Benchmarks continue firm trade in late afternoon session

Indian equity benchmarks continued their firm trade in the late afternoon session on account of buying in frontline blue chip counters. Asian markets however exhibited volatile trade as US Federal Reserve policy decision later in the day and Brexit worries kept investors on edge, though China took in stride MSCI’s decision not to include domestic Chinese equities in its indexes. Investors took encouragement with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s statement after a meeting of Empowered Committee of state FMs on the long awaited indirect tax reform, that every state has either supported or accepted the idea of the pan-India Goods and Services Tax (GST) except Tamil Nadu. Traders were seen piling position in Capital Goods, Power and PSU sector stocks. In scrip specific development, State Bank of India (SBI) and its associate banks State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur, State Bank of Mysore and State Bank of Travancore were trading firm amid Union Cabinet approving the proposed merger of associate banks with SBI. Aviation stocks like Jet Airways, SpiceJet, InterGlobe Aviation and Taneja Aerospace & Aviation were trading firm after the government approved its long-awaited Civil Aviation Policy, which contains various measures to boost the country’s under-penetrated aviation sector and boost connectivity across towns. Emami Infrastructure was locked at upper circuit limit on back of Calcutta High Court approval for merger of company’s subsidiaries with itself.

On the global front, the Asian markets were trading mostly in green while the European markets were trading on optimistic note. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading above the psychological 8,150 and 26,500 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was positive in the ratio of 1629:853 while 173 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 26549.09, up by 153.38 points or 0.58% after trading in a range of 26446.59 and 26559.06. There were 25 stocks advancing against 5 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.48%, while Small cap index up by 0.85%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Capital Goods up by 1.61%, Power up by 1.47%, PSU up by 1.14%, Oil & Gas up by 0.81% and Auto up by 0.54%.

The top gainers on the Sensex were SBI up by 2.89%, Bharti Airtel up by 2.59%, NTPC up by 2.50%, Larsen & Toubro up by 2.26% and Hero MotoCorp up by 1.77%.

On the flip side, Axis Bank down by 0.97%, Coal India down by 0.45%, ICICI Bank down by 0.39%, Dr. Reddy’s Lab down by 0.24% and Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.20% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, based on the recommendations of foreign investment promotion board (FIPB) in its 235th meeting held on May 20, 2016, the government has approved two foreign direct investment (FDI) proposals, including that of Aurobindo Pharma. The FDI proposal of Aurobindo Pharma is worth Rs 2.19 crore, while the one from Sterling Commerce Solutions India was for approval to act as an investing company for Curan Software International, Emptoris Technologies India, Kenexa Technologies and Rational Software Corporation (India), which are currently owned by overseas companies of IBM and are currently dormant.

FIPB has recommended another proposal from Holcim India worth Rs 3,400 crore for approval of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs. The proposal seeks approval for Ambuja Cements to acquire 24 per cent shares in its holding company, Holcim India.

Three FDI proposals were deferred including Mylan Laboratories, Vodafone India and Reckitt Benckiser (India). Besides, seven proposals were rejected which include Rizobactor Argentina, S.A, Indian Energy Exchange, Veritas (India), BMJ Group India, CevaSanteAnimale, Sharekhan and Exzatech Solutions.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8153.65, up by 44.80 points or 0.55% after trading in a range of 8123.15 and 8155.85. There were 38 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were SBI up by 3.15%, NTPC up by 2.53%, Bharti Airtel up by 2.45%, Larsen & Toubro up by 2.29% and Ambuja Cement up by 2.22%.

On the flip side, Bharti Infratel down by 3.19%, Aurobindo Pharma down by 1.03%, Axis Bank down by 0.81%, Eicher Motors down by 0.70% and Coal India down by 0.60% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading mostly in green; FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 1.17 points or 0.07% to 1,627.28, Taiwan Weighted increased 30.25 points or 0.35% to 8,606.37, Shanghai Composite increased 45.02 points or 1.58% to 2,887.21, Nikkei 225 increased 60.58 points or 0.38% to 15,919.58 and Hang Seng increased 79.99 points or 0.39% to 20,467.52.

On the other hand, Jakarta Composite decreased 15.23 points or 0.32% to 4,806.36 and KOSPI Index decreased 3.2 points or 0.16% to 1,968.83.

The European markets were trading in green; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 50.86 points or 0.86% to 5,974.39, France’s CAC increased 50.8 points or 1.23% to 4,181.13 and Germany’s DAX increased 65.17 points or 0.68% to 9,584.37.