Markets sails northward in early trade for the second straight day

Key domestic bourses have made a positive start, continuing their northward journey for the second straight day amid a firming trend in Asian regions following overnight gains on Wall Street on upbeat earnings reports from technology and other firms. The rally in the morning session is also triggered by expectations; the government will accelerate economic reforms after the Presidential poll. Realty witnessed the maximum gain in trade followed by consumer durables and capital goods while, auto remained the lone loser on the BSE sectoral space, weighed down by Maruti Suzuki which tumbled over six percent following a clash between workers and the managerial staff at company’s Manesar plant yesterday. Meanwhile, PSU oil marketing companies edged higher by 1-2 percent on expectation that apart from hiking diesel prices the government is planning to quickly put in place a mechanism to cap the number of subsidised LPG cylinders for a household to 6-8 per year. Moreover, the broader indices too were trading on a firm note. The market breadth on the BSE was positive; there were 1,107 shares on the gaining side against 369 shares on the losing side while 55 shares remained unchanged. Bucking the trend, major telecom stocks opened in the red as the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) on telecom deferred a decision, till later this week, on the contentious issue of a reserve price for the re-auction of 2G spectrum.

The BSE Sensex opened at 17,288.34; about 103 points higher compared to its previous closing of 17,185.01, and has touched a high and a low of 17,317.56 and 17,274.86 respectively.

The index is currently trading at 17,281.66, up by 96.65 points or 0.56%. There were 25 stocks advancing against 5 declines on the index.

The overall market breadth has made a strong start with 72.31% stocks advancing against 24.10% declines. The broader indices too were trading firm note; the BSE Mid cap and Small cap indices rose 0.64% and 0.69% respectively.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were, Metal up by 1.24%, Power up by 1.13%, IT up by 1.09%, CG up by 1.07% and Realty was up by 1.04%. While, Auto down by 0.16% remained the lone loser on the index.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Sterlite Industries up by 1.74%, Jindal Steel up by 1.68%, BHEL up by 1.59%, Infosys up by 1.55% and Tata Motors was up by 1.47%.

On the flip side, Maruti Suzuki down by 6.15%, Bajaj Auto down by 0.75%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.62%, Hero MotoCorp down by 0.36% and HDFC Bank down by 0.14% remained the top losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, Civil Aviation Ministry has expressed its consent in allowing foreign airlines to invest in domestic carriers by keeping FDI cap of 49%.The ministry pointed out that only airlines would be more interested in investing in domestic carriers than any other, while the banks expressed its non willingness to provide more money to the sector.

The Civil Aviation Minister, Ajit Singh confirmed that the process of enhancing helicopter operations and construction of helipads at various places is under pipe line and assured that the rules will be amended soon for acquisition of smaller aircraft needed for providing connectivity to smaller cities in the country. He also pointed out that, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and Airports Authority of India (AAI) are needed to be revamped and strengthened as environment for civil aviation had undergone a vast change in recent years in terms of technology, modernization of airports, number of aircraft and passengers.

Ministry also underlined that the ambitious project for making India as an international hub for passengers is under consideration and further, the proposal to set up a National Aviation University was also brought with the aim of creating an aviation training hub to meet the requirements of India and other countries in the region.

The S&P CNX Nifty opened at 5,249.85; about 33 points higher compared to its previous closing of 5,216.30, and has touched a high and a low of 5,257.75 and 5,245.95 respectively.

The index is currently trading at 5,249.65 higher by 33.35 points or 0.64%. There were 46 stocks advancing against 4 declines on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were Siemens up by 1.91%, JP Associates up by 1.89%, BHEL up by 1.85%, HCL Tech up by 1.75% and Sterlite Industries up by 1.69%.

On the flip side, Maruti Suzuki down by 6.54%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.68%, Bajaj Auto down by 0.51% and Hero MotoCorp down by 0.14% remained the top losers on the index.

Most of the Asian equity indices were trading in the green; Shanghai Composite surged by 28.40 points or 1.31% to 2,197.50, Hang Seng index zoomed by 313.10 points or 1.63% to 19,552.98, Jakarta Composite gained 6.04 points or 0.15% to 4,088.26, Nikkei 225 gained 65.66 points or 0.75% to 8,792.40, Straits Times added 18.10 points or 0.60% to 3,035.75, Kospi Composite was up by 33.78 points or 1.86% to 1,828.60 and Taiwan Weighted surged by 106.14 points or 1.50% to 7,154.49.

On the flip side, Jakarta Composite was down 3.53 points or 0.09% to 4,078.10.