Firm trade prevails in late afternoon session

Indian equity benchmarks continued their trade in green in the late afternoon session on account of buying in frontline blue chip counters taking cues from firm European counterparts. The sentiments got some support with the newly appointed Minister of State for Finance Santosh Gangwar’s statement that the government is confident of getting the much-delayed GST Bill passed in the upcoming Monsoon session of Parliament. Traders were seen piling position in Realty, FMCG and Power stocks while selling was witnessed in IT, TECK and Auto sector stocks. In scrip specific development, National Buildings Construction Corporation (NBCC) was trading firm after the Union Cabinet approved redevelopment of housing colonies in Delhi. Punjab National Bank (PNB) was trading in green after its housing finance subsidiary filed IPO papers with the market regulator. PNB Housing Finance, the subsidiary of PSU lender has filed draft red herring prospectus with SEBI for its Rs 2,500 crore initial public offer on July 5.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green while the European markets were trading on optimistic note. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading above the psychological 8,300 and 27,200 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was positive in the ratio of 1588:1029 while 148 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 27232.73, up by 65.86 points or 0.24% after trading in a range of 27148.68 and 27251.11. There were 15 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.00%, while Small cap index gained 0.39%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.30%, FMCG up by 0.89%, Power up by 0.56%, Bankex up by 0.47% and Consumer Durables up by 0.07% while, IT down by 1.48%, TECK down by 1.39%, Auto down by 0.34%, Oil & Gas down by 0.19% and Capital Goods down by 0.18% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Hindustan Unilever up by 2.82%, HDFC up by 2.51%, Power Grid Corporation up by 1.68%, Dr. Reddy’s Lab up by 1.54% and Cipla up by 1.51%.

On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 4.28%, Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone down by 1.68%, TCS down by 1.64%, Infosys down by 1.55% and ONGC down by 1.02% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, continuing its lead over China in pharmaceutical exports in 2015, India’s pharmaceutical exports surged to $12.54 billion from $11.66 billion in 2015 recording a growth of 7.55 percent. According to Ministry of Commerce & Industry, India moved ahead of China in all important markets such as US, European Union and Africa. However, China too increased its exports of pharma products from $6.59 billion to $6.94 billion with a growth of 5.3% during the same period. 

India's export of pharma products to the US jumped by 23.4 percent to $4.74 billion last year, while China's pharma exports to the US increased by 15 per cent to $ 1.34 billion in the same period. Besides United States, India also managed to beat China in terms of growth in the European Union and Africa with $1.5 billion and $3.04 billion, respectively. China's exports to EU and Africa showed a declining trend.

India is a global hub of generic medicines. Recently, a joint study of industry body ASSOCHAM and TechSci research had stated that export of pharmaceutical products from India is likely to cross $14. billion mark this year and may reach about $20 bn by 2020. However, delay in regulatory approvals in US, Russia, Africa and others may cut down export growth to almost half - from a 15 per cent CAGR growth level clocked in 2010-2014 to eight per cent during 2015-2020.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8341.85, up by 5.90 points or 0.07% after trading in a range of 8317.70 and 8348.45. There were 24 stocks advancing against 27 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Hindalco up by 3.56%, Hindustan Unilever up by 2.91%, HDFC up by 2.43%, Power Grid Corporation up by 1.71% and Cipla up by 1.58%.

On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 4.15%, HCL Tech down by 2.95%, Zee Entertainment down by 2.63%, Bharti Infratel down by 2.29% and Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone down by 2.12% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading mostly in green; KOSPI Index increased 20.96 points or 1.07% to 1,974.08, Taiwan Weighted increased 65.16 points or 0.76% to 8,640.91 and Hang Seng increased 211.63 points or 1.03% to 20,706.92.

On the other hand, Nikkei 225 decreased 102.75 points or 0.67% to 15,276.24 and Shanghai Composite decreased 0.44 points or 0.01% to 3,016.85. Indonesia and Malaysian stock market were closed on account of national holiday.

The European markets were trading in green; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 93.27 points or 1.44% to 6,556.86, France’s CAC increased 65.69 points or 1.61% to 4,150.99 and Germany’s DAX increased 102.78 points or 1.1% to 9,476.04.