Markets continue to trade in fine fettle in early noon session

Indian equity markets continue to trade in fine fettle in early noon session on continued buying activities by both funds and retail investors, also positive cues from other Asian markets driven by a post-Brexit rally on hopes that central banks will step up stimulus measures bolstered sentiment here. A firm rupee as well as progress of monsoons further boosted sentiments. However, gains remained capped with RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan who warning against expecting too much from central banks, stated that it is wrong on their part also to always claim a ‘bazooka’ left up their sleeves. In scrip specific development, shares of Bosch slipped 2 per cent in trade after the company approved the buyback plan on Friday at a price not exceeding Rs 23,000, which was mere 1.75 per cent higher than its closing for the day.

On the global front, Asian shares shrugged off early losses and edged higher on Monday, while the Australian dollar was under pressure after no clear winner emerged from a weekend election.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 27360.58, up by 215.67 points or 0.79% after trading in a range of 27293.53 and 27370.87. There were 23 stocks advancing against 7 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.88%, while Small cap index added 1.15%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 2.00%, PSU up by 1.83%, Capital Goods up by 1.46%, Metal up by 1.34%, Realty up by 1.13% while, FMCG down by 0.87% was the lone losing index on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ONGC up by 4.61%, Adani Ports &Special up by 3.13%, Tata Motors up by 3.08%, ICICI Bank up by 2.52% and SBI up by 2.03%. On the flip side, ITC down by 2.20%, NTPC down by 0.83%, Hero MotoCorp down by 0.72%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.57% and Bajaj Auto down by 0.50% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the government has decided to reduce the prices for key fertilizers, Union Minister for chemicals and fertilizers Ananth Kumar has said that fertilizers like Diammonium Phosphate (DAP), Muriate of Potash (MOP) and Nitrogen Phosphate and Potash composition (NPK) prices have never come down in last 15 years and it was increasing, therefore the government of India has decided to reduce the price of all these three fertilizers by about Rs 4,000 per tonne.

The minister said that there was a long standing demand to reduce the price of DAP, MOP and NPK fertilizers. DAP price will be reduced by a minimum of Rs 2,000 per tonne this means that prices will be reduced by Rs 100-150 per 50 kg bag as well as MOP and NPK prices will be reduced by Rs 4,000 per tonne.

Ananth Kumar further said that Modi government is working towards providing the best to farmers and cited examples of Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana and Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana, among others. He said that neem-coated urea has ensured there is no shortage of urea across the country

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8388.20, up by 59.85 points or 0.72% after trading in a range of 8372.65 and 8394.80. There were 39 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ONGC up by 4.24%, Adani Ports & SEZ up by 3.33%, Tata Motors - DVR up by 3.24%, Tata Motors up by 3.19%, BHEL up by 2.73%. On the flip side, ITC down by 2.30%, Bosch down by 2.13%, Hero MotoCorp down by 1.11%, NTPC down by 1.08% and Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.78% were the top losers.

Asian market were trading mostly in green, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 7.95 points or 0.48% to 1,654.17, KOSPI Index increased 7.98 points or 0.4% to 1,995.30, Taiwan Weighted increased 22.34 points or 0.26% to 8,760.58, Shanghai Composite increased 53.7 points or 1.83% to 2,986.18, Nikkei 225 increased 87.86 points or 0.56% to 15,770.34, Hang Seng increased 319.12 points or 1.53% to 21,113.49.