Benchmarks continue firm trade; FMCG, Auto lead

Indian equity benchmarks continued their firm trade in the late morning session on account of buying in front line blue chip counters ahead of the discussion on GST Bill. The stage is set for the introduction and likely passage of the constitutional amendment bill in the Rajya Sabha to enable the roll-out of the Goods and Services Tax (GST). Parliamentary affairs minister Ananth Kumar said that the GST bill has been listed in the Rajya Sabha agenda on Wednesday and the mood is in favour of its passage as the bill seeks support of all political parties. The sentiments got some support with India’s core sector expanding at its fastest rate in last two months which showed a growth of 5.2 percent in June, compared with a 2.8 percent rise in May and 3.1 percent in the year ago period, riding on double digit growth in the cement, coal sector and a huge jump in output of electricity. Traders were seen piling position in FMCG, Auto and Oil & Gas stocks while selling was witnessed in Metal, TECK and IT sector stocks. In scrip specific development, InterGlobe Aviation, the company that runs low-cost carrier IndiGo Airlines, was trading weak on reporting weak quarterly numbers. The company reported a 7 percent fall in net profit for the fiscal first quarter on account of competitive air fares. InterGlobe’s average yield (measure of average fare paid per mile, per passenger) dropped 8 percent during the quarter because of fall in average ticket prices.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red, as low oil prices dented sentiment and investors awaited Premier Shinzo Abe’s announcement on details of the government’s massive stimulus programme. Crude prices rebounded modestly in Asian trade, but were still hovering around three-month lows of around $40 a barrel a day after slipping into a bear market, taking the wind out of energy and commodity-linked shares. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading above the psychological 8,650 and 28,100 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was positive in the ratio of 1137:1038, while 110 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 28102.91, up by 99.79 points or 0.36% after trading in a range of 28000.94 and 28175.22. There were 20 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.52%, while Small cap index was up by 0.26%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were FMCG up by 1.69%, Auto up by 0.72%, Oil & Gas up by 0.64%, Capital Goods up by 0.59% and Consumer Durables up by 0.51% while, Metal down by 0.24%, TECK down by 0.08% and IT down by 0.02% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ITC up by 2.63%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.98%, Hindustan Unilever up by 1.58%, Hero MotoCorp up by 1.39% and Asian Paints up by 1.35%.

On the flip side, HDFC down by 1.32%, Wipro down by 0.98%, Coal India down by 0.84%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.76% and Infosys down by 0.66% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the government has sought Parliament's approval for additional spending of Rs 1.03 lakh crore in the current fiscal. The first supplementary demand for grants presented by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, proposing spending with net cash outgo of only Rs 20,948 crore, of which Rs 5,000 crore is for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).

The Demands for Grants include 51 grants and one appropriation.  Arun Jaitley sought approval for transfer of Rs 5,000 crore towards National Employment Guarantee Fund and Rs 1,000 crore for providing funds to Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves for Sovereign Strategic Crude Oil Reserve at Vizag, Mangalore and Pudur. The Demands for Grants also include Rs 40,000 crore as Ways and Means Advance to Food Corporation of India (FCI) to meet the working capital requirements towards procurement of food grain for targeted public distribution system.

Jaitley also sought approval for additional assistance of Rs 2,000 crore to states affected by natural calamities like hailstorm and non-seasonal rain under National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF). Among other sectors, the government sought Parliament's approval for providing Rs 31,957 crore to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways under various heads.

Finance Ministry sought approval of Parliament to authorise gross additional expenditure of Rs 1,03,013.74 crore, of this, the proposals involving net cash outgo aggregates to Rs 20,948.26 crore and gross additional expenditure. This is in addition to the total expenditure of Rs 19.78 lakh crore, consisting of Rs 5.50 lakh crore under Plan and Rs 14.28 lakh crore under Non-Plan, projected in the Union Budget 2016-17.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8661.05, up by 24.50 points or 0.28% after trading in a range of 8635.30 and 8687.20. There were 33 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ITC up by 2.79%, Maruti Suzuki up by 2.01%, HCL Tech up by 1.86%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.59% and Hero MotoCorp up by 1.50%.

On the flip side, Aurobindo Pharma down by 1.51%, Ultratech Cement down by 1.42%, HDFC down by 1.35%, Ambuja Cement down by 1.31% and Zee Entertainment down by 1.27% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Nikkei 225 decreased 173.61 points or 1.04% to 16,462.16, Taiwan Weighted decreased 9.46 points or 0.1% to 9,071.25, KOSPI Index decreased 8.33 points or 0.41% to 2,021.28 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 5.61 points or 0.34% to 1,659.62.

On the other hand, Shanghai Composite increased 1.25 points or 0.04% to 2,954.64 and Jakarta Composite increased 18.46 points or 0.34% to 5,380.04.

Trading in Hong Kong stocks was delayed as the city braced for Typhoon Nida, shutting down most of the financial hub.