Bulls tighten grip on Dalal Street in early deals

Buoyed by rally across the globe, Indian equity markets have made a gap up start on the first day of the July F&O series with Nifty recapturing its crucial 8,300 level. The sentiments remained ebullient from World Bank’s statement that India is a bright spot. The World Bank president has said that he is pleased with the progress that's been made in six priority areas. He added that Prime Minister Modi and his entire Cabinet have set extremely difficult and important targets. Traders shrugged off weak Core sector data. The production index for eight core industries grew 2.8% in May, against a robust 8.5% in April, pulled down by crude oil, refinery products, steel and cement, show data issued by the ministry of commerce and industry on Thursday.

Global cues too remained supportive with Asian counters trading mostly in green at this point of time, as investors resumed buying in riskier assets after near term worries post the Brexit continued to ease. Back home, sentiments got some support with report that foreign investors were net buyers in equities worth Rs 1,107 crore on Thursday, as per provisional stock exchange data. Appreciation in Indian rupee too aided sentiments; the Indian rupee strengthened 9 paise against the US dollar in early trade at 67.42 from its previous close of 67.51. On the sectoral front, stocks related to auto sector remained on buyers’ radar on hopes of good sales number for the month of June. Meanwhile, Mahanagar Gas has made a spectacular debut with a gain of around 30% from its listing price of Rs 421 per share.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 27188.27, up by 188.55 points or 0.70% after trading in a range of 27061.40 and 27220.01. There were 23 stocks advancing against 6 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.95%, while Small cap index gained 0.83%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were FMCG up by 1.35%, Healthcare up by 1.23%, Basic Materials up by 1.11%, Oil & Gas up by 1.06% and Capital Goods up by 0.98%, while there were no losers on the BSE sectoral front.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ITC up by 2.59%, Dr. Reddys Lab up by 2.53%, Tata Steel up by 2.52%, Axis Bank up by 1.51% and Lupin up by 1.15%. On the flip side, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.77%, Asian Paints down by 0.56%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.53%, TCS down by 0.45% and Adani Ports &Special down by 0.17% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, giving a major boost to India’s solar power ambition, the World Bank announced funding support of $1 billion for expansion of solar power capacity in India. The multi-lateral lender also signed an agreement with India-led International Solar Alliance (ISA), consisting of 121 countries to collaborate on increasing solar energy use across the world, with a goal to mobilize $1 trillion in investments by 2030. The agreement with ISA would help mobilise a global movement towards climate-friendly future. These combined investments for India would be the Bank’s largest financing of solar for any country till date.

The agreement signed in the presence of visiting World Bank President Jim Yong Kim, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and New and Renewable Energy Minister Piyush Goyal, entails the Bank to develop a road map to mobilise financing for development and deployment of affordable solar energy, and work with other multilateral development banks and financial institutions to support solar energy development. Further, India’s plans to triple the share of renewable energy by 2030 will both transform the country’s energy supply and have far-reaching global implications in the fight against climate change. Accordingly, the World Bank will help India meet its ambitious targets, especially around scaling up solar energy.

Separately, the central government has also signed an agreement for the $625 million Grid Connected Rooftop Solar Programme with the World Bank which will finance at least 400 mw of solar photovoltaic (PV) installations. Besides, the development of a $200 million Shared Infrastructure for Solar Parks Project under a public-private partnership model is also under preparation. The World Bank supported projects in the works include solar rooftop technology, infrastructure for solar parks, bringing innovative solar and hybrid technologies to market, and transmission lines for solar-rich states.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8343.25, up by 55.50 points or 0.67% after trading in a range of 8308.65 and 8346.35. There were 43 stocks advancing against 8 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Steel up by 2.76%, BHEL up by 2.66%, Dr. Reddys Lab up by 2.58%, ITC up by 2.38% and Bharti Infratel up by 2.13%. On the flip side, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.67%, TCS down by 0.63%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.60%, Asian Paints down by 0.54% and Zee Entertainment down by 0.35% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading in green; Shanghai Composite rose 5.6 points or 0.19% to 2,935.20, KOSPI Index surged 22.61 points or 1.15% to 1,992.96, Taiwan Weighted gained 76.19 points or 0.88% to 8,742.77, Nikkei 225 added 90.37 points or 0.58% to 15,666.29 and Hang Seng was up by 358.25 points or 1.75% to 20,794.37. On the flip side, Jakarta Composite decreased 23.03 points or 0.46% to 4,993.62 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was down by 5.16 points or 0.31% to 1,648.92.