Bulls continue to dominate Indian stock markets

Bulls continued to hold tight grip on Indian benchmark indices in the early noon session on positive economic data. As per a report, retail inflation has come down to 4.17 percent in July, marking a nine-month low. Sustained buying in Realty, IT and TECK sector stocks along with broader indices kept the markets on the positive side. On the BSE, Axis Bank, Hindustan Unilever and Yes Bank were amongst the top gainers, while on the NSE, Ultratech Cement, Tech Mahindra and Eicher Motors were amongst the top gainers. Besides, the market breadth on BSE was positive; out of 2467 stocks traded, 1201 stocks advanced, while 1150 stocks declined on the BSE, while 116 stocks remained unchanged. On the sectoral front, Power sector was in limelight with a report stating that the Reserve Bank has backed the idea of state-owned Rural Electrification Corporation's proposal to form an asset reconstruction company (ARC) dedicated to take over stressed assets in the power sector. 

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed. China’s stock markets fell as new data showed further signs of cooling in the world’s second-largest economy, with fixed-asset investment growth at its slowest pace since at least 1996. Back home, in scrip specific development, Jindal Poly Films rose on reporting over 4-fold jump in Q1 net profit, IOC gained on planning to invest Rs 20,000 crore in city gas projects.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 37803.91, up by 159.01 points or 0.42% after trading in a range of 37689.71 and 37841.68. There were 21 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index moved up by 0.08%, while Small cap index up by 0.34%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.24%, IT up by 1.03%, TECK up by 0.83%, Consumer Disc up by 0.65% and Bankex up by 0.63%, while Telecom down by 0.56%, Capital Goods down by 0.26%, Industrials down by 0.21%, Oil & Gas down by 0.09% and PSU down by 0.06% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Axis Bank up by 1.78%, Hindustan Unilever up by 1.22%, Yes Bank up by 0.94%, TCS up by 0.92% and Infosys up by 0.84%. On the flip side, Vedanta down by 1.16%, Adani Ports by 0.89%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.73%, Coal India down by 0.59% and Tata Motors - DVR down by 0.51% were the top losers.

Meanwhile,India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) in its latest report has said that India’s dependency on import of fertilizers will continue in the medium-term. However, it noted that the country’s urea imports are likely to drop as a new manufacturing capacity comes on-stream under the New Investment Policy 2012. Besides, it said that returns from the new urea manufacturing capacity coming on-stream are likely to be strong, subject to the timely receipt of subsidy and offtake above 85 percent.

The ratings agency said “We do not have domestic reserves of muriate of potash (MOP) and hence will continue to import 100 percent of potash.” It also said that globally, the potash market is controlled by five companies, given their proximity to the raw material. It pointed out that the usage of MOP in India mainly depends on the price payable by the end-user.

Ind-Ra expects lower direct imports of DAP in the country, but higher imports of RP/PA as more conversion facilities are set up in the country. Apart from urea, it noted that DAP and MOP, fertiliser companies are increasingly focusing on customised NPK fertilisers (nitrogen-phosphorus-potassium), to address the specific agro-climatic needs of farmers. It added that this benefits not only the farmers but also the manufacturers, as they earn better realisations and profitability on these customised products.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11411.60, up by 55.85 points or 0.49% after trading in a range of 11370.80 and 11419.35. There were 33 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Ultratech Cement up by 3.00%, Tech Mahindra up by 2.25%, Eicher Motors up by 1.98%, Bajaj Finance up by 1.94% and Axis Bank up by 1.88%. On the flip side, UPL down by 2.08%, Vedanta down by 1.34%, Bharti Infratel down by 1.24%, HPCL down by 1.23% and Bharti Airtel down by 0.99% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; Straits Times decreased 5.32 points or 0.16% to 3,240.02, Hang Seng dipped 317.15 points or 1.15% to 27,619.42, Shanghai Composite slipped 9.26 points or 0.33% to 2,776.61 and Jakarta Composite was down 25.10 points or 0.43% to 5,836.15.

On the contrary, Nikkei 225 increased 498.65 points or 2.23% to 22,356.08, KOSPI surged 12.81 points or 0.57% to 2,261.26 and Taiwan Weighted was up 75.31 points or 0.7% to 10,824.23.