Markets trade in range holding their gains

Indian markets after paring some of their early gains continue to trade in a range in the noon session of the day, with benchmarks acquiring a range and moving cautiously though retaining gains of around half a percent. Sensex was holding over 25950 mark while the Nifty was slightly lower from its crucial psychological mark of 7950. The rupee depreciation against the US dollar too was keeping the market gains in check. The domestic currency rally halted with decline in most of the other Asian currencies against the dollar.Also, the European stock markets that rose at the start of trading ahead of the European Central Bank (ECB) outcome of its latest monetary policy gathering, too have given up their gains and were weighing down the sentiments. Back on street, though most of the sectoral gauges were trying to maintain their gains, IT pack continues to reel in red after Wipro reported weaker-than-expected earnings in the fourth quarter, Infosys too has lost its pace and was witnessing profit taking, trading near lows of the day. On the other hand, the banking pack continues to move higher led by the ICICI Bank on some report that the Reserve Bank of India has trimmed the list of firms whose loans need to be provisioned for. The rules which are likely to be applicable for the fourth quarter are expected to boost fourth quarter earnings of non-performing asset (NPA) saddled banks.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 25961.34, up by 117.16 points or 0.45% after trading in a range of 25907.42 and 26080.07. There were 18 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices have turned mixed; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.09%, while Small cap index was up by 0.01%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Bankex up by 2.65%, PSU up by 1.74%, Oil & Gas up by 1.15%, Metal up by 0.65%, Consumer Durables up by 0.25%, while TECK down by 1.09%, IT down by 1.08%, FMCG down by 0.95%, Power down by 0.67%, Realty down by 0.56% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ICICI Bank up by 6.57%, SBI up by 4.64%, Axis Bank up by 3.07%, Coal India up by 2.23% and Tata Motors up by 1.79%. On the flip side, Wipro down by 6.49%, BHEL down by 2.45%, ITC down by 1.85%, Infosys down by 1.44% and Bajaj Auto down by 1.27% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, with an aim to take forward India-Bhutan friendship treaty, the government gave its approval for signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and Bhutan on technical cooperation in the field of capacity building, benchmarking and bilateral exchange in infrastructure engineering. This will provide an umbrella for educational, scientific and technical research and environment protection.

Through this MoU, the Central Public Works Department (CPWD), a construction major under the Urban Development Ministry, will gain experience in construction of roads on hills which will be helpful in Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and various States of North-East Region. The CPWD also expects to garner some road construction projects in Bhutan.

India and Bhutan have long standing diplomatic, economic and cultural relations with each other. The India-Bhutan friendship treaty signed on February, 2007 also strengthens the mutual relations. During the PM's visit to Bhutan in June 2014, the two sides agreed to continue close coordination and cooperation in areas relating to their national interest.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7937.45, up by 22.70 points or 0.29% after trading in a range of 7924.70 and 7978.45. There were 24 stocks advancing against 27 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ICICI Bank up by 6.47%, Bank Of Baroda up by 5.90%, SBI up by 4.56%, Axis Bank up by 2.81% and BPCL up by 2.32%. On the flip side, Wipro down by 6.51%, Bharti Infratel down by 3.68%, BHEL down by 2.78%, ITC down by 2.07% and Ultratech Cement down by 1.95% were the top losers.

All the Asian markets barring the Chinese index were trading in green; FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was up by 8.01 points or 0.47% to 1,716.92, KOSPI Index gained 16.27 points or 0.81% to 2,022.10, Jakarta Composite was up by 26.37 points or 0.54% to 4,902.97, Taiwan Weighted was higher by 54.17 points or 0.64% to 8,568.65, Hang Seng gained 385.94 points or 1.82% to 21,622.25 and Nikkei 225 surged by 457.08 points or 2.7% to 17,363.62.

On the other hand Shanghai Composite declined by 19.69 points or 0.66% to 2,952.89

European markets were showing mixed trend, Germany’s DAX increased by 8.76 points or 0.08% to 10,430.05, while UK’s FTSE 100 declined by 5.9 points or 0.09% to 6,404.36 and France’s CAC was lower by 3.5 points or 0.08% to 4,588.42.