Benchmarks continue firm trade in late afternoon session

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade in green in the late afternoon session on account of buying in frontline blue chip counters. Investors however maintained cautious approach as India Ratings and Research stated that the economic growth of the country is expected to be 7.5% in 2015-16, lower than advance estimate of 7.6% by the Central Statistics Office. Traders were seen piling position in Metal, IT and TECK stocks while selling was witnessed in Consumer Durables, Oil & Gas and Realty sector stocks. In scrip specific development, Hindalco Industries was trading firm after the aluminium-producer reported over 100% jump in its standalone net profit for the January-March quarter. The company reported a net profit of Rs 356 crore in Q4, supported by increase in profit margin and lower energy costs, compared to a net profit of Rs 160 crore in the corresponding quarter of last fiscal. On the other hand, Jubilant FoodWorks, which operates Domino’s Pizza and Dunkin Donuts’ outlets in India, tumbled after it reported weak earnings for the March quarter. The company’s same store sales growth (SSG), a key performance metrics, stood at 2.9% in Q4 compared to 6.6% in the corresponding quarter of last fiscal.

On the global front, the Asian markets were trading mostly in green while the European markets traded on mixed note. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading above the psychological 8,150 and 26,700 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was negative in the ratio of 1200:1247 while 198 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 26714.64, up by 61.04 points or 0.23% after trading in a range of 26623.33 and 26794.96. There were 17 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.29%, while Small cap index up by 0.43%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 2.34%, IT up by 1.33%, TECK up by 1.14%, Auto up by 0.99%, PSU up by 0.32% while, Consumer Durables down by 0.60%, Oil & Gas down by 0.40%, Realty down by 0.35%, Power down by 0.30%, FMCG down by 0.13% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Coal India up by 4.19%, Tata Motors up by 3.59%, Hero MotoCorp up by 3.05%, SBI up by 1.89% and TCS up by 1.75%.

On the flip side, BHEL down by 4.49%, HDFC down by 2.13%, Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone down by 1.64%, Asian Paints down by 1.55% and Tata Steel down by 1.43% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, industry body Assocham, coming down strongly against comments made against RBI governor Raghuram Rajan, by some sections of the government has said that politicans should not make such adverse comments against a man with impeccable rack record and leave the decision to Prime Minister Modi to decide.

Assocham in a statement said that the post of RBI Governor should not be dragged into avoidable controversies unless serious offence has been committed by an incumbent, contending the central bank has played a pivotal role in bringing about a macroeconomic stability for India, making it the best among the emerging markets.

The chamber further stated that “Surely, it is the prerogative of the government to appoint and re-appoint a person to the coveted position of RBI Governor, but the kind of media statements being issued about Dr Raghuram Rajan by senior politicians do not augur well for the country’s financial system, which is passing through a challenging time because of unprecedented levels of stressed assets in the banks.

It also said that, while one can argue about the inflation staying an obsession of the RBI, the central bank has been mandated by the targets of inflation set by an agreement set by the Finance Ministry. Besides, the RBI has been talking about sustainable growth trajectory, rather than infusing a bubble into an over-leveraged economy. The industry body said that it would only urge restraint on the part of senior politicians and others and leave it to the good wisdom and judgement of Prime Minister Narendra Modi so far as the re-appointment of the RBI Governor is concerned.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8170.60, up by 13.95 points or 0.17% after trading in a range of 8150.80 and 8200.00. There were 26 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Hindalco up by 11.64%, Coal India up by 4.16%, Tata Motors up by 3.47%, Tata Motors - DVR up by 3.17% and Hero MotoCorp up by 2.93%.

On the flip side, BHEL down by 4.41%, Zee Entertainment down by 2.26%, HDFC down by 2.01%, Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone down by 1.67% and Asian Paints down by 1.62% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Shanghai Composite increased 1.41 points or 0.05% to 2,822.45, Jakarta Composite increased 23.89 points or 0.5% to 4,838.62, Hang Seng increased 52.62 points or 0.26% to 20,629.39, Taiwan Weighted increased 72.26 points or 0.85% to 8,535.87 and Nikkei 225 increased 233.18 points or 1.39% to 17,068.02.

On the other hand, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 6.46 points or 0.39% to 1,630.73 and KOSPI Index decreased 2.04 points or 0.1% to 1,967.13.

The European markets were trading mixed; Germany’s DAX increased 27.83 points or 0.27% to 10,314.14 while, France’s CAC decreased 5.01 points or 0.11% to 4,509.73. UK’s FTSE was closed today on account of ‘May Bank Holiday’.