Markets continue to trade firm in early noon session

Indian equity benchmarks continue to trade firm in early noon session due to bouts of value-buying by funds and retail investors and spell of short-covering amid caution ahead of release of key IIP numbers for April later in the day. Sentiments got a boost with report that a group of central and state government officials set up to frame the law for the proposed goods and services tax (GST) has submitted its final draft that could be taken up at a meeting of the empowered committee of state finance ministers next week. Some support also came in with the report that the foreign institutional investors were net buyers in equities worth Rs 234 crore on Thursday, as per provisional stock exchange data. However, gains were capped with private report that the annual consumer price inflation nudged up to 5.52% in May from April’s 5.39% on account of rising prices of vegetable, pulses and edible oils. Sentiment were also dented with the report that monsoon rains in India were 18 per cent below average in the week to June 8, as the onset of rainfall was delayed by nearly a week from its usual arrival on June 1, 2016.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly lower as investors remain edgy on worries regarding a UK referendum that could push Britain out of the European Union. Back home, the broader market traded in line with the benchmark indices with the BSE Midcap and Smallcap trading up by 0.38% and 0.67%, respectively.

In scrip specific development, share of Visa Steel hit its upper circuit limit on the BSE after the company sought shareholders approval to merge joint venture Visa Bao (VBL) in order to rationalise costs and secure raw material for its ferrochrome business.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 26892.80, up by 129.34 points or 0.48% after trading in a range of 26683.08 and 26972.06. There were 28 stocks advancing against 2 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.38%, while Small cap index gained 0.67%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Power up by 1.26%, Metal up by 0.98%, Capital Goods up by 0.78%, FMCG up by 0.68% and PSU up by 0.61%, while Consumer Durables down by 0.21% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were BHEL up by 3.26%, Lupin up by 1.44%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.41%, NTPC up by 1.16% and Adani Ports &Special up by 1.16%. On the flip side, Tata Motors down by 0.59% and Asian Paints down by 0.41% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, giving a big boost to the railways infrastructure, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu has said that Indian railways in the next five years will invest $140 billion in infrastructure sector. The minister added that the focus has been on infrastructure and among various sectors in infrastructure, transportation is the prominent one. He said that in order to boost economic growth, the country needs to invest 10-11 percent of GDP in infrastructure.

Minster said that Indian railways have invested Rs 94,000 crore and have decided to issue contract of Rs 40,000 crore for locomotives. In order to bring all the elements of infrastructure to increase the average speed of travel, Prabhu said that the Indian Railways was working on a 'mobility directory'  and added that 'We have finalised high speed railways project with an estimated cost of Rs one lakh crore and are in a process to bring semi high speed trains. Three dedicated freight corridors will also be developed.”

Prabhu said that Indian Railways is keen to form joint-venture with states to expedite implementation of projects. These joint ventures will act as corporate entity and will work independently to implement projects of their own and added that sixteen states have agreed to work.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8245.25, up by 41.65 points or 0.51% after trading in a range of 8179.05 and 8265.60. There were 44 stocks advancing against 6 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were BHEL up by 3.26%, Hindalco up by 2.80%, Yes Bank up by 1.86%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.83% and Lupin up by 1.57%. On the flip side, Tata Motors - DVR down by 1.45%, Tata Motors down by 0.65%, Bosch down by 0.55%, Asian Paints down by 0.38% and Aurobindo Pharma down by 0.33% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly lower; Hang Seng decreased 130.44 points or 0.61% to 21,167.44, Nikkei 225 decreased 82.63 points or 0.5% to 16,585.78, Jakarta Composite decreased 15.63 points or 0.32% to 4,861.16, KOSPI Index decreased 6.54 points or 0.32% to 2,017.63 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 5.13 points or 0.31% to 1,645.38, while Taiwan Weighted increased 35.58 points or 0.41% to 8,715.48.