Benchmarks trade off day’s high; Nifty hold 7500 mark

Indian equity benchmarks were trading off their day’s high as investors opted to book some of their profits at higher levels. Though, frontline gauges managed to trade comfortable above their crucial 7,500 (Nifty) and 24,700 (Sensex) levels. Strengthening rupee provided some support to the markets which surged to trade at over two-month high of 66.55 against the dollar at the forex market in noon deals. Positive global cues too aided sentiments with Asian markets trading mostly in green as investors turned more positive on riskier assets after the Federal Reserve's cautious stance on further interest rate increases.

Closer home, shares of cement companies remained on buyers’ radar on report that most of the cement stocks have outperformed the market Since March 11, 2016 after the Union cabinet on cleared a proposal to amend the mines and minerals law to allow the transfer of captive mines granted through non-auction routes, a move likely to spur mergers and acquisitions (M&As) in the cement industry. However, selling in pharma space remained under pressure on report that the pharma sector in India could witness an immediate loss of Rs 1,000 crore due to the government ban on combination drugs that include cough syrups, anti-diabetic medicines and flu treatments.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 24763.76, up by 86.39 points or 0.35% after trading in a range of 24681.64 and 24839.38. There were 22 stocks advancing against 8 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.04%, while Small cap index down by 0.01%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 1.74%, Metal up by 1.38%, IT up by 1.29%, Basic Materials up by 1.18% and TECK up by 1.14% while, Healthcare  down by 2.05% and FMCG down by 0.17% were the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were GAIL India up by 2.86%, TCS up by 2.08%, Tata Steel up by 1.57%, Adani Ports &Special up by 1.38% and Wipro up by 1.30%. On the flip side, Lupin down by 6.84%, Sun Pharma down by 2.84%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.14%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.94% and Asian Paints down by 0.65% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Apparel Export Promotion Council (APC) has welcomed the European Union’s (EU) decision to extend Generalized Scheme of Preferences for three years till 2019. Under the extension, India’s ready-made garments (RMG) sector will continue to get 20 per cent tariff preference on exports to EU for the next three consecutive years.

The European Union’s scheme of GSP was scheduled to end on 31 December, 2016.  AEPC has said that the Indian Ready Made Garments sector will continue to enjoy its position of being a beneficiary under the current scheme which has affected the textile sector through removal of this tariff preference.

AEPC has said that the Indian products will gain a new edge in new markets. Of India’s total annual garments exports of around $17 billion, about a third go to the EU. Indian RMG exports to EU are 36 per cent of the country’s total exports of readymade garments.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7548.60, up by 36.05 points or 0.48% after trading in a range of 7517.90 and 7566.75. There were 40 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Vedanta up by 4.23%, Hindalco up by 3.70%, ACC up by 3.55%, GAIL India up by 3.03% and TCS up by 2.20%. On the flip side, Lupin down by 6.65%, Sun Pharma down by 2.70%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.23%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.85% and Dr. Reddys Lab down by 0.82% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Jakarta Composite rose 2.06 points or 0.04% to 4,887.75, KOSPI Index increased 4.13 points or 0.21% to 1,992.12, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI gained 5.65 points or 0.33% to 1,708.84, Shanghai Composite surged 38.91 points or 1.34% to 2,943.74, Taiwan Weighted added 76.17 points or 0.87% to 8,810.71 and Hang Seng was up by 103.03 points or 0.5% to 20,606.84. On the flip side, Nikkei 225 was down by 211.57 points or 1.25% to 16,724.81.