Benchmarks extend gains; trade near intra-day high level

Markets have entered the green zone, breaking past their sluggishness that has been persisting since morning on weak global cues. There were some sector specific actions along with value buying in the blue chips that led the market to trade in green and the markets were trading at the high points of the day. The Sensex has added more than 110 points in trade so far after a fall of over 300 points in previous trading session. Even the Nifty was gradually moving towards the 8,600 mark. Sentiments remained up-beat with the report that the government is working out a plan to optimally utilize land banks of state run companies as part of its bigger ambition to monetize the assets of public sector enterprises. The government will look at all central public sector companies (CPSEs), including profit making firms, to assess if their existing resources can be utilized for spurring the economic growth. Some support also came in from reports that foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 413 crore on August 10, 2016. Meanwhile, mild buying witnessed in some textile counters, as the Lok Sabha passed the Taxation Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2016, relaxing the rules for the textile sector to avail itself of the income tax benefit on additional employment created.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed in early trade, after a sell-off in energy companies due to lower oil prices pulled down US stocks overnight, and with regional volumes affected by the closure of Japan's stock exchange for a holiday.

Back home, stocks from FMCG, Oil & Gas and information technology (IT) counters were supporting the markets’ uptrend, while those from Metal, PSU and Capital Goods counters were adding to the underlying cautious undertone. In scrip specific development, Bank of Baroda dipped after the bank reported 59.74% fall in its net profit at Rs 423.62 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2016 as compared to Rs 1052.15 crore for the same quarter in the previous year. On the other hand, Himatsingka Seide has rallied after the company reported a healthy 69% year on year (YoY) jump in its consolidated net profit at Rs 45.35 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2016, on back of strong operational performance.

The market breadth remained optimistic as there were 1225 shares on the gaining side against 1053 shares on the losing side, while 129 shares remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 27891.59, up by 116.71 points or 0.42% after trading in a range of 27697.33 and 27897.11. There were 19 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index, while one stock remained unchanged.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.19%, while Small cap index up by 0.41%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were FMCG up by 0.96%, Oil & Gas up by 0.77%, IT up by 0.64%, Power up by 0.46% and TECK up by 0.43%, while Metal down by 0.49%, PSU down by 0.26%, Capital Goods down by 0.15% and Auto down by 0.02% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Lupin up by 1.91%, Reliance Industries up by 1.79%, ICICI Bank up by 1.59%, TCS up by 1.35% and ITC up by 1.22%. On the flip side, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.61%, Coal India down by 1.02%, Sun Pharma down by 0.84%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.81% and SBI down by 0.76% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, much on the lines of the Energy Information Administration (EIA) of US, the National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog signed agreement with EIA to set up web portal on energy data. The web portal will host all the data related to energy sector including oil & gas, coal, solar & thermal energy etc. NITI Aayog, a think tank of government, is working to develop India's energy data agency which will take 3-4 years to develop.

NITI Aayog vice chairman Arvind Panagariya said that the regulatory bottlenecks in the past have resulted in lower than expected domestic production in the country. 'Current government has taken several measures to remove these bottlenecks and increase production, particularly of gas. He emphasized that energy is extremely important to help India maintain over 8% growth.

Niti Aayog also signed Statement Of Principle (SOP) with US Agency for International Development (USAID) and Department of Energy & Climate Change (DECC) of United Kingdom (UK) for collaboration in the area of energy research. Through this agreement, the Aayog aims to host all the data related to energy sector in the country including oil and gas, coal, solar and thermal energy, much on the lines of the Energy Information Administration of US.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8597.40, up by 22.10 points or 0.26% after trading in a range of 8547.45 and 8600.35. There were 32 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Idea Cellular up by 2.42%, Eicher Motors up by 2.41%, Lupin up by 1.86%, Reliance Industries up by 1.83% and Tata Power up by 1.82%. On the flip side, Bank of Baroda down by 8.48%, Grasim Industries down by 4.54%, Zee Entertainment down by 2.12%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.87% and Yes Bank down by 1.66% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI rose 0.1%, Shanghai Composite gained 0.07%, Jakarta Composite increased 0.47% and Hang Seng was up by 0.77%. On the flip side, Taiwan Weighted decreased 0.75%, Nikkei 225 slipped 0.18% and KOSPI Index was down by 0.25%.