Benchmarks continue firm trade; Nifty surpass 8,650 mark

Indian benchmarks have sustained the strong momentum in the noon session as investors continue to trade with conviction and are piling up hefty positions not only in heavy weight stocks but across the broader markets. Sentiments remained sanguine right from the start of trade as Jharkhand becoming the third state to ratify the Goods and Services Tax Amendment Bill in a special session of the Legislative Assembly. The government has set a deadline of April 2017 for its rollout. Also, a new UN report which calls for more transparent policies if the country aspires to become a global driver of innovation, has ranked India 66th in a list of most innovative economies, a jump of 15 places from last year. However, investors remained cautious with the private report indicating that headline inflation is expected to continue its rally through the rest of this fiscal, while WPI is likely to average 3.9 per cent, CPI will average close to 5 per cent in 2016-17. Meanwhile, mild buying witnessed in selected Steel makers with a Moody’s report that steel demand in India will outpace the regional average, while the profitability of domestic steel companies will outperform regional peers on account of an increase in domestic demand.

On the global front, Asian markets trading mostly higher on Thursday as investors turned optimistic after minutes of the US Federal Reserve's latest meeting showed policymakers were in no rush to raise interest rates.

Back home, stocks from Banking, Power and Realty counters were supporting the markets’ uptrend, while those from Capital Goods counters were adding to the underlying cautious undertone. In scrip specific development, Dalmia Bharat has jumped after the company reported a strong 76% year on year rise in consolidated net profit at Rs 92 crore for the quarter ended on June 30, 2016 (Q1FY17), on the back of strong operational performance. Moreover, Sudarshan Chemical Industries has rallied after foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought nearly two percent stake in the specialty chemicals maker in past one month through open market purchases.

The market breadth remained optimistic as there were 1535 shares on the gaining side against 740 shares on the losing side, while 157 shares remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 28161.85, up by 156.48 points or 0.56% after trading in a range of 28077.00 and 28214.17. 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 0.46%, while Small cap index up by 0.85%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Bankex up by 1.38%, Power up by 1.26%, Realty up by 0.86%, Auto up by 0.73% and PSU up by 0.72%, while Capital Goods down by 0.21% was the sole losing index on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Adani Ports &Special up by 3.43%, Power Grid up by 3.35%, ICICI Bank up by 1.56%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.52% and NTPC up by 1.33%. On the flip side, Coal India down by 1.87%, Larsen & Toubro down by 0.84%, Asian Paints down by 0.75%, Wipro down by 0.43% and Hindustan Unilever down by 0.27% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in order to reduce the potential increase in carbon footprint and drive down operational costs of cold chains, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has extended subsidy scheme to solar-powered cold storages. Most solar powered items include solar lamps and solar heating systems which enjoy a 30% subsidy under different MNRE programmes.

There are barely 10 solar cold storages being used in the country so far, the first having been installed about three years ago. Costing around 30-40 lakh, they are manufactured by a handful of private companies such as Ecozen Solutions and Promethean Power Systems. They mostly use phase change material as insulation to trap solar energy for refrigeration purposes, along with battery backup. Solar-powered cold storages are still at an experimental stage and the subsidy will encourage their use, enabling many more to be set up, while existing ones can scale up.

The shelf life of solar cold storages is around 15 years. Conventional cold storages cost half that of solar-powered ones but require grid power which comprises around 20-30% of their running cost. Solar cold storages not only remove this cost, but can also make a key difference in distant rural areas which are not yet electrified, or where power supply is poor.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8679.85, up by 55.80 points or 0.65% after trading in a range of 8645.05 and 8690.70. There were 41 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining on the index, while one stock remained unchanged.

The top gainers on Nifty were Power Grid up by 3.35%, Indusind Bank up by 3.29%, Adani Ports &Special up by 3.27%, Ultratech Cement up by 2.56% and Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.78%. On the flip side, Coal India down by 1.84%, Larsen & Toubro down by 0.96%, Asian Paints down by 0.75%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.50% and Bharti Infratel down by 0.47% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; KOSPI Index increased 0.56%, Taiwan Weighted rose 0.05%, Jakarta Composite surged 1.28% and Hang Seng was up by 1.32%. On the flip side, Nikkei 225 declined 1.42%, Shanghai Composite slipped 0.3% and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was down by 0.08%.