Benchmarks trade in fine fettle in noon deals

Indian equity benchmarks continue to trade in fine fettle in noon deals with frontline gauges trading above their crucial 25,700 (Sensex) and 7,850 (Nifty) levels. Sentiments remained up-beat after wholesale prices fell for a 17th straight month in March, declining by an annual 0.85 per cent, driven down by tumbling prices of oil and manufactured goods. Further, recent rate cut by the Reserve Bank and hopes of a good monsoon have strengthened investors’ sentiment. However, depreciation in Indian rupee coupled with weak Asian cues have capped the upside gains. Most of the Asian equity indices were trading in red terrain at this point of time after major oil producers failed to reach an agreement to freeze output in Doha over the weekend.

Back home, Shares of information technology (IT) were trading higher on the bourses after Infosys, India’s second-largest information technology (IT) services firm forecast strong revenue growth of 11.5%-13.5% in constant currency (CC) in the current fiscal (FY17). Shares of aviation and state-owned oil marketing companies remained on buyers’ radar after global crude oil prices eased after talks between the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and non-OPEC producers to freeze oil output remained inconclusive.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 25729.72, up by 102.97 points or 0.40% after trading in a range of 25634.12 and 25870.03. There were 14 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.82%, while Small cap index up by 0.78%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 2.96%, TECK up by 2.66%, Telecom up by 1.68%, Consumer Durables up by 1.47% and FMCG up by 0.79%, while Bankex down by 0.80%, PSU down by 0.58%, Auto down by 0.51%, Energy down by 0.38% and Finance down by 0.32% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Infosys up by 6.44%, Cipla up by 2.10%, Lupin up by 1.11%, ITC up by 1.07% and Asian Paints up by 0.69%. On the flip side, ONGC down by 2.58%, SBI down by 2.43%, Hero MotoCorp down by 2.20%, Adani Ports &Special down by 2.04% and ICICI Bank down by 1.99% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, India has received $39.32 billion or Rs 252,562 crore foreign direct investment (FDI), surging by 37 percent during the calendar year 2015. The FDI inflows were at $28.78 billion or Rs 175,313 crore in the year 2014. According to data of Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), during the period, computer software and hardware sector attracted highest FDI followed by services sector, trading business, automobile industry and chemicals. The data further highlighted that Singapore was the top foreign direct investment source for India during the period, followed by Mauritius, US, Netherlands and Japan.

The government has taken several steps to promote investments through a liberal FDI policy. It has relaxed norms in several sectors, including single brand retail, e-commerce and construction. Improving ease of doing business in the country and relaxation of norms would help in attracting more and more FDI.

The Economic Survey 2015-16 has said that a favourable policy regime and sound business environment have facilitated increase in FDI flows into the country. However, it has raised questions over large FDI inflows from smaller countries including Singapore and Mauritius and wanted the government to find out whether the investments are being routed from these countries only to take advantage of tax avoidance agreements (DTAA).

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7878.00, up by 27.55 points or 0.35% after trading in a range of 7842.75 and 7912.65. There were 27 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Infosys up by 6.32%, Idea Cellular up by 4.88%, Bharti Infratel up by 3.15%, BPCL up by 2.30% and HCL Tech up by 2.14%. On the flip side, ONGC down by 2.79%, Bank of Baroda down by 2.72%, SBI down by 2.42%, Hero MotoCorp down by 2.12% and Adani Ports &Special down by 2.10% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Nikkei 225 declined 572.08 points or 3.4% to 16,275.95, Hang Seng decreased 290.06 points or 1.36% to 21,026.41, Shanghai Composite dropped 38.82 points or 1.26% to 3,039.29, Taiwan Weighted slipped 34.38 points or 0.4% to 8,666.01, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI shed 15.73 points or 0.91% to 1,712.26 and KOSPI Index was down by 5.61 points or 0.28% to 2,009.10. On the flip side, Jakarta Composite was up by 15.23 points or 0.32% to 4,838.79.