Markets continue to trade in fine fettle in early noon session

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade in high spirit in early noon session on account of sustained buying by funds and retail investors in the blue chip counters. Sentiment got boost with Economic affairs secretary Shaktikanta Das’ statement that the India’s pace of economic expansion is likely to exceed the government’s initial projection this year i.e. 7.6%, accelerating to about 8% if the country receives normal levels of seasonal rainfall. He further said that a good forecast for the monsoon and host of other factors is likely to give nation’s economy a boost. Sentiment further improved with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley exuding confidence in getting the GST Bill passed in the upcoming monsoon session. Jaitley said that he has spoken to the chief ministers of all states, including those ruled by the UPA and the Congress, and that they are a “strong supporter” of the idea. Further, some support also came following exit polls results, which showed BJP likely to win Assam elections for the first time. Besides, a firm trend in other Asian markets and overnight gains in the US too supported markets sentiment.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green, after a rebound in technology giant Apple Corp and as oil prices hovered near a high for the year. Back home, in scrip specific development, share of Motherson Sumi rallied over 7% after the company reported 21.65% rise in its consolidated net profit figures at Rs 413.72 crore for the quarter ended March 2016 against Rs 340.10 crore in the same quarter last year. Meanwhile, shares of public sector oil marketing companies were trading higher on the back of hike in prices of petrol by 83 paise per liter and diesel rates by Rs 1.26 per liter.

The market breadth was positive as 1256 stocks were advancing while 929 were declining.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 25810.31, up by 157.08 points or 0.61% after trading in a range of 25741.19 and 25830.06. There were 20 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.61%, while Small cap index up by 0.40%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.50%, Oil & Gas up by 1.41%, Capital Goods up by 1.25%, Consumer Durables up by 0.98% and IT up by 0.57%, while Power down by 0.26% and FMCG down by 0.02% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ONGC up by 3.55%, Axis Bank up by 2.82%, HDFC up by 2.76%, GAIL India up by 2.01% and Larsen & Toubro up by 1.54%. On the flip side, NTPC down by 1.71%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.19%, SBI down by 0.85%, Tata Motors down by 0.56% and Adani Ports &Special down by 0.48% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, oil marketing companies (OMCs) have hiked prices of petrol and diesel by 83 paisa per litre and Rs 1.26 per litre respectively, in line with global trends. The price changes will be effective from midnight of May 16 and 17.

Post the revision, Petrol in Delhi will cost Rs 63.02 per litre from midnight as against Rs 62.19 per litre currently. Similarly, diesel will cost Rs 51.67 per litre as against Rs 50.95 per litre at present. The hike comes on the back of an increase of Rs 1.06 and Rs 2.94 per litre on petrol and diesel respectively on May 1.

State-owned fuel retailers IOC, Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) revise rates of the fuel on 1st and 16th of every month based on the average oil price and the foreign exchange rate in the preceding fortnight.

The oil companies have said that the current level of international product prices of petrol and diesel and the rupee-US Dollar exchange rate warrant increase in price of petrol and diesel, the impact of which is being passed on to the consumers with this price revision.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7907.40, up by 46.65 points or 0.59% after trading in a range of 7889.20 and 7914.10. There were 32 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ONGC up by 3.68%, HDFC up by 2.95%, Axis Bank up by 2.85%, BPCL up by 2.28% and GAIL India up by 2.05%. On the flip side, NTPC down by 1.93%, Bank of Baroda down by 1.30%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.22%, Tata Motors - DVR down by 0.87% and ACC down by 0.77% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; KOSPI Index increased 0.15 points or 0.01% to 1,968.06, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 10.91 points or 0.67% to 1,632.12, Taiwan Weighted increased 72.88 points or 0.9% to 8,140.48, Hang Seng increased 123.6 points or 0.62% to 20,007.55 and Nikkei 225 increased 148.78 points or 0.9% to 16,615.18, while Jakarta Composite decreased 5.41 points or 0.11% to 4,726.15 and Shanghai Composite decreased 2.84 points or 0.1% to 2,848.02.