Indian equities continue firm trade; Sensex above 17,600 level

Indian equities added gains to continue its firm trade in a narrow range in the late afternoon session on account of buying in frontline blue chip counters. Traders were seen piling up position in Consumer Durables, Oil & Gas and Capital Goods sector while selling was witnessed in IT and Health Care sector. Investors at large have now shifted their focus towards the RBI's quarterly monetary policy review meet scheduled in April, hoping that the central bank would employ some liquidity easing measures to stimulate economic growth. Also, all eyes are set on IT bellwether Infosys March Q4, 2012 result which the company will announce it on April 13, 2012, further giving the direction for the markets. Interest rate sensitive banking stocks gained for the third straight day on expectations that the country’s apex bank - Reserve Bank of India will start cutting interest rates in the coming months to prop up slowing economy. Also, realty stocks were firm on hopes that banks may cut home loan rates for new borrowers on expectation of RBI move, sparking hope of increased property sales in the country. In the scrip specific development, shares from the aviation space SpiceJet skyrocketed in the session after the airlines filed application with the Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) seeking permission to directly import aviation turbine fuel (ATF). Kingfisher was firm as the standoff between Kingfisher Airlines management and employees, agitating over delayed salaries, ended today with the protestors accepting the assurance given by the beleaguered carrier's promoter Vijay Mallya and deciding to withdraw their agitation.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading in green barring Nikkei 225 and Taiwan Weighted while the European markets were trading in green on optimistic note. On the home turf, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading above their psychological 5,350 and 17,600 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was in favor of advances in the ratio of 1709:961 while 109 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 17,638.20 up by 160.05 points or 0.92% after trading as high as 17,664.10 and as low as 17,570.27. There were 23 stocks advancing against 7 declines on the index.

The broader indices were trading on a positive note; the BSE Mid cap index surged 1.17% while Small cap soared 1.19%.

On the BSE sectoral space, Consumer Durables up 2.47%, Oil & Gas up 1.98%, Capital Goods up 1.89%, Metal up 1.70% and Bankex up 1.61% were the major gainers, while IT down 0.12% and Health Care down 0.08% were the only laggards in the space.

Hindalco Industries up 3.25%, Sterlite Industries up 2.83%, BHEL up 2.63%, ICICI Bank up 2.54% and RIL up 2.19% were the major gainers on the Sensex, while Hero MotoCorp down 1.57%, Maruti Suzuki down 1.19%, Sun Pharma down 0.83%, TCS down 0.65% and HUL down 0.38% were the major losers in the index.

Meanwhile, India aims to more than double its natural gas pipeline network over the next five years to 30,000 km to cope with the country's booming demand for cleaner energy supplies. The government aims to develop a National Gas Grid by 2017 to take natural gas to different markets across the length and breadth of India.

As per Oil Minister S Jaipal Reddy, the natural gas sector in India is on the verge of a takeoff which is desirable as it is an efficient fuel for power generation, a cheaper feedstock for industries, a cleaner alternative fuel for vehicles. Moreover, it leads to an improvement in the quality of life.

Natural gas consumption in India has grown at 14% a year over the last five years and currently has a network about 12,000 km of gas pipelines with a capacity to transport 230 mmscmd of gas. Right now 12,000 km of additional lines are under construction. 

With the government’s proposal to add another 7000 km, the network will increase to 30,000 km and the capacity will go up to 875 million standard cubic meters per day (mmscmd). This will lead to easier access and will help popularize the use of gas.

Given the fact that the production of domestic gas in India is limited, India is also looking at importing large quantities of liquefied natural gas (LNG). For this purpose it is also pursuing trans-national gas pipelines such as the 1800 km long Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) Gas Pipeline, in spite of the security hazards and a high threat perception. After more than 18 months of hard negotiations, the four participating countries are close to initializing the Gas Sale Purchase Agreement (GSPA).

The S&P CNX Nifty is currently trading at 5,371.25, higher by 53.35 points or 1.00% after trading as high as 5,378.75 and as low as 5,344.45. There were 39 stocks advancing against 11 declines on the index.

The top gainers on the Nifty were Cairn India up 4.72%, JP Associates up 4.60%, Hindalco Industries up 3.50%, Sterlite Industries up 3.24% and Sesa Goa up 2.91%.

Dr Reddy’s down 1.98%, Hero MotoCorp down 1.76%, Maruti Suzuki down 1.23%, TCS down 0.94% and Sun Pharma down 0.77% were the major losers on the index.

In the Asian space, Hang Seng climbed 1.31%, Jakarta Composite surged 1.48%, KLSE Composite rose 0.24%, Straits Times added 0.28% and Seoul Composite soared 0.99%. On the other hand, Nikkei 225 declined 0.59% and Taiwan Weighted sank 1.30%.

Meanwhile, markets in mainland China will remain closed for a three day public holiday starting Monday on account of Qingming Festival and will reopen on Thursday. Stock markets in Hong Kong will remain closed on Wednesday and Friday.

The European markets were trading in green as France’s CAC 40 inched up 0.01%, Germany’s DAX gain 0.05% and Britain’s FTSE 100 added 0.08%.