Firm trade prevails in market; Nifty above 5,350 level

Indian equities added gains to continue its firm trade above neutral line in the late afternoon session on account of buying in front line counters and taking clues from European counterparts. The sentiment continued on buoyant mood by provisional data showing that foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained buyers of Indian stocks on Friday i.e. August 17, 2012. The sentiment was also boosted on the street after the annual rate of inflation, based on the consumer prices index (CPI) in India, eased marginally in the month of July to 9.86 percent, although drought in parts of the country, which drove food prices higher, limited the downside. Traders were seen piling up position in IT, TECk and Realty sector while selling was witnessed in Bankex, Capital Goods and Consumer Durable sector. In the scrip specific development, Bharti Airtel was trading weak in red after Morgan Stanley downgraded the company to ‘equal-weight’ from ‘overweight’ and cuts its target price. Hindustan Zinc was trading firm in green on reports that residual stake sale in Hindustan Zinc and BALCO have been put on fast track by the government.

On the global front, the Asian markets were trading on a mixed note while the European markets were trading on optimistic note. President of Greece is scheduled to visit Berlin this Friday and the leader of the euro zone is expected to visit Greece, which is likely to demand additional time and relaxing of austerity measures as the nation battles depression like economic conditions and struggles with record high unemployment and falling government receipts. Meanwhile, the European Central Bank is contemplating setting limits on yields of bonds of each euro member state at the governing council meeting in September. On the home turf, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading above their psychological 5,350 and 17,700 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was positive in the ratio of 1365:1320 while 147 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 17789.54, up by 98.46 points or 0.56% after touching a high of 17815.76 and low of 17705.14. There were 20 stocks advancing against 10 declines on the index.

The broader indices too continued to trade in green; the BSE Mid cap index edged higher by 0.10% while Small cap index was up by 0.35%.

The top gainers on the BSE sectoral space were, IT up by 1.51%, TECk up by 1.11%, Realty up by 0.88%, Power up by 0.80% and Auto up by 0.69% while Bankex down by 0.12%, Capital Goods down by 0.04% and Consumer Durables down by 0.02% were the only losers on the sectoral space.

HDFC up by 2.51%, Infosys up by 2.32%, NTPC up by 2.11%, Tata Motors up by 1.91% and Sterlite Industries up by 1.61% were major gainers on the Sensex, while Hindalco Industries down by 2.90%, Hero MotoCorp down by 1.06%, HDFC Bank down by 0.87%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.84% and Tata Steel down by 0.82% were major losers on the index.  

Meanwhile, with slowing industrial activity, CII-Ascon survey has suggested the government of India to expedite measures in fiscal and monetary policy for arresting downward in industrial activity, which may continue in the current quarter as well. It also urged Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to reduce policy rates, while emphasizing importance of building investors’ confidence.

It has projected possible growth in 103 industrial sectors in the current quarter, and called for some steps that can improve growth prospects, like reduction in interest rates, faster implementation of GST (Goods and Services Tax), fast tracking of large projects, re-consideration of the retrospective amendments and GAAR.

It pointed out that faster implementation of projects would lift sentiments and boost investments. As per the survey, sectors which are likely to dip in the current quarter include capital goods segments like earth moving and construction equipment, electric motors and textile machinery.  It also noted that consumer good sectors like sunflower oil, mustard oil, soya, air conditioners, TV and passenger cars are expected to record low or negative growth performance in the July-September period.

The S&P CNX Nifty is currently trading at 5,390.05, up by 23.75 points or 0.44% after trading in a range of 5,398.45 and 5,368.70. There were 32 stocks advancing against 18 declines on the index.

The top gainers on the Nifty were DLF up by 2.51%, Infosys up by 2.41%, IDFC up by 2.27%, NTPC up by 2.26% and Ambuja Cement up by 2.09%. While, Hindalco Industries down by 2.46%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.32%, Hero MotoCorp down by 1.31%, Tata Steel down by 0.94% and HDFC Bank down by 0.92% were top losers on the index.

Asian indices were trading mixed; Straits Times added 0.27%, Shanghai Composite advanced 0.54%, Taiwan Weighted surged 1.01% and KLSE Composite was flat. On the flip side, Nikkei 225 was down 0.16%, Kospi Composite Index declined 0.16% and Hang Seng descended 0.02%.

Jakarta Composite is closed till Wednesday, due to public and Idul Fitri holidays.

The European markets were trading in green with, France’s CAC 40 ascending 0.86%, Germany’s DAX added 0.67% and the United Kingdom’s FTSE 100 jumped 0.60%.