Benchmarks magnify gains in noon deals

Buoyed by firm global cues, Indian equity benchmarks have extended their initial gains and are trading at high point of day’s trade, recapturing their crucial 25,800 (Sensex) and 7,900 (Nifty) levels. Moreover, exit polls which indicated BJP emerging victorious in the Assam assembly polls too boosted investors’ sentiment. Besides, appreciation in Indian rupee too aided sentiments. The rupee appreciated by 9 paise to 66.70 against the dollar in noon deals at the Interbank Foreign Exchange on increased selling of the US currency by exporters and banks.

A firm trend in other Asian markets aiding domestic markets. Asian shares recovered from two-month lows after a rebound in technology giant Apple Corp and oil price gains boosted Wall Street. Back home, shares of public sector oil marketing companies (OMCs) are trading higher after increasing prices of petrol by 83 paise per liter and dieael rates by Rs 1.26 per liter in order to align the domestic rates of the automobile fuels with global prices. Banking stocks too remained in action, as SBI chairwomen has called for the government to park surplus funds with banks instead of the RBI to make up for fund shortage.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 25875.95, up by 222.72 points or 0.87% after trading in a range of 25741.19 and 25880.50. There were 22 stocks advancing against 8 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.70%, while Small cap index up by 0.45%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Capital Goods up by 1.54%, Oil & Gas up by 1.52%, Realty up by 1.40%, Finance up by 1.03% and Consumer Discretionary Goods & Services up by 1.02%, while Power down by 0.03% was the lone losing index on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ONGC up by 3.55%, Axis Bank up by 3.29%, HDFC up by 3.18%, GAIL India up by 2.24% and Larsen & Toubro up by 1.91%. On the flip side, NTPC down by 1.28%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.21%, Adani Ports &Special down by 0.75%, SBI down by 0.73% and Bharti Airtel down by 0.28% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, buoyant about the country’s growth, Economic affairs secretary Shaktikanta Das has said that the India’s pace of economic expansion is likely to exceed the government’s initial projection this year, 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.

He said that with India’s weather office recently forecasting an above normal monsoon this year, the projection of a higher GDP growth for the country has improved. Das expects that the private sector investment this year to be far better than last year. He added that indicators such as automobile and cement sales showed a strong increase in the first quarter of this calendar year, indicating that economic activity is strengthening.

Furthermore, he said that India’s banks will be in a better position to lend and spur growth after meeting the central bank’s requirements to earmark funds to shield themselves against bad, or nonperforming, loans. He also said that the government has taken measures including infusing capital in the public sector banks and added that the problem of stressed assets which looked very grim last year now looks to be getting under control.

The government had projected GDP growth to be 7.6% for the last fiscal year, the provisional data for which is due on May 31. For the current financial year, the government has projected growth will be between 7% and 7.75%.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7927.95, up by 67.20 points or 0.85% after trading in a range of 7889.20 and 7929.10. There were 35 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ONGC up by 3.73%, Axis Bank up by 3.39%, HDFC up by 3.28%, GAIL India up by 2.35% and BPCL up by 2.33%. On the flip side, NTPC down by 1.32%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.27%, Bank Of Baroda down by 1.02%, Adani Ports & Special down by 0.78% and Tata Motors - DVR down by 0.76% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; KOSPI Index rose 0.15 points or 0.01% to 1,968.06, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 10.73 points or 0.66% to 1,631.94, Taiwan Weighted surged 72.88 points or 0.9% to 8,140.48, Hang Seng gained 115.1 points or 0.58% to 19,999.05 and Nikkei 225 was up by 186.4 points or 1.13% to 16,652.80. On the flip side, Shanghai Composite declined 3.5 points or 0.12% to 2,847.36 and Jakarta Composite was down by 1.27 points or 0.03% to 4,730.29.