancing against 2 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 0.53%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 2.11%, Oil & Gas up by 1.27%, Capital Goods up by 0.94%, FMCG up by 0.92%, Bankex up by 0.80% while, Consumer Durables down by 0.12% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Adani Ports &Special up by 2.36%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.57%, Axis Bank up by 1.46%, Reliance Industries up by 1.34% and ITC up by 1.17%. On the flip side, Sun Pharma down by 1.54% and Tata Steel down by 0.46% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Crisil the homegrown global analytical agency has said that for Indian economy there is no sign of sharp rebound in the next fiscal year, as the fiscal policy remains restrictive. It also added that it needs support from accommodative monetary policy and less restrictive fiscal policy plus structural reforms to have a turnaround.

The rating agency further said that fiscal 2017 will mark the mid-point of the Narendra Modi government which will be closely watched for its success in getting the pending big ticket reform bill such as the GST and Bankruptcy code passed which were announced in 2015. The passage of these bills would not only be a big sentiment booster but is necessary to enhance country's medium-term-growth potential. The agency has predicted that monsoon will also be a major factor to decide the consumption.

Besides, the agency said that leverage and non-performing assets (NPAs) of banks will remain a challenge in the next financial year and added that unless NPAs are not cleaned they will restrict the flow of credit into the system, and hence will remain a constraint to the growth. The arteries of the banking system need to be de-clogged to ensure the smooth flow of credit.  

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7534.50, up by 48.35 points or 0.65% after trading in a range of 7475.85 and 7543.95. There were 45 stocks advancing against 5 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Adani Ports &Special up by 2.41% and BPCL up by 2.33% and Cairn India up by 1.92% and Bosch up by 1.74% and Zee Entertainment up by 1.68%. On the flip side, Sun Pharma down by 1.65%, Tech Mahindra down by 0.64%, Tata Steel down by 0.64%, Vedanta down by 0.57% and Hindalco down by 0.24% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was up by 0.21%, KOSPI Index up by 0.3%, Taiwan Weighted up by 0.47%, Nikkei 225 up by 0.83% and Hang Seng was up by 0.99%. On the other hand, Jakarta Composite was down by 0.1% and Shanghai Composite was down by 0.02%.