Benchmarks trades slightly in green; Nifty regains 8800 mark

Indian equity benchmarks added gains and were trading in green in the late morning session on account of buying in frontline blue chip counters. The sentiments were on optimistic note on reports that manufacturing activity in India rose more-than-expected in the last quarter. The Markit Manufacturing PMI rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 52.6, from 51.8 in the preceding quarter. Buying was witnessed by foreign funds and retail investors even as economic growth slowed to 7.1% in the April-June quarter. India's economic growth rate slipped to 6-quarter low of 7.1% in April-June, as compared to 7.9% in the previous quarter, mainly due to subdued performance of mining, construction and farm sectors. The economy had expanded at 7.5% in the April-June quarter of last financial year, 2015-16. Also, the Core Sector growth slowed to 3.2% in July, compared to 5.2% recorded in June. However, India Inc expects economy to grow at a healthier pace in coming quarters on the back of a good monsoon even as a pick-up in investments remains elusive. FICCI President Harshvardhan Neotia stated that he expects growth to gain momentum in the second half of the current fiscal year. The good monsoon is a huge positive and an improvement has been noted in the kharif acreage. Indian rupee opened weaker but soon erased most of its losses and was trading little changed against the US dollar at the Interbank Foreign Exchange market following rising demand of the American currency among banks and importers. All eyes will be on Reliance Industries (RIL), India’s largest private sector enterprise, as chairman and managing director Mukesh Ambani is set to give the company’s guidance at its 42nd annual general meeting in Mumbai today. Traders were seen piling position in Auto, Consumer Durables and Bankex stocks, while selling was witnessed in Realty, IT and TECK sector stocks.

On the global front, Asian stocks were trading under pressure after lower crude oil prices dented Wall Street and a pair of Chinese manufacturing surveys did little to inspire investors as markets waited to see if US employment data could put the Federal Reserve on track to hike interest rates. Activity in China’s manufacturing sector picked up unexpectedly in August but gains were modest, an official survey showed, suggesting the world’s second-largest economy is steadying but still sluggish. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading above the psychological 8,800 and 28,400 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was positive in the ratio of 1165:935, while 127 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 28490.29, up by 38.12 points or 0.13% after trading in a range of 28416.54 and 28542.72. There were 16 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.28%, while Small cap index was up by 0.32%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Auto up by 0.77%, Consumer Durables up by 0.70%, Bankex up by 0.38%, Power up by 0.28% and Oil & Gas up by 0.24%, while Realty down by 0.40%, IT down by 0.19%, TECK down by 0.12% and Capital Goods down by 0.10% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were GAIL India up by 2.00%, ICICI Bank up by 1.13%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.03%, Tata Motors up by 1.00% and HDFC up by 0.80%.

On the flip side, Wipro down by 1.11%, Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone down by 0.97%, Asian Paints down by 0.92%, HDFC Bank down by 0.48% and Power Grid Corporation down by 0.46% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, amid the recent fluctuation in global oil prices, the PSU Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) have increased prices of petrol by Rs 3.38 per litre and diesel rates by Rs 2.67 per litre. The new rates announced are effective from midnight August 31 and September 1.

With this increase, retail selling price of Petrol will become Rs 63.47 per litre in Delhi as compared to Rs 60.09 a litre, while the diesel will now cost Rs 52.94 a litre as against Rs 50.27 a litre. In the last revision on August 15, Petrol price was cut by Re 1 per litre and Diesel rate was reduced by Rs 2 a litre.

According to IOC the country's largest fuel retailer, the current level of international prices warrant an increase in prices of petrol and diesel, the impact of which is being passed on to the consumers . It further said that the movement of prices in the international oil market and Rupee-US Dollar exchange rate shall continue to be monitored closely and developing trends of the market will be reflected in future price changes.  

The three PSU OMCs, Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) revise petrol and diesel price on 1st and 16th of every month based on international oil rate and foreign exchange ratio in the preceding fortnight.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8800.00, up by 13.80 points or 0.16% after trading in a range of 8776.10 and 8811.75. There were 29 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining, while 1 stock remained unchanged on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were GAIL India up by 2.03%, Bharti Infratel up by 1.48%, Bosch up by 1.40%, Tata Power up by 1.21% and Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.19%.

On the flip side, BPCL down by 1.49%, ACC down by 1.39%, Wipro down by 1.39%, Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone down by 1.20% and Aurobindo Pharma down by 1.06% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Taiwan Weighted decreased 54.19 points or 0.6% to 9,014.66, Jakarta Composite decreased 50.4 points or 0.94% to 5,335.68, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 6.16 points or 0.37% to 1,671.90, Shanghai Composite decreased 4.16 points or 0.13% to 3,081.33 and KOSPI Index decreased 2.77 points or 0.14% to 2,031.88.

On the other hand, Nikkei 225 increased 22.04 points or 0.13% to 16,909.44 and Hang Seng increased 136.62 points or 0.59% to 23,113.50.