Equity markets sustain the uptrend; Nifty floats above 5700 level

Trade at D-street continues to be in fine fettle, helped by the positive opening of European counterparts. In the choppy session of trade, where volatility is expected to rule the roost being the final day of F&O expiry, benchmarks ever since bouncing off from intra-day’s low have maintained their northbound journey. However, run-up rally at D-street is unlikely in absence of any major trigger, as investors await the release of RBI’s second quarter monetary policy review on October 30, 2012.  Stocks from Oil & Gas, Metal and Auto counters mainly are supporting the uptrend of the bourses, while profit-booking in Realty, Consumer Durable and Capital Goods counters have provided a lid to further upside of Indian equity markets. 30 share index, Sensex, ruling up around quarter percent is trading above 18750 level, while 50 share index, Nifty, edging a little above 0.15%, is holding its 5700 bastion. Meanwhile, broader indices are showcasing mixed trend.

On the global front, European stocks have got off to a positive start after yesterday tumbling, as technology companies rallied, outweighing worsening economic data from the euro area. Stocks slid earlier as separate reports showed euro-area services and manufacturing output have contracted more than economists had forecast, while German business confidence unexpectedly declined. Meanwhile, Asian pacific shares look set for a positive close amidst signs of recovery in China and the United States eclipsing fears of deteriorating global growth

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 18751.85, up by 41.83 points or 0.22%. The index touched a high and low of 18778.43 and 18699.07 respectively. There were 15 stocks advancing against 15 declines on the index.

The overall market breadth on BSE is in the favour of declines which have outperformance advances in the ratio of 1345:1205, while 119 shares remained unchanged.

The broader indices continued to trade mixed; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.16%, while the Small cap index was up by 0.13%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil and Gas up by 0.51%, Metal up by 0.28%, Auto up by 0.21%, FMCG up by 0.18%. On the other hand, Realty down by 1.03%, CD down by 0.42%, CG down by 0.26%, Power down by 0.23% and TECk down by 0.15% were the top losers on the BSE sectoral space.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Sterlite Industries up by 2.08%, HDFC up by 1.44%, Hero MotoCorp up by 1.31%, M&M up by 1.27% and ITC up by 1.00%. On the flip side, Dr Reddy’s down by 1.28%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.06%, Tata Motors down by 0.85%, SBI down by 0.82% and Jindal Steel down by 0.79% were the top losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, in a hope to get rid of a threatening ratings downgrade and boost fiscal credibility, finance ministry is expected to pencil in fiscal deficit at 5.3 per cent for this year, which is seen improving at 3 per cent by 2016-17, in its soon-to-be-unveiled fiscal reforms blueprint.

Finance ministry officials are functioning overtime to safeguard that a widely anticipated fiscal slippage this year is minimal and not much beyond the budgeted 5.1 per cent that they contend could go a prolonged approach in satisfying international ratings agencies that have threatened a hillside of India’s emperor rating to junk status.

Meanwhile, Finance Minister P Chidambaram, who has betrothed a 'credible and feasible path of fiscal correction', has been personally fine-tuning the proposed fiscal framework for the next five years that will be presented in the forthcoming winter session of Parliament.

Further, having shot a diesel price hike bullet which is expected to reduce ballooning subsidies burden, the finance ministry is now focusing on a three-pronged strategy comprising massive expenditure cuts, aggressive disinvestment, and large receipts from the sale of telecom spectrum to achieve the fiscal numbers.

The S&P CNX Nifty, after trading in range of 5,709.90 and 5,685.70, is currently trading at 5,700.50, up by 9.10 points or 0.16%. There were 23 stocks advancing against 27 declines on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were Lupin up by 2.10%, HDFC up by 1.48%, Hero MotoCorp up by 1.36%, Grasim Industries up by 1.35% and Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.23%.

On the flip side, PNB down by 2.14%, Bank of Baroda down by 1.52%, Reliance Infra down by 1.51%, Dr Reddy down by 1.44% and Maruti Suzuki down by 1.02% were the major losers on the index.

Most of the Asian equity indices continued to trade in positive terrain; KLSE Composite added 0.09%, Jakarta Composite gained 0.01%, Nikkei 225 surged by 1.13%, Straits Times was higher by 0.31% and Kospi gained by 0.55%.

On the other hand, Hang Seng declined 0.16%, Taiwan Weighted was down by 0.72% and Shanghai Composite edged lower by 0.61%.

European markets got off to a green start; with CAC 40 adding 0.36%, FTSE 100 edging higher by 0.16% and DAX rising by 0.27%.