Markets make a positive start in tandem with global indices

Indian markets in tandem with the global markets made a positive start on Friday morning, extending their gains from the last session, with Sensex surging past the crucial psychological level of 28000 in the very early deals, while Nifty continued to holding the 8550 level. Market men were getting support from the better than expected earnings announcement by the IT bellwether TCS after the market hours last day. The company reported a 9.4% rise in net profit during the first quarter, after new cloud computing and mobile services helped shore up revenue. However, sudden profit taking dragged the benchmarks mildly into red and traders turned cautious ahead of the other major result announcement from IT pack of Infosys, though Q1 is expected to be a good quarter for the company, with dollar revenue supported by currency tailwinds, however all eyes will be on its FY17 revenue guidance.

On the global front, the mood remained cheerful and after good closing of the US markets the Asian markets too were trading in green, taking encouragement with China's economy growing by 6.7 percent in the second quarter from a year earlier, slightly better than expected as the government stepped up efforts to stabilize growth in the world's second-largest economy.

Back home, the benchmarks were struggling to hold in green near the neutral line in early trade, while the mid cap index is outperforming and trading near all time highs. On the sectoral space, power, oil & gas, energy and utilities were restricting the markets from moving higher, while consumer durables, FMCG and telecom was restricting any major fall.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 27962.20, up by 20.09 points or 0.07% after trading in a range of 27899.86 and 28048.70. There were 14 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.49%, while Small cap index was down by 0.04%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 1.80%, FMCG up by 0.75%, Auto up by 0.30%, TECK up by 0.18%, Realty up by 0.18% while, Power down by 0.71%, Oil & Gas down by 0.42%, PSU down by 0.34% and Capital Goods down by 0.14% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Adani Ports & SEZ up by 1.94%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.47%, Hindustan Unilever up by 1.37%, ITC up by 0.96% and Dr. Reddys Lab up by 0.68%. On the flip side, NTPC down by 2.62%, TCS down by 0.91%, Coal India down by 0.60%, GAIL India down by 0.57% and HDFC down by 0.40% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, OPEC has said that though the global oil demand is expected to remain at the same levels as last year, India is expected to pull up demand. OPEC in its monthly report for July said that 'In 2017, assumptions revolve around continuous economic growth, with India leading the region, coupled with steady retail prices. Within the region, India is seen to be the largest contributor to growth accounting for more than 40% of estimated growth.'

The 14-member oil producing group noted that oil demand growth for 2017 is expected to be around 1.2 million barrels a day, broadly unchanged from the previous report to average 94.2 million barrels per day. Also the current account deficit (in India) continues to run at a very modest level, whereas in 2012 and early 2013 it was around $90 billion, lower than in past times, with most of the improvement driven by lower oil prices.

OPEC further stated that the risks for 2016 oil demand in Other Asia are currently skewed towards the upside as a result of possible overall economic improvements in India, the biggest oil consumer in the region, and the general economic performance of some other countries of the region. It added that demand for crude from the 14 OPEC Member Countries is expected to average 33.0 mb/d in 2017, representing a gain of 1.1 mb/d over the current year and compared to an expected increase of 1.9 mb/d this year

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8569.25, up by 4.25 points or 0.05% after trading in a range of 8550.90 and 8594.80. There were 29 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bank of Baroda up by 2.44%, Adani Ports &SEZ up by 2.01% and Idea Cellular up by 1.67%, HCL Tech. up by 1.55% and Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.44%. On the flip side, NTPC down by 2.80%, TCS down by 1.02%, BPCL down by 0.98%, BHEL down by 0.79% and Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.68% were the top losers.

All the Asian markets barring Shanghai Composite which was down marginally by 1.64 points or 0.05% to 3,052.38, were trading in green.

KOSPI Index was up by 8.41 points or 0.42% to 2,017.18, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was higher by 9.42 points or 0.57% to 1,664.20, Jakarta Composite added 32.97 points or 0.65% to 5,116.51, Taiwan Weighted inched up by 66.6 points or 0.75% to 8,932.96, Hang Seng gained 134.33 points or 0.62% to 21,695.39 and Nikkei 225 surged by169.59 points or 1.03% to 16,555.48.