Local markets continue to trade in high spirits; Nifty above 7650 mark

Indian equity benchmarks extended early gains to continue firm trade in late morning session, hovering near intra-day high level, on account of sustained buying in frontline blue chip counters. At present, Sensex and Nifty were trading above the crucial 25,100 and 7,650 levels respectively, with gains of over 0.60%.  Apart from blue chips, broader indices too equally participated in the rally with both mid cap and small cap indices trading up by around a percent. Sentiments got some support with the report that foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 1712.62 crore on March 18, 2015. Appreciation in Indian rupee too aided sentiments. Indian rupee rose 2 paise to 66.48 against the dollar in early trade, extending its winning spell for the fourth straight day, on increased selling of the US currency by exporters and banks.

On the global front, most of the Asian stock markets slipped on Monday as a retreat in oil prices made investors cautious, but losses were tempered by hopes that China may soon cut interest rates again as pressure on the yuan eases. Oil prices slipped for a second day, extending Friday's slide of over 1 per cent after the US rig count rose for the first time since December, renewing worries of a supply glut after an output freeze proposal had helped boost the market to 2016 highs.  Besides, fears about the outlook for global growth were also instrumental in the U.S. Federal Reserve's move last week indicating a slower path for future rate increases. Back home, stocks from Realty, Capital Goods and FMCG counters were supporting the markets' uptrend, while those from IT and Teck counters was adding to the underlying cautious undertone. Meanwhile, Banking shares mainly public sector banks (PSB) were trading higher after the government announced a steep cut in interest rates on small savings schemes.

In scrip specific development, Shares of VA Tech Wabag have rallied after the company has won record orders worth of Rs 5,000 crore in the financial year 2015-16 (FY16),  the highest ever order intake clocked by the Group in a single financial year. On the other hand, Ricoh India has dipped after the exchange announced that it will shift the stock from ‘B' group to ‘Z' group with effect from March 28, 2016.

The market breadth on BSE was positive, out of 2333 stocks traded, 1349 stocks advanced, while 839 stocks declined on the BSE.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 25126.60, up by 173.86 points or 0.70% after trading in a range of 24988.27 and 25143.96. 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 0.88%, while Small cap index up by 1.09%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 2.02%, Capital Goods up by 1.59%, FMCG up by 1.58%, Consumer Durables up by 1.45% and Bankex up by 1.22%, while IT down by 0.22% and TECK down by 0.09% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ITC up by 2.54%, SBI up by 2.46%, Larsen & Toubro up by 2.02%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.99% and Hindustan Unilever up by 1.52%. On the flip side, Lupin down by 1.92%, Asian Paints down by 1.88%, Dr. Reddys Lab down by 1.25%, BHEL down by 0.97% and Hero MotoCorp down by 0.85% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the government has stated that only accredited consultants will be allowed to prepare environment impact assessment (EIA) reports and environment management plan (EMP) for the projects seeking green clearances. The EIA and EMP for any project seeking environment clearance are prepared only after the Environment Ministry issues terms of reference.

In its notification the government has stated that environmental consultant organisations which are accredited for a particular sector and the category of project for that sector with the Quality Council of India or National Accreditation Board for Education and Training or any other agency as may be notified by the Ministry of Environment from time to time shall be allowed to prepare EIA and EMP of a project in that sector and category. The notification also added only accredited consultants will appear before the concerned Expert Appraisal Committee or the State Expert Appraisal Committee (SEAC), and that ministry will prepare a panel of national-level reputed educational and research institutions to work as environmental consultant organizations.

Earlier, the Centre had barred the UP-based Mantec Consultants for one year for preparing environment impact assessment and management plan reports for 10 projects of the state-owned Kandla Port Trust without any permission.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7658.50, up by 54.15 points or 0.71% after trading in a range of 7617.70 and 7662.55. There were 36 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Ultratech Cement up by 3.88%, PNB up by 3.38%, ITC up by 2.85%, Ambuja Cement up by 2.75% and SBI up by 2.35%. On the flip side, Asian Paints down by 2.04%, Lupin down by 1.72%, Dr. Reddys Lab down by 1.30%, Wipro down by 1.30% and BHEL down by 0.88% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red, Taiwan Weighted was down by 0.08%, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI down by 0.46%, KOSPI Index down by 0.25% and Jakarta Composite down by 0.24%. On the flip side, Shanghai Composite was up by 1.85% and Hang Seng was up by 0.19%.