Markets hit fresh intraday high

Indian equity benchmarks continued their northward journey in late afternoon session to hit fresh highs, following positive global cues after a centrist victory in the first round of the French presidential election. Sentiments were bolstered by a string of optimistic quarterly results including from Reliance Industries which were announced yesterday post market hours. Traders took some relief from Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’ statement that a large economy like India can deal with the problem of bad loans in the banking system, as it is not a problem spread over hundreds or thousands of accounts but is confined to only 20 to 30 big accounts. Some support also came with the report that the commerce and industry ministry is formulating a policy to give preference to locally manufactured goods in government procurement. Furthermore, the government is planning to cut oil products imports to zero by giving a boost to alternative fuel use. Investors even overlooked Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian's statement that the recent waiving of farmers' loans by state governments in India could increase the deficit by two per cent of the GDP if the practice is carried out nationwide.

On the global front, European markets were trading in green on the back of the outcome of the French election. Asian markets were also trading in green. Back home, in scrip specific development, Alembic Pharmaceuticals edged higher after the company received final approvals from the US Food & Drug Administration (USFDA) for its Abbreviated New Drug Applications (ANDAs) for Olmesartan Medoxomil Tablets, 5 mg, 20mg and 40mg and Olmesartan Medoxomil with Hydrochlorothiazide Tablets 20/12.5mg, 40/12.5mg and 40/25mg.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 29897.18, up by 241.34 points or 0.81% after trading in a range of 29780.84 and 29908.90. There were 25 stocks advancing against 5 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.85%, while Small cap index was up by 0.64 %.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 2.52%, FMCG up by 1.16%, Energy up by 1.15%, Oil & Gas up by 1.11% and Realty up by 0.96%, while Metal down by 0.13% was the sole losing index on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel up by 3.28%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 3.25%, Hero MotoCorp up by 2.83%, Power Grid Corpn. up by 2.24% and Asian Paints up by 1.89%. On the flip side, TCS down by 0.91%, NTPC down by 0.72%, GAIL India down by 0.29%, ONGC down by 0.11% and Cipla down by 0.04% were the top losers.Meanwhile, moving on the way of becoming self-sufficient in fuel, the government is planning to cut oil products imports to zero by giving a boost to alternative fuel use. Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari has said that the centre is trying its level best to reduce imports of fuel and is turning to alternative fuels such as methanol in the transport sector.

Gadkari also said that with focus on developing alternative fuel economy, government is planning to start 15 factories to produce second generation ethanol from biomass, bamboo and cotton straw, as it aims to develop its mandate to blend ethanol into 5 percent of gasoline. New Delhi also wants to raise the use of natural gas in its energy mix to 15 percent in three to four years from 6.5 percent now, to cut the country's carbon footprint.

At present, India is the world's third-biggest oil consumer, importing about 33 million tonnes of oil products over April 2016 to February 2017, up nearly 24 percent from the same period a year ago. Going further, energy consumption of the country is expected to grow as it targets between 8 to 9 percent economic growth this fiscal year from around 7 percent in 2016/17.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 9292.25, up by 74.30 points or 0.81% after trading in a range of 9250.35 and 9294.90. There were 38 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bharti Infratel up by 4.52%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 3.19%, BPCL up by 3.01%, Hero MotoCorp up by 2.89% and Bharti Airtel up by 2.87%. On the flip side, Tata Power down by 0.93%, TCS down by 0.79%, NTPC down by 0.75%, Aurobindo Pharma down by 0.40% and Hindalco down by 0.31% were the top losers.Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Shanghai Composite increased 5.04 points or 0.16% to 3,134.57, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 6.97 points or 0.4% to 1,763.02, KOSPI Index increased 23.11 points or 1.06% to 2,196.85, Taiwan Weighted increased 123.76 points or 1.27% to 9,841.71, Nikkei 225 increased 203.45 points or 1.08% to 19,079.33 and Hang Seng increased 316.46 points or 1.31% to 24,455.94. On the flip side, Jakarta Composite decreased 8.18 points or 0.14% to 5,656.29.

All European Markets were trading in green; Germany’s DAX increased 1.14 points or 0.01% to 12,456.12, France’s CAC increased 3.56 points or 0.07% to 5,272.41 and UK’s FTSE 100 increased 12.87 points or 0.18% to 7,277.55.