Benchmarks gain for third consecutive session; Nifty closes above 8750 mark

The week’s last session turned out to be a volatile one as the Indian frontline equity indices went through a rollercoaster ride, through they managed to settle with gains of around half a percent. Sentiments remained jubilant in the first half of trade amid firm cues from Asia and overnight gains on Wall Street, but investors started booking profits after weak opening in European counterparts. Sentiments got some support with report that Prime Minister Narendra Modi targeting to roll out the ambitious GST on April 1 next year, has directed that all steps required in this direction should be completed before that date. He has also said that GST Council would need to have intensive meetings to be able to make timely recommendations relating to its mandate. Adding the confidence among market participants, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley expressed hope that the Reserve Bank will keep in mind the decline in retail inflation, while deciding on interest rates at its policy review meeting on October 4, 2016. Some support also came in from reports that foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 345 crore on September 15, 2016. However, investors remained nervous with the exports declining for the second consecutive month in August by 0.3 percent to $ 21.51 billion due to dip in shipments of products like petroleum and leather. The imports too contracted by 14 percent to $29.91 billion, leaving a trade deficit of $7.67 billion in the month under review.

Meanwhile, sugar stocks gained traction as sugar prices touched three-year highs due to strong demand from bulk consumers for the festive season amid millers selling at higher levels. Sugar prices also rose as data from the Brazilian cane industry group showed that production dropped more-than-expected during the second half of August. Good buying was also observed in select infrastructure stocks, as the Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said that the government will soon launch three expressway projects - Delhi-Amritsar-Katra, Delhi-Jaipur and Vadodara-Mumbai- soon at a cost of about Rs 1,32,000 crore. The PSU oil marketing companies too edged higher, after Petrol price was hiked by 58 paise a litre in line with international trends. 

On the global front, Asian markets rose on Friday in a relatively quiet session as several markets in the region were shut, while traders got some comfort after weak US data reduced already low expectations of an interest rate increase by the Federal Reserve next week. Gains in the Japanese market were led by financial stocks while in Australia utilities were one of the standout sectors, rebounding after a record 12-day losing streak during which investors had dumped bond proxies. Meanwhile, European shares were lower in early trade, as banks across Europe plummeted deep into the red on concerns about Deutsche Bank's fragile finances.

Back home, the local benchmarks got off to a positive opening as investors piled up hefty positions almost across the counters amid firm cues from Asia and overnight gains on Wall Street. Thereafter, the frontline indices managed to build on to the early gains in the first half of trade as they touched the intraday high level, but the indices failed to hold onto the highs and receded to intraday lows in afternoon trades as investors booked profits amid weak European cues. Yet, final hour buying ensured that the key indices shut shops with decent gains. Finally the NSE’s 50-share broadly followed index Nifty, got buttressed by around half a percent to settle over the crucial 8,750 support level, while Bombay Stock Exchange’s sensitive Index-Sensex accumulated over one hindered and eighty points and closed around the psychological 28,600 mark.

The market breadth remained pessimistic as there were 1323 shares on the gaining side against 1417 shares on the losing side while 194 shares remained unchanged.

Finally, the BSE Sensex ended up by 186.14 points or 0.66% to 28599.03, while the CNX Nifty gained 37.30 points or 0.43% to 8,779.85. 

The BSE Sensex touched a high and a low 28778.64 and 28494.59, respectively. There were 22 stocks advancing against 8 stocks declining on the index. The broader indices ended mixed; the BSE Mid cap index declined by 0.32%, while Small cap index was up by 0.15%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were FMCG up by 1.23%, IT up by 1.22%, Oil & Gas up by 1.14%, TECK up by 0.99% and Realty up by 0.59%, while Metal down by 1.27% and Bankex down by 0.01% were the few losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Maruti Suzuki up by 2.25%, Axis Bank up by 2.11%, ITC up by 2.08%, Infosys up by 1.82% and Hero MotoCorp up by 1.78%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 2.14%, Tata Motors down by 1.50%, Asian Paints down by 1.23%, ICICI Bank down by 1.15% and HDFC down by 0.62% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Government will soon launch three expressway projects that would reduce travel time significantly. This projects are Delhi-Amritsar-Katra, Delhi-Jaipur and Vadodara-Mumbai at a cost of about Rs 1,32,000 crore. As per the plan, Amritsar could be reached via Delhi in up to 3 hours after completion of the Rs 60,000 crore Amritsar-Delhi expressway which will reduce travel duration by over 2 hours. Also on the anvil is a project connecting Jalandhar to Ajmer that will bring down the travel time to 5 hours.

Road transport and highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said that three important expressway will soon start, and said that the travel distance to these destinations will reduce significantly once the projects are operationalised. In this regard meetings are scheduled with chief ministers of Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and Rajasthan.

Earlier, the minister laid the foundation stones of 12 major National Highway (NH) projects worth Rs 10,596.19 crore in the state Ropar, Samrala and Jalandhar. The road projects also include four-laning of Jalandhar-Barnala, Jalandhar-Hoshiarpur, Ropar-Phagwara, Kharar-Kurali, Chandigarh-Kharar and Kharar-Ludhiana roads, besides an elevated road in Ludhiana city. The minister further said that the projects will provide world-class road connectivity to commuters between Doaba and Malwa, along with adjoining Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, in the next 2 years.

The CNX Nifty traded in a range of 8,847.65 and 8,750.50. There were 32 stocks advancing against 19 decliners on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Eicher Motors up by 2.72%, Grasim Industries up by 2.58%, ITC up by 2.46%, BPCL up by 2.09% and Hero MotoCorp up by 1.96%. On the flip side, Yes Bank down by 3.86%, BHEL down by 2.26%, Tata Steel down by 1.97%, Zee Entertainment down by 1.88% and Hindalco down by 1.68% were the top losers.

The European markets were trading mostly in red; Germany’s DAX decreased 36.64 points or 0.35% to 10,394.56, France’s CAC decreased 13.5 points or 0.31% to 4,359.72, while UK’s FTSE 100 increased 10.04 points or 0.15% to 6,740.34.

The Asian markets ended higher on Friday, as a slew of weak US economic reports reduced the chances of a Federal Reserve rate hike next week. The markets in the region rebounded further following a sharp rise in Apple shares overnight, which boosted major US indexes. Though, overall gains remained capped somewhat outside Australia and India, as oil prices drifted lower in Asian deals on expectations of more supply from Nigeria and Libya, and the safe-haven Japanese yen firmed up ahead of BOJ's comprehensive review of its easing program. The markets in China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, South Korea and Taiwan were closed were closed on account of National holiday.