Firm trade prevails in late afternoon session

Indian equity benchmarks continued their firm trade in the late afternoon session on account of buying in front line blue chip counters taking cues from global counterparts. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex and the Nifty 50 index, both, touched their highest level in nearly eleven months during the trade. The sentiments got some support with NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Arvind Panagariya’s statement that the government has put the economy on the path of reform to achieve a high growth trajectory though there are significant lags between policy decisions and outcomes which need to be addressed. Additional support came after the India Meteorological Department (IMD) reported that around 89 percent of the country has received normal and excess rainfall, owing to a good amount of monsoon in several parts, while large parts of Gujarat have recorded deficiency of more than half. Traders were seen piling position in Metal, Realty and Auto sector stocks. In scrip specific development, Dishman Pharmaceuticals and Chemicals was trading in green after the company announced that US drug regulator’s inspection of the firm’s Bavla facility in Gujarat was successfully completed on July 08, 2016. Bajaj Finance was trading in green after the company stated that its board of directors will consider stock-split and bonus issue proposals at a meeting scheduled on July 26, 2016.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading in green while the European markets were trading on optimistic note. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading above the psychological 8,450 and 27,500 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was positive in the ratio of 1731:895 while 157 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 27595.04, up by 468.14 points or 1.73% after trading in a range of 27358.23 and 27622.73. There were 29 stocks advancing against 1 stock declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 1.51%, while Small cap index gained 0.90%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 2.23%, Realty up by 2.16%, Auto up by 2.11%, PSU up by 1.99% and Bankex up by 1.96%.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Motors up by 4.13%, Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone up by 4.11%, ICICI Bank up by 3.37%, Coal India up by 2.94% and NTPC up by 2.58%.

On the flip side, Axis Bank down by 0.44% is the top loser.

Meanwhile, the world’s top 20 economies in a meeting ahead of the big summit later this year agreed to improve international trade governance in view of the global slowdown due to increasing anti-trade measures that have become more universal since 2009. G20 Trade Ministers said in statement released following two-day meeting at Shanghai, G20 nations, which account for 85 per cent of the world trade, would remain committed to an open global economy, and will further work towards trade liberalisation and facilitation.

The meeting endorsed the G20 strategy for Global Trade Growth, in which the economies will lead by example to lower trade costs, harness trade and investment policy coherence, boost trade in services, enhance trade finance, promote e-commerce development and address trade and development. G20 economies also vowed to support low-income countries (LICs) to participate more in global value chains (GVCs) to drive global trade growth. It further stated that, the economies would support policies to allow firms of all sizes, including small-and-medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), in countries with different developing levels to participate in and fully utilise GVCs.

According to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) statistics, global trade growth has slowed significantly since 2008, from an average of over 7% per annum between 1990 and 2008, to less than 3% between 2009 and 2015. Last year marked the fourth consecutive year with global trade growth below 3%. Besides, the World Bank last month cut its forecast for the global economy this year, predicting it will expand 2.4 percent, down from the 2.9 percent it expected in January.

The WTO unveiled a new trade-related index called the World Trade Outlook Indicator (WTOI), which is designed to provide real time information on trends in global trade. The current reading suggested that trade growth will remain weak into the third quarter of 2016.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8456.35, up by 133.15 points or 1.60% after trading in a range of 8407.05 and 8467.70. There were 49 stocks advancing against 2 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone up by 4.01%, Tata Motors up by 3.72%, Tata Motors - DVR up by 3.58%, ICICI Bank up by 3.24% and Bank of Baroda up by 3.10%.

On the flip side, HCL Tech down by 0.63% and Axis Bank down by 0.30% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading in green; FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 6.42 points or 0.39% to 1,650.96, Shanghai Composite increased 6.82 points or 0.23% to 2,994.92, KOSPI Index increased 25.44 points or 1.3% to 1,988.54, Jakarta Composite increased 83.7 points or 1.68% to 5,055.28, Taiwan Weighted increased 145.56 points or 1.68% to 8,786.47, Hang Seng increased 316.33 points or 1.54% to 20,880.50 and Nikkei 225 increased 601.84 points or 3.98% to 15,708.82.

The European markets were trading in green; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 35.97 points or 0.55% to 6,626.61, France’s CAC increased 46.72 points or 1.11% to 4,237.40 and Germany’s DAX increased 127.42 points or 1.32% to 9,757.08.