Benchmarks trade firm; Metal, IT lead

Indian equity benchmarks continued their firm trade in the late afternoon session on account of buying in frontline blue chip counters amid sustained inflows by foreign funds and positive cues from regional counterparts. The sentiments were on optimistic note from early trade after Indian rupee strengthened against the dollar in early trade on increased selling of the US currency by exporters and banks. Traders were seen piling up position in Metal, IT and TECK stocks while selling was witnessed in FMCG sector stocks. In scrip specific development, NHPC was trading in green after it successfully synchronized Unit-2 of Teesta Low Dam (TLDP) HE Project, Stage-IV (40 MW) with grid on March 16, 2016. On the other hand, Lupin was trading in red after touching 52-week low after foreign brokerage firm downgrade the company to underperform. The pharma major’s shares have been reeling under selling pressure following adverse observations about the company’s Goa plant by the US Food and Drug Administration earlier this week.

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 7,500 and 24,700 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was negative in the ratio of 1059:1359 while 177 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 24764.84, up by 87.47 points or 0.35% after trading in a range of 24681.64 and 24839.38. There were 23 stocks advancing against 7 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.11%, while Small cap index down by 0.01%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 1.43%, IT up by 1.35%, TECK up by 1.18%, Consumer Durables up by 1.08%, Bankex up by 0.76% while, FMCG down by 0.10% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were GAIL India up by 3.16%, TCS up by 2.40%, Wipro up by 1.53%, SBI up by 1.37% and Tata Steel up by 1.35%.

On the flip side, Lupin down by 6.77%, Sun Pharma down by 2.54%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.76%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.11% and Asian Paints down by 0.78% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in order to further deepen economic ties and connectivity, India and Bangladesh have entered into a new era of petroleum trade with a special goodwill train loaded with High Speed Diesel rolling down from India to Bangladesh. A goodwill rail rake consignment carrying diesel from Siliguri marketing terminal of Numaligarh Refineries (NRL) was flagged off on March 17. Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Dharmendra Pradhan has said that this consignment is a symbolic gesture of friendship and cooperation that exists between India and Bangladesh.

The goodwill rail rake consignment for supply of 2200 tons (2700 kilolitre) diesel of BS III (of Euro-III) Grade with 350 PPM sulphur content' will travel by rail from Siliguri to Parbatipur storage depot of Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) in Bangladesh. From Siliguri, the 42 wagons (each with a capacity of 64 kl) rail consignment will travel over 516 km (253 km in India and 263 km in Bangladesh) on the existing railway line via Rangapani, Singabad, Rohanpur to reach Parbatipur on March 19.

Last year in June, during the visit of Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi to Bangladesh, both India and Bangladesh welcomed the Sale-Purchase Agreement signed between NRL and Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC). The agreement also includes joint initiative for construction of a 135 km long pipeline, with a capacity of 1 million Metric Ton per annum(MMTPA), from Siliguri to Parbatipur.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7544.15, up by 31.60 points or 0.42% after trading in a range of 7517.90 and 7566.75. There were 38 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Vedanta up by 4.41%, ACC up by 4.29%, Hindalco up by 3.58%, GAIL India up by 3.31% and Ultratech Cement up by 2.49%.

On the flip side, Lupin down by 6.83%, Sun Pharma down by 2.46%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.84%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.13% and Asian Paints down by 1.00% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading mostly in green; KOSPI Index increased 4.13 points or 0.21% to 1,992.12, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 9.06 points or 0.53% to 1,712.25, Shanghai Composite increased 50.32 points or 1.73% to 2,955.15, Taiwan Weighted increased 76.17 points or 0.87% to 8,810.71 and Hang Seng increased 167.82 points or 0.82% to 20,671.63.

On the other hand, Nikkei 225 decreased 211.57 points or 1.25% to 16,724.81 and Jakarta Composite decreased 13.76 points or 0.28% to 4,871.93.

The European markets were trading in red; UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 0.15 points or 0% to 6,200.97, Germany’s DAX decreased 40.59 points or 0.41% to 9,851.61 and France’s CAC decreased 11.11 points or 0.25% to 4,431.78.