Markets extend gains; Nifty regains 8,200 mark

Extending their initial gains, Indian equity bourses were trading firm in early noon deals with frontline gauges recapturing their crucial 8,200 (Nifty) and 26,700 (Sensex) levels on the back of buying by funds and retail investors amid firm cues from the Asian markets. Sentiment remained upbeat with Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das’ statement that the country’s GDP growth is likely to touch 8 per cent in the current fiscal 2016-17, on the back of above normal monsoon. Das expressed hope that the likely passage of Goods and Services Tax (GST) bill in Parliament would add to the business sentiment and will further help in country’s growth. Traders also took some encouragement with report that quick progress of monsoon in last one-two days has taken the crucial weather system to many new regions and is expected to intensify in the days ahead. Some support also came with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj’s statement that India has received $55 billion in FDI in the last two years, noting enhanced economic engagement with countries across the world has been a major priority area of the government’s foreign policy. She said, it is an increase of 43% compared to the time when UPA was in power. Global cues too remained supportive with Asian markets trading mostly higher, as fears that Britain would vote to leave the European Union abated a little, aiding a recovery in both sterling and investor risk appetite.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 26743.35, up by 117.44 points or 0.44% after trading in a range of 26447.88 and 26752.18. There were 20 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was flat, while Small cap index was up by 0.25%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 1.63%, Realty up by 1.58%, TECK up by 1.44%, Capital Goods up by 0.91% and Consumer Durables up by 0.81%, while Bankex down by 0.16% and Power down by 0.06% were the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Hero MotoCorp up by 1.82%, TCS up by 1.79%, Infosys up by 1.67%, ONGC up by 1.54% and Bajaj Auto up by 1.51%. On the flip side, Axis Bank down by 1.06%, Asian Paints down by 0.87%, Lupin down by 0.60%, Coal India down by 0.51% and ICICI Bank down by 0.48% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Following NITI Aayog’s sectoral presentations to Prime Minister Narendra Modi last Month, which highlighted sluggishness in many infrastructure areas, Narendra Modi has set targets for infrastructure sectors and the same has been communicated to ministries of railways, roads, ports, civil aviation and others, with detailed timelines. Modi has set targets with an aim to step up infrastructure investment and speed up execution and said that the targets are to be delivered by end of the financial year to effect visible change on ground.

Prime Minister has identified 26 action points under 12 heads for roads and 36 action points for railways under about a dozen heads that need quick action by ministries to implement them in a time-bound manner.  These will now be regularly monitored by NITI Aayog and reviewed by the Prime Minister himself on a quarterly basis.

Under the targets set, the Indian Railways has been asked to increase the total lines commissioned from 7-8 km per day to 10 km per day by financial year 2016-17 and 15 km per day by financial year 2018-19. Modi has asked the ministry of road transport and highways to finalise highway network expansion and operations plan for next three years by September this year, while accelerating the rate of construction of roads in the North-East by six months to November 2016. Modi has also asked the ministries for roads and finance to speed up finalisation of PPP renegotiation framework and public contracts bill by September 2016.

Similar targets have been set for others as well, such as the number of villages that have to be electrified where the deadlines range from three months to up to three years for different key actions. Further, some big-ticket interventions including raising long-term funding for road projects, developing a contractor rating system that would incentivise early project completion, bringing about organisational reforms in Indian Railways, improvement in governance structure by setting up an independent regulator to correct tariff imbalance in railways.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8201.40, up by 31.20 points or 0.38% after trading in a range of 8107.35 and 8204.00. There were 32 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tech Mahindra up by 2.38%, HCL up by 2.36%, Hero MotoCorp up by 1.87%, TCS up by 1.83% and Ultratech Cement up by 1.61%. On the flip side, Axis Bank down by 1.11%, Asian Paints down by 1.07%, Zee Entertainment down by 0.63%, ICICI Bank down by 0.63% and Lupin down by 0.57% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 9.18 points or 0.57% to 1,633.36, KOSPI Index increased 27.72 points or 1.42% to 1,981.12, Taiwan Weighted increased 57.84 points or 0.68% to 8,625.92, Nikkei 225 increased 365.64 points or 2.34% to 15,965.30 and Hang Seng increased 366.33 points or 1.82% to 20,536.31, while Shanghai Composite decreased 3.62 points or 0.13% to 2,881.49 and Jakarta Composite decreased 2.04 points or 0.04% to 4,833.10.