Benchmarks trade in fine fettle in noon deals

Indian equity benchmarks are trading in fine fettle in noon deals with frontline gauges holding their crucial 25,400 (Sensex) and 7,750 (Nifty) bastions on sustained buying by investors and foreign funds. Sentiments remained up-beat with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley stating that Australian future and super funds be exposed to India, as he called for increase in investment by Australia businesses in India as they can get better returns on their investment. Appreciation in Indian rupee too aided sentiments. The rupee strengthened by 12 paise to 66.25 against the US dollar in noon deals on continued selling of dollar by banks and exporters amid increased foreign fund inflows.

On the global front, Asian markets were exhibiting mixed trend after US stocks extended gains overnight following Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen's cautious stance on the path of tightening earlier this week. Back home, stocks related to infra counter edged higher, as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has notified some revisions to the external commercial borrowing (ECB) framework thereby allowing infrastructure firms to raise shorter-term ECBs. However, aviation stocks edged lower as a regular jet fuel price review is due today, March 31, 2016.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 25412.81, up by 74.23 points or 0.29% after trading in a range of 25341.47 and 25479.62. There were 16 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.27%, while Small cap index up by 0.42%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Power up by 0.90%, Healthcare up by 0.77%, FMCG up by 0.68%, Bankex up by 0.48% and TECK up by 0.31%, while Oil & Gas down by 0.49%, Consumer Durables down by 0.44%, Metal down by 0.35% and PSU down by 0.17% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Sun Pharma up by 1.53%, Dr. Reddys Lab up by 1.35%, ITC up by 1.27%, NTPC up by 1.23% and Bajaj Auto up by 1.20%. On the flip side, ONGC down by 1.65%, Tata Steel down by 1.53%, GAIL India down by 1.50%, Asian Paints down by 1.15% and Maruti Suzuki down by 0.89% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, NITI Aayog is all set to introduce a new model law on land lease which will improve agricultural efficiency and quicken the pace of industrialization. In September last year, the Aayog had set up an expert committee under T Haque, the former chairman of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices, to prepare a model agricultural land leasing law in consultation with states, keeping in view the need to legalise and liberalise land leasing for much-needed agricultural efficiency, equity, occupational diversification and rapid rural transformation. The draft law is based on the recommendations of the committee.

The draft model Act, which is expected to be put up for stakeholder comments this week will offer flexibility to land owners and tenants to decide on the term of lease and rent, thus making it simpler for the government to lease land for public-private partnership projects in sectors other than agriculture. Further, it will also open up avenues to the provision of land for industrialisation, which is fully within the state's jurisdiction, and allow the landowner to retain ownership of land.

Moreover, it may also help tenants secure short-term credit and other services on the basis of a simpler lease agreement. Furthermore, the model law may also allow automatic renewal of agreement on the expiry of lease period while simplifying the procedure for lease termination within the agreement period. The Centre and state governments will now be able to implement their policies efficiently in the presence of transparent land leasing law.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7758.15, up by 22.95 points or 0.30% after trading in a range of 7725.50 and 7777.60. There were 31 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Power up by 3.43%, Sun Pharma up by 1.52%, Dr. Reddys Lab up by 1.50%, Ultratech Cement up by 1.44% and Tech Mahindra up by 1.43%. On the flip side, Cairn India down by 3.10%, ONGC down by 1.61%, GAIL India down by 1.40%, Tata Steel down by 1.33% and Bosch down by 1.13% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; Nikkei 225 decreased 120.29 points or 0.71% to 16,758.67, Hang Seng declined 80.72 points or 0.39% to 20,722.67, KOSPI Index slipped 6.29 points or 0.31% to 1,995.85 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was down by 3.28 points or 0.19% to 1,714.54. On the flip side, Shanghai Composite increased 3.88 points or 0.13% to 3,004.52, Taiwan Weighted gained 7.79 points or 0.09% to 8,744.83 and Jakarta Composite was up by 13.42 points or 0.28% to 4,830.08.