Markets trades near intraday high in noon deal

Indian equity benchmarks are trading near intraday high levels on sustained buying activities by funds and retail investors driven by positive global set-up. Sentiment also got some boost with the report that India has received $ 5.34 billion Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the first two months of the current financial year, indicating that the government has been able to create a suitable climate in which the foreign investors feel confident that interest is protected. Participants got some comfort with the reports that Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will meet his counterparts in states to discuss proposed amendments to the GST Bill on Tuesday, with the likely listing of GST Bill in Rajya Sabha this week.

On global front, Asian share were trading mostly in green on Monday, as traders eye key central bank meetings in the US and Japan due later in the week.

Back home, buying in banking counters too aided the sentiment ahead of ICICI Bank and SBI first quarter earnings. Shares of paper and paper product companies too were trading higher by up to 20% after Seshasayee Paper and Boards reported robust earnings for the quarter ended June 30, 2016.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 27929.82, up by 126.58 points or 0.46% after trading in a range of 27736.51 and 27961.16. There were 22 stocks advancing against 8 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.68%, while Small cap index added by 0.94%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were PSU up by 1.51%, Consumer Durables up by 1.44%, Oil & Gas up by 1.40%, Realty up by 1.22%, TECK up by 0.58%.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Maruti Suzuki up by 1.79%, SBI up by 1.52%, HDFC up by 1.38%, Sun Pharma Inds. up by 1.12% and ICICI Bank up by 1.08%. On the flip side, Dr. Reddys Lab down by 3.58%, Axis Bank down by 1.25%, Bajaj Auto down by 0.63%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.43% and Tata Steel down by 0.36% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, under the Swadesh Darshan scheme, the government has sanctioned 25 projects worth Rs 2,048 crore to 21 states and union territories since January last year and as of now Rs 403 crore has been released to the states and UTs for projects.

In this scheme, the Ministry of Tourism has sanctioned nine projects for the northeastern states worth Rs 821 crore, while three projects for tribal areas in Nagaland, Chhattisgarh and Telangana worth Rs 282 crore and two projects for Buddhist Circuit in Bihar and Madhya Pradesh worth Rs 108.11 crore  has been sanctioned.

The work on all sanctioned projects during 2014-15 & 2016-17 has started and government is monitoring the work rigorously. The states and UTs for which the projects have been sanctioned under the scheme include Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Kerala, Puducherry, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Bihar.

The Ministry of Tourism had launched the Swadesh Darshan Scheme in 2014-15 with an objective to develop theme based tourist circuits in the country on the principles of high tourist value, competitiveness and sustainability in an integrated manner by synergising efforts to focus on needs and concerns of all stakeholders to enrich tourist experience and enhance employment opportunities.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8583.70, up by 42.50 points or 0.50% after trading in a range of 8517.20 and 8589.70. There were 37 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were BPCL up by 2.01%, Bank Of Baroda up by 1.96%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.75%, Bharti Infratel up by 1.74% and SBI up by 1.66%. On the flip side, Dr. Reddys Lab down by 3.48%, Axis Bank down by 1.13%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.72%, Aurobindo Pharma down by 0.54% and Hindustan Unilever down by 0.47% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green, Shanghai Composite increased 0.97 points or 0.03% to 3,013.79, KOSPI Index surged 1.98 points or 0.1% to 2,012.32, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI climbed 4.42 points or 0.27% to 1,661.84, Jakarta Composite jumped 25.16 points or 0.48% to 5,222.41. on flip side, Hang Seng decreased 36.13 points or 0.16% to 21,928.14, Taiwan Weighted was down 21.47 points or 0.24% to 8,991.67, Nikkei 225 declined 6.96 points or 0.04% to 16,620.29