Equity benchmarks trade with small gains in late noon session

Altering between positive and negative territory, Indian equity benchmarks are now trading with small gains in late noon session led by upmove in frontline blue chip stocks such as TCS, Wipro and Axis Bank among others. Some support came with private report stating that the Reserve Bank is expected to meet its inflation target 'comfortably' as CPI inflation is likely to remain well below 5 per cent over the first half of 2017. On the global front, European Markets were trading mixed and Asian markets were trading mostly in red after the U.S. Federal Reserve announced a 25 basis point rate increase and opened the door to three hikes next year. Back home, stocks related to the IT sector were trading firm on the back of weakness in rupee. The rupee weakened to 67.77 against the U.S. dollar, down 33 paise from its previous close. Shares of ports, shipping and logistics companies were trading higher on the bourses after the Cabinet approved a Major Port Trust Authorities Bill to replace the Major Port Trusts Act of 1963.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 26655.16, up by 52.32 points or 0.20% after trading in a range of 26407.58 and 26737.86. There were 18 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.32%, while Small cap index was up by 0.45%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 1.50%, TECK up by 1.12%, Realty up by 0.55%, Power up by 0.53% and Metal up by 0.45%, while FMCG down by 0.47%, Oil & Gas down by 0.13% and Consumer Durables down by 0.10% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were TCS up by 2.63%, Axis Bank up by 1.96%, Power Grid Corpn. up by 1.68%, Adani Ports &Special up by 1.30% and Wipro up by 1.18%. On the flip side, Sun Pharma  down by 2.44%, Tata Motors down by 1.46%, NTPC down by 1.22%, ITC down by 1.01% and Lupin down by 0.84% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, after the wholesale price index-based inflation (WPI) for November 2016 softened to 3.15 percent, as compared to 3.39 percent during the previous month, mainly due to decline in vegetables, potato and fruits, apex industry body - the Associated Chambers of Commerce & Industry of India (ASSOCHAM)- has said that WPI is in line with the expectations as demonetisation led the Indian economy into a depressive state.

The ASSOCHAM expects the WPI numbers to fall further in the coming months since any increase in crude oil prices due to output cut decision by OPEC countries and increase in prices of other commodities due to stimulus given by US and other developed countries will take the off pressure on consumption demand, which is a main contributor in GDP.

The industry body urged policy makers to take some corrective actions to arrest the fall in WPI as this would impact the IIP (Index of Industrial Production) numbers, which dropped by 1.9 per cent in October, ahead of the demonetization and it is further expected to fall in the coming months owing to the prolong effect of ban on currency of high denomination which will create downward price pressure on industrial output. Assocham stated that prices of products which are of national interest has been rising and policy makers should check and address through supply side responses. The association has also suggested that Government of India should take steps to boost industry by lowering interest rates and by cutting tax rates.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8193.75, up by 11.30 points or 0.14% after trading in a range of 8121.95 and 8225.90. There were 27 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were TCS up by 2.58%, Axis Bank up by 2.20%, HCL Tech. up by 1.69%, Power Grid Corpn. up by 1.57% and Adani Ports &Special up by 1.20%. On the flip side, Sun Pharma Inds. down by 2.37%, Grasim Industries down by 1.69%, Tata Motors down by 1.44%, NTPC down by 1.22% and Tata Motors - DVR down by 1.10% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Hang Seng decreased 397.22 points or 1.77% to 22,059.40 , Shanghai Composite decreased 22.85 points or 0.73% to 3,117.68 , Taiwan Weighted decreased 8.17 points or 0.09% to 9,360.35 , Jakarta Composite decreased 5.67 points or 0.11% to 5,257.15, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 5.35 points or 0.33% to 1,637.94 and KOSPI Index decreased 0.22 points or 0.01% to 2,036.6. On the flip side, Nikkei 225 increased 20.18 points or 0.1% to 19,273.79. 

European Markets were trading mixed; France’s CAC increased 18.14 points or 0.38% to 4,787.38 and Germany’s DAX increased 40.8 points or 0.36% to 11,285. On the flip side, UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 9.07 points or 0.13% to 6,940.12.