Market strengthens in late noon trade

Indian equity markets strengthened with major averages gaining over half a percent on value buying activities by markets participants. Some support also came after finance ministry announced that it has initiated the process of constituting a monetary policy committee (MPC), bringing into force the relevant amendments in the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Act from Monday. The local bourses were getting some support with good going in regional markets which were trading mostly in green, despite the UK’s decision to leave the European Union continued to unnerve investors.

Back home, most of the sectoral indices on BSE were trading in green, while in scrip specific development, shares of Gujarat Gas gained 10 per cent after oil regulator Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board granted the company permission to set up operations for gas distribution in Ahmadabad.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 26540.68, up by 137.72 points or 0.52% after trading in a range of 26378.46 and 26542.05. There were 21 stocks advancing against 7 stocks declining on the index, while 2 stocks remained unchanged.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.56%, while Small cap index added 0.93%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were FMCG up by 1.20%, Metal up by 1.10%, Capital Goods up by 1.08%, PSU up by 0.78%, Oil & Gas up by 0.75% while, IT down by 0.48%, Consumer Durables down by 0.15%, TECK down by 0.14% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Lupin up by 2.58%, Hindustan Unilever increase by 2.20%, ITC up by 1.64%, Larsen & Toubro up by 1.44% and Bharti Airtel up by 1.38%. On the flip side, Tata Motors declined by 1.32%, Wipro was down by 0.87%, GAIL India down by 0.79%, TCS down by 0.57% and Infosys down by 0.43% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the much awaited 7th Pay Commission has entered into final lap of finalization as the Empowered Committee of Secretaries, headed by Cabinet Secretary P K Sinha, formed to review 7th Pay Commission’s recommendations has submitted its report and the Cabinet is all set to take up the recommendations on June 29.  Finance Secretary Ashok Lavasa has said that “the committee very recently had their last meeting. They have taken a final decision. Now, we are waiting for the minutes of the meeting. We will soon draft a cabinet note based on the report”.

Earlier in January, the government had set up a high-powered panel headed by Cabinet Secretary to process the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission which will have bearing on the remuneration of nearly 50 lakh central government employees and 58 lakh pensioners.

The Seventh Pay Commission has announced 23.55% increase in pay and allowances of serving central government employees and 24% increase in pension of retired officers.  However, the government is likely to go for a lower increase and also delay the implementation of the increase in allowances. The total outgo if this award is implemented from January 1, 2016, is pegged at Rs 1.02 lakh crore, providing a bid demand boost to the economy.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8131.65, up by 36.95 points or 0.46% after trading in a range of 8086.85 and 8133.50. There were 35 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Idea Cellular up by 3.84%, Bharti Infratel up by 2.96%, Lupin up by 2.65%, Eicher Motors up by 2.43% and Bosch up by 2.36%. On the flip side, Tata Motors - DVR down by 1.94%, Tata Motors down by 1.35%, HCL Tech. down by 1.19%, Zee Entertainment down by 0.81% and Ambuja Cement down by 0.75% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 0.03 points or 0% to 1,629.55, KOSPI Index rose by 9.37 points or 0.49% to 1,936.22, Nikkei 225 was up by 13.93 points or 0.09% to 15,323.14, Shanghai Composite increased 17.06 points or 0.59% to 2,912.76, Jakarta Composite jumped 36.6 points or 0.76% to 4,872.65, Taiwan Weighted was up by 46.64 points or 0.55% to 8,505.51,while Hang Seng decreased by 104.12 points or 0.51% to 20,123.18