Equity benchmarks continue upward journey; Nifty crosses 5,300 level

Following a vivid start and a subsequent fall from higher levels, the Indian equity benchmarks moved up once again in the late morning session on strong buying across the board. The 30-share BSE Sensex gained 78.87 points, while Nifty breached 5,300 level. In currency markets, Indian rupee recovered from its record lows against American currency on the back of dollar selling by banks and exporters. On sectoral front, auto stocks extended early gains after Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) report on vehicle sales. Domestic car sales increased 4.9% year-on-year to 1.89 lakh units and motorcycle sales rose by 5.9% to 10.5 lakh units during the same period. Realty, capital goods and bank stocks were also on buyer’s radar. Select stocks from consumer durables, healthcare, metal and oil sectors too had moved up smartly, while FMCG stocks were mostly subdued. On the global front, most of the Asian shares were trading in red. Back home, the market breadth favoring positive trend; there were 1,459 shares on the gaining side against 956 shares on the losing side while 107 shares remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 17,470.85 up  by 78.87 points or 0.45% after trading as high as 17,499.67 and as low as 17,424.29. There were 24 stocks advancing against 6 declines on the index.

The broader indices were trading on a positive note; the BSE Mid cap index up 0.68% while Small cap index was up 0.60%.

On the BSE sectoral space, Auto up by 1.30%, CD up by 1.05%, Realty up by 0.88%, HC up by 0.80% and Bankex up by 0.77%. While, FMCG down by 0.30% was the only loser on the index.

Tata Motors up by 2.46%, Cipla up by 1.72%, ICICI Bank up by 1.34%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.29% and Hero MotoCorp up by 1.18% were the major gainers on the Sensex, while Tata Power down by 0.59%, TCS down by 0.56%, NTPC down by 0.53%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.44% and ITC down by 0.42% were the major losers in the index.

Meanwhile, watering down the widespread expectation of another rate cut by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its upcoming monetary policy review later this month, Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council chief C Rangarajan has said that the Reserve Bank will find it difficult to cut interest rates in absence of softening of inflation, particularly that of non-food manufacturing.

The PMEAC chief said that 'I believe if the inflation rate, particularly non-food manufacturing, shows decline then there will be scope for RBI to adopt easier stance.' RBI is scheduled to announce its second quarter review of monetary policy on July 31. In its previous mid-quarter policy review it had preferred to play down the growth concerns choosing to maintain status quo. Meanwhile, the top bankers have urged the central bank to ease monetary policy to boost liquidity and revive economic growth, arguing that manufacturing inflation, a key measure of core inflationary pressures, has eased considerably.

Rangarajan said that Indian condition is different from other countries and if other countries are having slow growth rate there inflation too is low, he also said that the scope for stimulus is limited as fiscal deficit is high and we have to make an effort to contain fiscal deficit at the budgeted level. 

The S&P CNX Nifty is currently trading at 5,300.15, up by 25.00 points or 0.47% after trading as high as 5,306.55 and as low as 5,284.55. There were 38 stocks advancing against 12 declines on the index.

The top gainers on the Nifty were Tata Motors up by 5.35%, JP Associates up by 2.14%, Reliance Infra up by 1.65%, Cipla up by 1.36% and Maruti Suzuki up by 1.34%. ACC down by 1.12%, IDFC down by 0.71%, TCS down by 0.69%, NTPC down by 0.66% and Tata Power down by 0.64% were the major losers on the index.

Most of the Asian equity indices were trading in the red; Hang Seng index down by 0.04%, Jakarta Composite down 0.15%, Nikkei 225 down 0.44%,Kospi Composite Index down 0.36%, and Taiwan Weighted down 0.80% while Shanghai Composite was up 0.08%, Strait Times up 0.54% and KLSE Composite up 0.13%