Benchmarks continue to trade in green as June wholesale inflation soars to 1.62%

Indian equity benchmarks were trading in green in late noon session on account of buying in frontline blue chip counters after wholesale inflation data was released which soared to 1.62 per cent in June as against 0.79 per cent in May.  Market got some support with the cabinet approving a Rs12,000-crore outlay for Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) to impart skills to 1 crore people over the next four years (2016-20). However, investors remained cautious ahead of the announcement of the appointment of the next Reserve Bank of India governor, expected this week.

On global front, Asian shares held near eight-month high on Thursday but traded flat and ahead of Bank of England’s interest rate decision later in the day, as investors bet the Bank of England will cut rates in a pre-emptive strike to ward off a recession following the country's decision to leave the European Union.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 27872.19, up by 57.01 points or 0.20% after trading in a range of 27763.15 and 27907.61. There were 21 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.24%, while Small cap index added 0.70%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 1.51%, Bankex up by 1.16%, PSU up by 0.76%, Capital Goods up by 0.71%, Power up by 0.50% while, IT down by 0.14%, Oil & Gas down by 0.04%, TECK down by 0.04% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Maruti Suzuki up by 1.80%, ICICI Bank up by 1.78%, GAIL India up by 1.70%, Power Grid Corpn. up by 1.64% and SBI up by 1.63%. On the flip side, ONGC down by 1.75%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.53%, Sun Pharma Inds. down by 1.05%, Infosys down by 0.82% and Cipla down by 0.72% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in a bid to boost the skill development, the government has given its approval for an outlay of Rs 12000 crore under Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY), to impart skilling to one crore people over the next four years till 2020. The Scheme would move to a grant based model where the training and assessment cost would be directly reimbursed to training providers and assessment bodies in accordance with the Common Norms.

State Governments would be involved through a project based approach under the PMKVY with 25% of the total training targets, both financial and physical, being allocated under this stream of the Scheme. The financial amount/budget for achieving 25% of the total training targets of next phase of PMKVY would be directly allocated to the States.

PMKVY will provide fresh training to 60 lakh youths and certify skills of 40 lakh persons acquired non-formally under the Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL).The target allocation between fresh trainings and RPL will be flexible and interchangeable depending on functional and operational requirements.

Under the scheme, the government will provide financial support to trainees in the form of travel allowance, boarding and lodging costs. Post placement support would be given directly to the beneficiaries through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT). Besides, mobilization, monitoring and post training placement of trainees will be done through Rozgar Melas (placement camps) and Kaushal Shivirs (mobilization camps).  Disbursement of training cost to training partners will be linked to Aadhaar and biometrics for better transparency and targeting. Skill training would be done based on industry led standards aligned to the National Skill Qualification Framework (NSQF). Apart from catering to domestic skill needs, PMKVY will focus on skill training aligned with international standards for overseas employment, including in Gulf countries and Europe.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8540.95, up by 21.45 points or 0.25% after trading in a range of 8500.70 and 8550.95. There were 34 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bank Of Baroda up by 2.44%, Grasim Industries up by 2.21%, ICICI Bank up by 1.91%,  Ultratech Cement up by 1.90% and Maruti Suzuki up by 1.77%. On the flip side, ONGC down by 1.79%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.56%, Sun Pharma Inds. down by 1.20%, Infosys down by 0.83% and Tata Power down by 0.83% were the top loser

The Asian market were trading mixed, KOSPI Index increased 3.22 points or 0.16% to 2,008.77, Taiwan Weighted jumped 8.61 points or 0.1% to 8,866.36, Nikkei 225 climbed 154.46 points or 0.95% to 16,385.89, Hang Seng  was higher 204.91 points or 0.96% to 21,527.28.

On other hand, Jakarta Composite decreased 22.08 points or 0.43% to 5,111.85, Shanghai Composite was down  6.67 points or 0.22% to 3,054.02, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI declined 4.16 points or 0.25% to 1,656.23