Benchmarks continue to trade in green in late afternoon session

Indian benchmark indices continued to trade in green in late afternoon session as positive global cues, appreciation in the rupee and firm crude oil prices lifted investors' sentiments. The key indices traded with gains of around a per cent each, as healthy buying was witnessed in Metal, Oil & Gas and Auto stocks. Traders took some encouragement with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s statement that government will exceed its budget estimate of Rs 16.3 lakh crore for both direct and indirect tax collections this year. In the Budget for 2016-17 fiscal, Jaitley had put gross tax revenue estimate at Rs 16.3 lakh crore, about 11 percent higher than gross tax receipts of Rs 14.5 lakh crore for the previous fiscal.

On the global front, European markets were trading in red after minutes from the last U.S. Federal meeting showed a willingness to increase rates at a faster pace. Asian markets were mixed, with stocks in Hong Kong gaining, while Japanese shares pulled back. Back home, in scrip specific development Som Distilleries was trading jubilantly on plan to start brewery production in Karnataka by June-July and Steel Authority of India (SAIL) jumped higher after the company reported a 16% sales growth during the April-December 2016 period over the corresponding period last year.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 26894.34, up by 261.21 points or 0.98% after trading in a range of 26738.42 and 26896.82. There were 26 stocks advancing against 4 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 1.14%, while Small cap index was up by 0.95%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 3.18%, Oil & Gas up by 1.70%, Auto up by 1.64%, PSU up by 1.51% and Bankex up by 1.50%, while IT down by 0.32% and TECK down by 0.14% were the few losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Adani Ports &Special up by 4.36%, Tata Steel up by 4.09%, Tata Motors up by 3.04%, ONGC up by 2.73% and ICICI Bank up by 2.27%. On the flip side, TCS down by 0.99%, Infosys down by 0.33%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.14% and HDFC Bank down by 0.09% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, listed private sector companies have shown a robust growth in net profit and in their sales in the second quarter. According to the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) report, net profit of these companies improved to 16 per cent from 11.2 per cent in the second quarter of the fiscal compared to the previous quarter. Among the sectors, manufacturing continued to record high net profit growth, whereas services (Non-IT) sector witnessed contraction in net profits but at a much lower rate.

The RBI report said that the listed non-government non-financial (NGNF) companies’ aggregate sales growth (Year-on-Year) increased by 1.9 per cent in Quarter two of 2016-17, after near stagnation seen in the first quarter of the current financial year. However, raw material expenses increased in the current quarter in line with the general pause in falling global commodity prices. This resulted in a deceleration of operating profit growth at the aggregate level.

The data based on abridged financial results of 2,702 listed non-government non-financial companies for second quarter of 2016-17, further said that interest expenses remained unchanged in the second quarter which helped in a robust growth of 16 per cent in net profits at the aggregate level. Sales growth improved significantly (3.7 per cent) for the manufacturing sector after contraction in the previous quarter. On the other hand, sales of the services (Non-IT) sector continued to contract and IT sector witnessed deceleration of sales growth.

Though, the report also said that growth in operating profits in July-September quarter moderated across all sectors. Pricing power measured by net profit margin increased significantly in Q2:2016-17 as compared with the previous quarter at the aggregate level. It improved across all sectors, but for the IT sector, the net profit margin of which was lower than what was recorded in Q2:2015-16.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8272.30, up by 81.80 points or 1.00% after trading in a range of 8223.70 and 8273.60. There were 44 stocks advancing against 7 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Yes Bank up by 4.69%, Adani Ports &Special up by 4.18%, Tata Steel up by 3.92%, Tata Motors - DVR up by 3.27% and Bosch up by 3.22%. On the flip side, TCS down by 1.32%, Bharti Infratel down by 1.28%, HCL Tech. down by 0.87%, Tech Mahindra down by 0.86% and Infosys down by 0.30% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Shanghai Composite increased 6.62 points or 0.21% to 3,165.41, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 11.38 points or 0.69% to 1,658.85, Jakarta Composite increased 16.71 points or 0.32% to 5,317.89, Taiwan Weighted increased 71.18 points or 0.77% to 9,358.14 and Hang Seng increased 322.22 points or 1.46% to 22,456.69. On the flip side, Nikkei 225 decreased 73.47 points or 0.37% to 19,520.69 and KOSPI Index decreased 3.69 points or 0.18% to 2,041.95.

All European markets were trading in red; Germany’s DAX decreased 31.9 points or 0.28% to 11,552.41, France’s CAC decreased 23.57 points or 0.48% to 4,875.83 and UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 0.31 points or 0% to 7,189.43.