Benchmarks trade firm; Nifty surpasses 8250 mark

Indian equity benchmarks added gains and hovering near the highest point of the day in late morning session on account of buying in front line blue chip counters tracking positive trend seen in most of Asian markets. Gains were, however, capped by inconclusive Goods and Services Tax (GST) meeting which ended yesterday. The Council, comprising the Union finance minister, Union minister of state for revenue and representatives of states, would now meet on January 16, to resolve these tricky issues ahead of the Budget session, to start from January 31. The rupee opened higher against dollar on account of selling of American currency by bank and exporters. The weakness in the greenback against other currencies overseas gave the rupee some relief. The rupee witnessed renewed strength from the one-month high against the dollar. The sentiments got some support with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley expressing confidence that direct and indirect tax mop-up will surpass Budget estimate of Rs 16.3 lakh crore by March-end. Jaitley had in his Budget for 2016-17 fiscal put gross tax revenue estimates at Rs 16.3 lakh crore, about 11 percent higher than gross tax receipts of Rs 14.5 lakh crore for the previous fiscal. Indirect tax collections till November had shown a 26.2 percent jump to Rs 5.52 lakh crore when compared with a year ago collections. According to the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into the country grew by over 27 percent to $27.82 billion during April-October of this financial year. FDI stood at $21.87 billion in April-October 2015-2016. Traders were seen piling position in Oil & Gas, Metal and PSU sector stocks. In scrip specific development, IP Rings was locked at upper circuit limit on right issue approval by the board. The company at its meeting held on January 04, 2017, has approved the proposed rights issue in the ratio of 4 rights equity shares for every 5 equity shares held on the record date.

On the global front, Asian shares were trading mostly in green, with mainland China and Hong Kong gaining on a solid services PMI reading, while Japan edged down as the dollar weakened overnight and into Asia from 14-year highs against a basket of currencies as investors began to cast doubt the Fed would raise rates three times this year. The Caixin services PMI for China rose to 53.4, a tick above 53.3 expected and that followed solid manufacturing figures from China as well as Japan regionally this week. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading above the psychological 8,250 and 26,800 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was positive in the ratio of 1685:522, while 98 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 26820.56, up by 187.43 points or 0.70% after trading in a range of 26738.42 and 26823.25. There were 28 stocks advancing against 2 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.84%, while Small cap index was up by 0.85%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 1.57%, Metal up by 1.52%, PSU up by 1.21%, Auto up by 1.12% and Bankex up by 0.82%.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Motors up by 2.77%, Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone up by 2.39%, ONGC up by 2.08%, Wipro up by 1.84% and Sun Pharma up by 1.53%.

On the flip side, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.71% and HDFC down by 0.21% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in a positive surprise Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in India increased by 27% and stood at $27.82 billion during the April-October period of the current fiscal as against $21.87 billion in the same period last fiscal. The FDI numbers indicates that the government has been able to create a suitable climate in which the foreign investors feel confident that interest is protected.

According to Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), manufacturing constituted around 41.5% of the equity inflows, while non-manufacturing were around 58.5% during April 2014 to Sept 2016. Total FDI in the country in the last financial year was $55.6 billion, up by 23% over previous year. DIPP also stated that trademarks filing has increased by 10% and its examination grew by 250% so far this fiscal till November and added that trademark pendency has come down to 3 months and is expected to be 1 month by March 2017. 

The main sectors including services, telecom, trading, computer hardware and software and automobile were the major areas which attracted FDI inflows. The country receives maximum FDI from Singapore, Mauritius, the Netherlands and Japan. FDI is considered crucial for country, which needs around $1 trillion for overhauling its infrastructure sector such as ports, airports and highways to boost growth. Growth in foreign investments will also help improving the country's balance of payments (BoP) situation and strengthen the rupee value against other global currencies, especially the US dollar.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8252.55, up by 62.05 points or 0.76% after trading in a range of 8223.70 and 8253.05. There were 47 stocks advancing against 4 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Motors up by 2.72%, Yes Bank up by 2.33%, Tata Motors - DVR up by 2.16%, Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone up by 2.15% and Bosch up by 1.93%.

On the flip side, Bharti Infratel down by 2.20%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.79%, Ambuja Cement down by 0.38% and HDFC down by 0.19% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Shanghai Composite increased 2.37 points or 0.08% to 3,161.17, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 6.59 points or 0.4% to 1,654.06, Jakarta Composite increased 19.79 points or 0.37% to 5,320.98, Taiwan Weighted increased 62.18 points or 0.67% to 9,349.14 and Hang Seng increased 277.94 points or 1.26% to 22,412.41.

On the other hand, Nikkei 225 decreased 91.57 points or 0.47% to 19,502.59 and KOSPI Index decreased 1.58 points or 0.08% to 2,044.06.