Sensex beats psychological 19,000 mark; Rupee hits five-and-half month high

Indian equity markets continued trading firm since morning on hopes of government's likely move to approve an increase in the cap of foreign direct investment in insurance firms and open the pension sector to foreign investors after a cabinet meeting today. The BSE benchmark Sensex up past the psychological 19,000 mark, while Nifty trying to cross 5,800 level. Investors ignored weak global cues and engaged in some heavy buying across the board. In currency markets, Indian rupee touched a fresh five-and-half month amid foreign fund inflows. Moreover, domestic currency’s appreciation against dollar benefited all state-owned oil marketing companies, which may also result in reduction in petrol price by about Rs 1.60 per liter later this month. On sectoral front bank and realty stocks were up sharply. Oil stocks have moved higher following a sharp decline in global crude oil prices. Metal and FMCG stocks were up as well, while information technology and healthcare stocks were subdued. In global markets, most Asian markets pared early gains. Back home, the market breadth favoring positive trend; there were 1,623 shares on the gaining side against 940 shares on the losing side while 109 shares remain unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 19056.47 up by 186.78 points or 0.99% after trading in a range of 19087.60 and 18939.75. There were 23 stocks advancing against 7 declines on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.90% and Small cap index was up by 0.69%.

The top gainers on the BSE sectoral space were, Realty up by 3.24%, Bankex up by 2.17%, CG up by 1.39%, Power up by 1.38% and Oil & Gas up by 1.30. While, IT down by 0.53% and HC down by 0.09% were the top losers on the sectoral space.

The top gainers on the Sensex were BHEL up by 4.87%, ICICI Bank up by 3.35%, HDFC Bank up by 2.20%, Bharti Airtel up by 2.11% and Gail India up by 2.06%. On the other hand, Cipla down by 0.88%, Hero MotoCorp down by 0.70%, TCS down by 0.68%, M&M down by 0.67% and Coal India down by 0.56% were top losers on the Sensex.

 Meanwhile, India Inc has lauded the latest reforms measure of the government and has pitched for steps from the government and the Reserve Bank of India to bring down consumer finance rates by at least 100 basis points, ahead of the upcoming festive season. It also suggested reduction in fiscal deficit as a step towards encouraging RBI to cut interest rates.

While welcoming the recent policy initiatives, CII President Adi Godrej said 'there is a lot to be done for the economy and industry at the present moment'.

India Inc submitted ground level issues like land acquisition, environment clearances and power problems that were constraining private sector investments and also raised concern over the slow pace in the introduction of goods and services tax system.

On his part Finance Minister P Chidambaram informed India Inc that the government is keen on speeding up reforms and raised his optimism that legislation for raising FDI in insurance sector will be passed in the Winter Session of Parliament.

 The S&P CNX Nifty is currently trading at 5,791.90, up by 60.65 points or 1.06% after trading in a range of 5,798.60 and 5,751.35. There were 39 stocks advancing against 11 declines on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were BPCL up by 5.09%, BHEL up by 4.76%, DLF up by 3.82%, ICICI Bank up by 3.39% and AXIS Bank up by 2.97%. While, Lupin down by 1.56%, Power Grid down by 0.81%, Cipla down by 0.81%, TCS down by 0.80% and Coal India down by 0.74% were top losers on the index.

Most of the Asian equity indices were trading in red; Jakarta Composite was up by 0.32%, KLSE Composite was up by 0.55%, Nikkei 225 was up by 0.89%. While, Straits Times was down by 0.02%, Hang Seng was down by 0.10%, Kospi Composite was down by 0.17% and Taiwan Weighted was down by 0.03%. Markets in China remained closed today for holiday.