Nifty, Sensex maintain up-move; Healthcare, IT stocks surge

Key equity gauges maintained their up-move in early noon session as sentiments on the street were positive with report that India’s factory output jumped to 4.9% in April. Some support also came with the Ministry of Shipping stating that a total of 224 projects -- entailing an investment to the tune of Rs 1.85 lakh crore have been awarded by March 2018 under Sagarmala programme. Meanwhile, a report stated that the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) has extended the refund fortnight for fast track clearance of pending dues to exporters by two days till June 16. However, some gains were limited as retail inflation touched a 4 month-high of 4.87% in May as prices food items such as fruits, vegetables and cereals increased.

On the sectoral front, banking sector remained in focus as Moody's Investors Service gave counterparty risk ratings (CRR) to 15 lenders in the country, including Punjab National Bank (PNB) and country's largest lender SBI. The agency also upgraded the counterparty risk assessments of four banks, including PNB, ICICI Bank, Bank of Baroda and Axis Bank. Furthermore, among the sectoral indices of NSE, Nifty PSU Bank and Nifty Pharma were leading the charge. On the BSE, Healthcare, IT and Consumer Durables were investors’ favourite, while selling was visible in Telecom, Oil & Gas and Utilities. Among individual stocks on the BSE, Dr. Reddys Lab and Sun Pharma stocks were the gainers amongst the Healthcare sector and the Banking sector, Bank of Baroda and Axis Bank stocks were the gainers.

On the global front, Asian counters were trading mostly in red as investors looked to the Federal Reserve policy decision and any clues it might give on future rate hikes, shifting focus away from the historic US-North Korea summit in Singapore.

Back home, Sensex posted gains of over 120 points and Nifty holding 10850 mark. Besides, market breadth on the BSE favoring positive trend; there were 1372 shares on the gaining side against 991 shares on the losing side while 120 shares remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 35818.96, up by 126.44 points or 0.35% after trading in a range of 35715.96 and 35877.41. There were 21 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining on the index, while 1 stock remained unchanged.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.37%, while Small cap index up by 0.42%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Healthcare up by 1.50%, IT up by 1.11%, Consumer Durables up by 1.06%, TECK up by 0.81% and Auto up by 0.59%, while Telecom down by 0.83%, Oil & Gas down by 0.60%, Utilities down by 0.20%, Energy down by 0.12% and Metal down by 0.09% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Dr. Reddys Lab up by 4.01%, Axis Bank up by 2.42%, Sun Pharma up by 2.24%, TCS up by 1.99% and SBI up by 1.66%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 1.25%, ONGC down by 1.20%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.12%, HDFC down by 0.64% and Bharti Airtel down by 0.54% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Shipping has said that a total of 224 projects -- entailing an investment to the tune of Rs 1.85 lakh crore have been awarded by March 2018 under Sagarmala, the ambitious programme for 'Port-led development' in India. It also said that in March 2015, Union Cabinet had given in-principle nod to this flagship project which was launched in 2016. Besides, it noted that 196 projects worth Rs 71,868 lakh crore are expected to be awarded in 2018-19, 98 projects worth Rs 31,046 crore expected to be completed in 2018-19 and a total of 59 projects worth Rs 11,299 crore have been completed till March 31, 2018.

The ministry further stated that these include various infrastructure projects, coastal berth projects, fishery harbours and skill development projects. It also said that these projects are being implemented by relevant Central Ministries, State Governments, Ports and other agencies primarily through the private or PPP mode. It mentioned that these include unique and innovative projects like Gogha-Dahej RO-Pax Ferry Services Project and RO-RO Services Project at Mandwa. In addition, it said that TEFR (techno economic feasibility report) is under preparation for development of underwater viewing gallery and restaurant at BeytDwarka Island and the consultant has been selected for preparing DPR (detailed project report) for the National Maritime Heritage Centre proposed at Lothal.

As part of Sagarmala Programme, 572 projects, at an estimated infrastructure investment of more than Rs 8.4 lakh crore, have been identified across the areas of port modernisation and new port development, port connectivity enhancement, port-linked industrialisation and coastal community development. 

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10873.00, up by 30.15 points or 0.28% after trading in a range of 10842.65 and 10888.90. There were 30 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Dr. Reddys Lab up by 3.92%, Cipla up by 3.41%, Axis Bank up by 2.36%, Sun Pharma up by 2.19% and Lupin up by 2.18%. On the flip side, Zee Entertainment down by 1.34%, Tata Steel down by 1.33%, ONGC down by 1.23%, Indiabulls Housing down by 1.23% and HPCL down by 1.03% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Hang Seng decreased 173.24 points or 0.56% to 30,929.82, Shanghai Composite slipped 18.2 points or 0.59% to 3,061.61 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was down by 4.45 points or 0.25% to 1,759.71.

On the flip side, Taiwan Weighted increased 28.42 points or 0.26% to 11,173.21 and Nikkei 225 was up by 96.38 points or 0.42% to 22,974.73.