Markets continue to trade firm in early noon session

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade firm in early noon session, on account of buying by fund and retail investors in the blue chip counters amid firm cues from Asian markets following a strong performance on Wall Street and rebound in oil prices. Some support also came with the India’s President Pranab Mukherjee’s statement that the services sector has emerged as an agent of change for the country and is driving the Indian economy in an inclusive and equitable manner and termed it as the ‘sector of the current millennium’. He further added that India has one of the fastest growing services sectors in the world with annual growth rate of above 9 percent since 2001. The contribution of services sector of India to overall GDP has increased sharply, from 41 percent in 1990-91 to 66 percent in 2014-15. Meanwhile, banking stocks rallied on reports that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has trimmed the list of companies, whose loans need to be provided for against the risk of default.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading higher, lifted by a rise in U.S. stocks following an uptick in oil prices. A weakening of the Japanese yen pushed Tokyo’s benchmark higher. Back home, in scrip specific development, share of Alembic Pharmaceuticals (APL) rallied over 6% after the company has formed 60:40 joint venture (JV) with Orbicular to develop & commercialize dermatology products for global markets. Tide Water Oil was trading higher after the company has acquired the UK-based Price Thomas Holdings (PTHL) for a cash consideration of 9.59 million British pounds (GBP).

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 25979.01, up by 134.83 points or 0.52% after trading in a range of 25925.12 and 26080.07. There were 18 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red and green; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.11%, while Small cap index up by 0.09%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Bankex up by 2.44%, PSU up by 1.51%, Oil & Gas up by 1.20%, Consumer Durables up by 0.63% and Metal up by 0.47%, while Realty down by 1.16%, FMCG down by 0.75%, TECK down by 0.74%, IT down by 0.61% and Power down by 0.52% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ICICI Bank up by 6.07%, SBI up by 4.00%, Axis Bank up by 2.81%, Coal India up by 1.83% and ONGC up by 1.48%. On the flip side, Wipro down by 6.45%, ITC down by 1.55%, BHEL down by 1.28%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.19% and Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.99% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, rating agency, ICRA has said that nearly Rs 11.4 trillion worth of infrastructure projects were stalled as of March 31, due to unfavourable market conditions, increased funding constraints and inadequate raw material linkages. Majority of the projects, which were stalled were from the private sector including from the sectors like steel, cement, aluminium, among others.

ICRA said that the growing number of stalled projects in the last two quarters, which are already high at 8 per cent of GDP is a matter of concern. While many projects were stuck for want of land or clearances, with the changing macro-economic scenario and weak commodity prices, viability and promoters' interest to continue with the projects, have also declined.

The agency stated that the Project Monitoring Group (PMG) of the government helped in resolving 353 projects worth Rs 11.7 trillion stalled over the last 3 years, which were particularly in power sector, but addition to projects accepted by PMG outpaced projects resolved. Another 390 projects with a cumulative investment of over Rs 19 trillion are still facing hurdles.

The Group, which was set up in January 2013 in the Cabinet Secretariat to revive projects both in the public and private sector, had accepted 743 projects with an estimated cumulative investment of Rs 31 trillion till February this year. It further said that structural constraints like uncertainty in land acquisition, delays in approvals and inadequacy of long-term funding avenues, if not tackled expeditiously, will slow down recovery in the infrastructure sector.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7945.65, up by 30.90 points or 0.39% after trading in a range of 7930.00 and 7978.45. There were 26 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ICICI Bank up by 6.05%, Bank Of Baroda up by 4.78%, SBI up by 4.06% , Axis Bank up by 2.58% and BPCL up by 2.24%. On the flip side, Wipro down by 6.46%, Bharti Infratel down by 3.46%, ITC down by 1.61%, BHEL down by 1.54% and Tata Power down by 1.35% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading higher; FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 6.08 points or 0.36% to 1,714.99, Shanghai Composite increased 8 points or 0.27% to 2,980.59, KOSPI Index increased 16.27 points or 0.81% to 2,022.10, Jakarta Composite increased 26.31 points or 0.54% to 4,902.91, Taiwan Weighted increased 54.17 points or 0.64% to 8,568.65, Hang Seng increased 358.73 points or 1.69% to 21,595.04 and Nikkei 225 increased 443.67 points or 2.62% to 17,350.21.