Benchmarks make gap up start; Nifty surpasses 9,200 mark

Indian equity benchmarks have made a gap-up opening and are trading in fine fettle in early deals, with frontline gauges surpassing their crucial 9,200 (Nifty) and 29,700 (Sensex) levels. Sentiments remained up-beat with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s statement that India’s GDP may grow at 7.7 per cent in 2018, as global growth is expected to improve further in 2017-18. Meanwhile the four GST bills will be taken up for discussion in the Rajya Sabha during the week. Moreover, traders shrugged off weak Core sector growth, which slowed to a 15-month low in February, led by a drop in cement output. Growth, as measured by the index of eight core industries, eased to 1 per cent in February from 3.4 per cent in January and 9.4 per cent a year earlier.

On the global front, Asian markets rallying at this point of time with traders eyeing the meeting between China President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump.  Japanese market was trading higher after a report showed an improving outlook among the countries’ largest firms. The US markets closed flat with a negative bias in the last session, following a lackluster performance over the course of the session.

Back home, there was broad based buying witnessed in the markets and apart from the blue chips, the broader markets too participated strongly in the rally. On the sectoral front, auto stocks remained on buyers’ radar with companies like Maruti Suzuki and Mahindra & Mahindra reporting better than expected March sales numbers. However, telecom stocks remained under pressure, as the cellular operators' body COAI has said Reliance Jio’s latest pricing will continue to bleed the industry and there is risk of cascading impact on banks and others that have large exposure to the telecom sector.

The market breadth remained in favor of advances, as there were 1,551 shares on the gaining side against 500 shares on the losing side while 84 shares remain unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 29763.54, up by 143.04 points or 0.48% after trading in a range of 29705.72 and 29778.47. There were 22 stocks advancing against 8 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.47%, while Small cap index was up by 0.85%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Energy up by 1.71%, Capital Goods up by 0.95%, Consumer Durables up by 0.94%, Basic Materials up by 0.93% and Industrials was up by 0.93%, while Telecom down by 1.54%, TECK down by 0.52%, IT down by 0.37% and Realty was down by 0.03% were the few losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Reliance Industries up by 3.86%, GAIL India up by 1.51%, Tata Steel up by 1.21%, Larsen & Toubro up by 1.13% and Tata Motors up by 0.79%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 2.61%, Infosys down by 0.66%, Bajaj Auto down by 0.64%, Wipro down by 0.60% and TCS down by 0.46% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the growth of eight core sectors, which contribute 38% to the total industrial production, slowed down to over one-year low of 1% in February 2017, mainly due to contraction in output of all items excluding coal, steel and electricity. The previous low of 0.9% was recorded in December 2015 and it is also lower than 3.4 percent in January in the previous month. According to that data released by the ministry of Commerce and Industry showed the combined Index of eight core industries coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers, steel, cement and electricity stood at 180.1 in February, 2017. Its cumulative growth during April-February, 2016-17 was 4.4%.

Among eight core sectors, Steel production having 6.68% weight surged 8.7% in February, 2017 over February, 2016. Its cumulative index during April to February, 2016-17 increased by 9.1% over the corresponding period of previous year. Coal production having 4.38% weight jumped 7.1% in February, 2017 over February, 2016. Its cumulative index during April to February, 2016-17 increased by 2.8% over corresponding period of previous year. Electricity generation having 10.32% weight rose by 1.5% in February, 2017 over February, 2016. Its cumulative index during April to February, 2016-17 increased by 5.0% over the corresponding period of previous year.

On the other hand, Cement production having 2.41% weight dropped 15.8% in February, 2017 over February, 2016. Its cumulative index during April to February, 2016-17 declined by 0.7% over the corresponding period of previous year. Fertilizer production having 1.25% weight slipped 5.3% in February, 2017 over February, 2016, while its cumulative index during April to February, 2016-17 increased by 2.1% over the corresponding period of previous year. Crude Oil production having 5.22% weight decreased by 3.4% in February, 2017 over February, 2016. Its cumulative index during April to February, 2016-17 declined by 2.8% over the corresponding period of previous year.

Petroleum Refinery production having 5.94% weight declined 2.3% in February, 2017 over February, 2016, while its cumulative index during April to February, 2016-17 increased by 5.9% over the corresponding period of previous year. The Natural Gas production having 1.71% weight was down by 1.7% in February, 2017 over February, 2016. Its cumulative index during April to February, 2016-17 declined by 1.9% over the corresponding period of previous year.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 9202.35, up by 28.60 points or 0.31% after trading in a range of 9192.40 and 9220.65. There were 30 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Reliance Industries up by 3.80%, Ambuja Cement up by 1.86%, ACC up by 1.57%, Ultratech Cement up by 1.41% and Larsen & Toubro was up by 1.31%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 2.61%, Bharti Infratel down by 1.61%, IndusInd Bank down by 1.10%, Indian Oil Corporation down by 0.96% and BPCL was down by 0.90% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading in green; FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI rose 3.14 points or 0.18% to 1,743.23, KOSPI Index jumped 4.92 points or 0.23% to 2,165.15, Nikkei 225 gained 31.45 points or 0.17% to 18,940.71, Jakarta Composite added 32.47 points or 0.58% to 5,600.57 and Hang Seng was up by 66.85 points or 0.28% to 24,178.44.