Markets hold early gains; TCS, Infosys among top gainers

Indian equity markets are trading firm following sustained buying in several blue chip stocks. The market, which opened on a firm note this morning, has moved further north. The Indian Metrological Department's projection of normal rains in the monsoon period is supporting market in moving up. On sectoral front realty stocks were among the major gainers this morning. A number of stocks from information technology, banking, PSU, metal and power sectors were also trading notably higher. Select stocks from oil, consumer durables and capital goods sectors too were trading firm. On the global front, most of the Asian markets were trading in green. Back home, the market breadth favoring positive trend; there were 1447 shares on the gaining side against 926 shares on the losing side while 90 shares remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 17,333.87, up by 146.53 points or 0.85%. The index has touched a high and low of 17,352.49 and 17,195.51 respectively.  There were 26 stocks advancing against 4 declines on the index.

The broader indices continued to trade in fine fettle; the BSE Mid cap and Small cap indices were up by 0.55% and 0.66% respectively.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were, Realty up by 1.98%, Information Technology (IT) up by 1.79%, TECK up by 1.58%, Bankex up by 1.23% and Metal up by 1.16%. While, Auto down by 0.03% and Health Care (HC) down by 0.01% were top losers on the index.

The top gainers on the Sensex were DLF up by 3.29%, TCS up by 2.75%, ICICI Bank up by 2.08%, Infosys up by 1.89% and Tata Power up by 1.59%.

On the flip side, Maruti Suzuki down by 2.08%, BHEL down by 1.90%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.94% and Sun Pharma down by 0.08% remained the top losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, the packaged food industry is all set to double its size from the current $15 billion to $30 billion by 2015, according to a study by the industry body ASSOCHAM. The study titled ‘Craze for ready-to-eat food among young Indians’ found that the rise in income, a fast paced urban lifestyle and modernization of the retail trade are the possible factors responsible for the change. 

Packaged foods include products like canned processed food, frozen processed food, meal replacement products, condiments and bakery products. Some of the newer categories in this segment are processed dairy products, frozen ready-to-eat foods, diet snacks, processed meat and probiotic drinks. The key players in the packaged food market are Hindustan Uniliver, ITC, Nestle, PepsiCo, Dabur, Cadbury, Haldiram, Britannia, Godrej and Parle Agro.

It was stated that here is a large gap between the rural and urban consumption of packaged food. As expected urban consumers consume about 78% of all packaged food, while rural residents consume just over 22%. Infact 82% of workforce prefer packaged food rather eating outside or at a roadside dhabha in cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad.

The study further stated that Indian food processing market is expected to show fast paced growth in next five years, clocking an annual growth of 40-60%. Key drivers for this demand include changing demographics, increase in income levels, urbanisation, growth in organised retail, improvement in packaging, easy access to freezer facilities and increased demand for frozen non-vegetarian foods.

The S&P CNX Nifty is currently trading at 5,253.60, higher by 44.60 points or 0.86%. The index has touched a high and low of 5,258.95 and 5,201.45 respectively. There were 42 stocks advancing against 8 declines on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were Reliance Infra up by 3.34%, DLF up by 3.29%, TCS up by 2.91%, IDFC up by 2.84% and ICICI Bank up by 2.25%.

On the flip side, BHEL and Maruti Suzuki were down by 2.08%, BHEL down by 1.92%, Dr Reddy’s Lab down by 1.13%, M&M down by 0.85% and Asian Paints down by 0.66% remained the top losers on the index.

Asian markets were exhibiting mixed trade; Hang Seng was up by 1.63%, KLSE Composite rose 0.27% and Taiwan Weighted added 0.28%.

On the flip side, Straits Times declined 0.08% and Jakarta Composite shed 0.22%.

Meanwhile, stock markets in Japan remained closed on Monday on account of Bridge Public Holiday while the Chinese bourses were shut owing to May Day holidays and will re-open directly on Wednesday.