Sensex remains near record high; NSE remains closed due to tech glitch

Indian equity benchmark held its initial gains in early noon session to remain near record high, after quarterly corporate earnings optimism gave domestic institutional and retail investors much hope to go in for fresh bets. Blue-chip TCS is scheduled to announce its quarterly results on July 13. Due to technical reasons, trading was stopped in both cash and F&O segment of NSE. Traders took encouragement with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement that Goods and Services Tax (GST) would help businesses and create a unified market of 1.3 billion people. He also said that the GDP growth this year is likely to be more than 7 percent and India's reform agenda is continuously making progressing. Some support also came with the report that foreign investors have pumped in nearly USD 23 billion into the Indian capital markets in January-June 2017 on several factors, including expectations of accelerated pace of reforms. Meanwhile, continuing to tighten norms for participatory notes, markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) came out with guidelines for issuance of such instruments where the underlying assets are derivatives.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed, following the positive cues from Wall Street on better-than-expected U.S. jobs data and also as data showed that China's inflation held steady in June. Crude oil rose in Asian trades after tumbling on Friday. Back home, in scrip specific development, Suven Life Sciences jumped higher after the company secured three product patents each in Israel, Macau and South Korea corresponding to the New Chemical Entities (NCEs) for the treatment of disorders associated with Neurodegenerative diseases and these Patents are valid through 2032.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 31574.30, up by 213.67 points or 0.68% after trading in a range of 31471.41 and 31602.50. There were 28 stocks advancing against 3 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.39%, while Small cap index was up by 0.56%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 1.69%, IT up by 1.64%, TECK up by 1.61%, PSU up by 1.25% and Realty up by 1.18%, while FMCG down by 0.31% was the only losing index on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were TCS up by 3.08%, Tata Motors up by 2.39%, Bharti Airtel up by 2.31%, Lupin up by 2.18% and Tata Motors - DVR up by 1.91%. On the flip side, ITC down by 0.73%, Tata Steel down by 0.70% and Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.39% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, foreign Portfolio Investment (FPI) inflows during the period between January-June 2017 (H12017) stood at nearly $23 billion into the Indian capital markets, largely driven by several factors, including expectations from the government that it would speed up development and economic reforms. While, in the first half of 2016, FPIs had invested about $1.2 billion. According to latest depository data, FPIs in H12017 invested a net Rs 53,354 crore in equities, while pumped Rs 94,199 crore in the debt market during the time period, translating into a net inflow of Rs 147,553 crore.

Starting the year on a negative note, the foreign investors had in January pulled out Rs 3,495 crore from the capital markets on worried about lower prospects of growth in the Indian economy compared to other emerging markets. In addition, impact of change in policies by US President Donald Trump and demonetization back home were the other contributing factors.

However, FPIs had reversed the outflow trend in February and the infusion continued till June, enthused by clarity on FPI taxation, GST roll-out and expectations of a good monsoon. Going forward, there are a few challenges but they are not strong enough to disrupt the current trend. Markets and the rupee are soaring to new high, which offer a good profit booking opportunity for the foreign investors.  

Asian markets were trading mixed; KOSPI Index increased 6.06 points or 0.25% to 2,385.93, Nikkei 225 increased 138.41 points or 0.69% to 20,067.50 and Hang Seng increased 276.76 points or 1.09% to 25,617.61.

On the flip side, Jakarta Composite decreased 15.4 points or 0.26% to 5,799.39, Shanghai Composite decreased 7.29 points or 0.23% to 3,210.67, Taiwan Weighted decreased 4.42 points or 0.04% to 10,292.83 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 3.11 points or 0.18% to 1,756.82.