Benchmarks turn choppy in noon deals; Sensex holds 25,300 mark

Erasing almost all of their gains, Indian equity benchmarks have turned choppy in noon deals but somehow managed to keep their head above water in noon deals. Traders remained on sidelines ahead of the upcoming expiry of May derivative contracts. Prevailing caution ahead of the US Fed move and its subsequent impact on movement of the dollar, is also keeping the price gains in check at D-street. Firm trend in Asian markets were providing some support to domestic markets with most of the Asian indices were trading in green after a solid session on Wall Street, while the dollar moved away from recent highs though remained supported as investors bet that the US Federal Reserve was on track to raise rates sooner rather than later. However, Japan’s Nikkei stock index extended losses, shedding around half a percent on worrying economic data and reports that Japan’s sales tax increase would proceed as planned.

Back home, barometer gauges, Sensex and Nifty, both were trading flat with positive bias, gyrating above psychological 25,300 and 7,750 levels respectively. The optimism sensed on account of gains of Information Technology with Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad stating that the Centre will continue to take up the issue of hike in visa fees for Indian software professionals working in the US at the highest level with that government. Aviation stocks flying high, as the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has reported that the number of passengers flown by the Indian airlines stood at 81.09 million in the January-December period last year, a jump of 20.34 percent from 67.38 million they had flown in 2014.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 25313.10, up by 11.20 points or 0.04% after trading in a range of 25300.48 and 25519.26. There were 13 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.26%, while Small cap index up by 0.20%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were FMCG up by 1.57%, Telecom up by 1.08%, Consumer Durables up by 0.80%, Power up by 0.67% and Utilities up by 0.67%, while Realty down by 0.78%, IT down by 0.61%, TECK down by 0.34%, Oil & Gas down by 0.26% and Healthcare down by 0.23% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ITC up by 3.59%, Adani Ports &Special up by 1.57%, Hindustan Unilever up by 1.04%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.04% and Tata Motors up by 0.86%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 2.14%, Bajaj Auto down by 1.46%, ONGC down by 1.46%, Sun Pharma down by 1.38% and Infosys down by 1.03% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, with an aim to mobilise additional resources to fund the construction of highways, the government has come up with a plan to raise up to Rs 60,000 crore, over the next six months, by offering as many as 104 existing tollable projects on lease to private players including global funds with patient capital.

The ministry of road transport and highways has already sent the proposal to lease highway projects via the toll-operate-transfer (TOT) route to the Prime Minister’s Office for approval and the proposal is likely to be considered by the Cabinet soon. Once the Cabinet gives its nod, global tenders would be floated to lease out the projects. Around 20 global funds with long-term capital including Nomura, Macquarie and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority have shown interest in these projects, but as they are unlikely to invest in a single project, proposal has been made to bunch 5-6 projects, together valued at around $150 million.

Under the proposed model, bidders will make an upfront payment to the government and recoup their investments and returns by collecting toll over a 20-year lease period. After the lease tenure expires, these projects would return to the government’s fold. Furthermore, the investors will have the opportunity to borrow funds for the upfront payment by securitizing the toll.

The 104 projects identified for the plan fetch a combined toll revenue of Rs 4,000-5,000 crore annually and the entire money generated from the TOT plan would be ploughed back for development and re-development of highways.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7763.45, up by 13.75 points or 0.18% after trading in a range of 7756.30 and 7820.60. There were 30 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ITC up by 3.57%, Bharti Infratel up by 1.96%, Tata Power up by 1.87%, Power Grid up by 1.86% and Ambuja Cement up by 1.72%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 1.66%, Sun Pharma down by 1.35%, ONGC down by 1.34%, Bajaj Auto down by 1.10% and SBI down by 1.08% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI rose 0.38 points or 0.02% to 1,629.17, Hang Seng gained 6.73 points or 0.03% to 19,858.93, KOSPI Index increased 7.58 points or 0.39% to 1,955.25, Shanghai Composite jumped 16.19 points or 0.57% to 2,841.67, Jakarta Composite added 28.81 points or 0.61% to 4,740.68 and Taiwan Weighted was up by 213.18 points or 2.62% to 8,344.44. On the flip side, Nikkei 225 was down by 81.75 points or 0.49% to 16,654.60.