Benchmarks continue firm trade in late afternoon session

Positive momentum continued in the late afternoon session as sentiment remained upbeat with the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill, which was passed by the Rajya Sabha on 3 August, 2016 is going to be introduced in the Lok Sabha for discussion and voting. The broader markets outperformed with the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices rising around a percent.  Firm opening in European market too support sentiment. All the European equity markets were trading higher in early deals, propped up by gains in the shares of major banks.

Back home, Market gain remain capped up to certain extent as investors’ took a pause ahead of the Reserve Bank of India's policy review on August 9, where it is expected to leave rates unchanged. On the sectoral front Oil & Gas was leading with over a one percent gains and auto, metal, realty were also showing some support, while Capital Goods was top sectoral loser on indices. In scrip specific development, Hero MotoCorp were trading 1.85 per cent up at Rs 3498 after it posted 18.13 per cent rise in its net profit at Rs 883.10 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2016 as against to Rs 747.54 crore for the same quarter in the previous year.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 28178.33, up by 99.98 points or 0.36% after trading in a range of 28131.64 and 28226.38. 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 0.87%, while Small cap index was up by 0.70%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 1.38%, Auto up by 1.07%, Realty up by 1.07%, Metal up by 0.93%, Power up by 0.67%, while Capital Goods down by 0.08% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Hero MotoCorp up by 2.29%, Adani Ports &Special up by 2.16%, Lupin up by 1.87%, HDFC up by 1.65% and Reliance Industries up by 1.45%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 3.66%, Sun Pharma Inds down by 0.97%, NTPC down by 0.65%, Larsen & Toubro down by 0.57% and ITC down by 0.44% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, NITI Aayog has identify eight sick unit out of 74 loss-making public sector unit (PSUs) and suggested government  for closure or sell-off, after  finding them unfit for revival. Once the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) gives the in-principle approval to the proposal, the ministry responsible for administration of these PSUs will make detail plan for closer of these units. The detailed plan will include identification of assets to be liquidated and the compensation for employees of these eight companies.

Earlier, PMO had asked the Niti Aayog to identify one sick PSU, along with a detailed plan for its sell-off or eventual liquidation, before moving on to other such cases. The Aayog had submitted two separate lists of sick and loss-making PSUs- one comprising those that can be closed down and the other of those where government can divest its stake. The government aims to collect Rs. 56,500 crore through disinvestment in PSUs this fiscal. Of the total budgeted proceeds, Rs. 36,000 crore is estimated to come from minority stake sale in PSUs and the remaining Rs. 20,500 crore from strategic sale in both profit and loss-making companies.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8712.95, up by 29.80 points or 0.34% after trading in a range of 8697.60 and 8723.50. There were 36 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Hindalco up by 4.24%, BPCL up by 2.97%, Adani Ports &Special up by 2.18%, Hero MotoCorp up by 2.08% and Lupin up by 1.82%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 3.83%, Idea Cellular down by 3.20%, Bharti Infratel down by 1.46%, HCL Tech. down by 0.94% and Sun Pharma Inds. down by 0.90% were the top losers.

The Asian market were trading in green; FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 5.35 points or 0.32% to 1,669.39, KOSPI Index jumped 13.18 points or 0.65% to 2,031.12, Jakarta Composite surged 15.65 points or 0.29% to 5,435.89, Shanghai Composite increased 27.58 points or 0.93% to 3,004.28, Taiwan Weighted move up 58.14 points or 0.64% to 9,150.26, Hang Seng climbed 348.67 points or 1.57% to 22,494.76, Nikkei 225 increased 396.12 points or 2.44% to 16,650.57

Europian Markets were trading in green; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 19.13 points or 0.28% to 6,812.60, France’s CAC increased 19.58 points or 0.44% to 4,430.13, Germany’s DAX increased 79.65 points or 0.77% to 10,446.86.