Benchmarks gain momentum to trade in green

Indian equity benchmarks gained momentum erasing losses as buying appeared at the frontline counters that dragged the markets higher in the late afternoon session. Investors however remained cautious ahead of the key macroeconomic data and quarterly earnings by some more companies, to be released this week. Traders were seen piling position in Capital Goods, Realty and IT stocks while selling was witnessed in Metal, Auto and Oil & Gas sector stocks. Hectic buying activity was witnessed in sugar sector stocks after the Indian Sugar Mills Association stated that there was no need for imports as domestic sugar stocks were adequate. In scrip specific development, Suditi Industries was trading firm locked at upper circuit limit for the fourth consecutive trading session since it informed bourses on May 5 that the company and YouWeCan have associated to create a clothing line under the YWC label. On the other hand, Jaypee Infratech was trading in red after National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) directed Jaypee Group to hand over possession of Kalypso Court project in Noida by July 21, 2016, or pay penalty of Rs 5,000 per flat per day till the project is completed.

On the global front, the Asian markets were trading mostly in green while the European markets traded on optimistic note. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading above the psychological 7,850 and 25,700 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was positive in the ratio of 1239:1219 while 134 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 25766.42, up by 77.56 points or 0.30% after trading in a range of 25614.24 and 25787.94. There were 19 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.25%, while Small cap index up by 0.23%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Capital Goods up by 1.08%, Realty up by 0.59%, IT up by 0.55%, Bankex up by 0.52%, Consumer Durables up by 0.48% while, Metal down by 0.94%, Auto down by 0.85%, Oil & Gas down by 0.42%, PSU down by 0.25%, Power down by 0.23% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Dr. Reddy’s Lab up by 3.45%, Hindustan Unilever up by 2.34%, Axis Bank up by 2.16%, BHEL up by 1.57% and GAIL India up by 1.41%.

On the flip side, Tata Motors down by 3.19%, ONGC down by 1.35%, NTPC down by 0.98%, ITC down by 0.72% and Adani Ports & Special down by 0.56% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, inviting applications from merchant bankers to manage the offer for sale (OFS), the department of investment and public asset management (DIPAM) has said the government is planning to sell 15% stake in State Trading Corporation (STC).  The STC OFS could fetch about Rs 85 crore at current market prices.

The STC stake sale is in addition to over a dozen companies DIPAM has lined up for disinvestment in the current fiscal to raise 36,000 crore from minority stake sales in PSUs. It will raise another 20,500 crore from strategic stake sales. Other PSUs lined up for disinvestment include Oil India, NMDC, Coal India, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, Hindustan Aeronautics and Power Finance Corporation. Besides, DIPAM is in the process of appointing merchant bankers for stake sales in National Fertilisers (15%) and Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilisers (5%), Oil India (10%) and NMDC (10%).

In April, the government kick-started its disinvestment process for the current fiscal with 11.36 percent stake sale in state-controlled hydropower producer NHPC at Rs 21.75 per share through an offer for sale which was likely to fetch the exchequer over Rs 2,700 crore.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7884.15, up by 18.10 points or 0.23% after trading in a range of 7837.70 and 7888.15. There were 29 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Dr. Reddy’s Lab up by 3.65%, Hindustan Unilever up by 2.42%, Axis Bank up by 2.24%, BHEL up by 1.61% and GAIL India up by 1.41%.

On the flip side, Tata Motors down by 3.15%, Tata Motors - DVR down by 2.80%, Hindalco down by 2.02%, Power Grid down by 1.43% and Eicher Motors down by 1.40% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Shanghai Composite increased 0.48 points or 0.02% to 2,832.59, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 3.83 points or 0.23% to 1,636.02, KOSPI Index increased 14.69 points or 0.75% to 1,982.50, Taiwan Weighted increased 24.46 points or 0.3% to 8,156.29, Hang Seng increased 85.87 points or 0.43% to 20,242.68 and Nikkei 225 increased 349.16 points or 2.15% to 16,565.19.

On the other hand, Jakarta Composite decreased 1.5 points or 0.03% to 4,747.81.

The European markets were trading in green; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 46.16 points or 0.75% to 6,160.97, France’s CAC increased 31.21 points or 0.72% to 4,354.02 and Germany’s DAX increased 61.27 points or 0.61% to 10,041.76.