Indian equities added gains to trade in green; Nifty above 5,600 mark

Indian equities added gains to continue its firm trade above neutral line in the late afternoon session on back of buying in frontline counters and taking cues from European counterparts. After previous session’s disappointing second quarter monetary policy review 2012-13, investors have now approached a cautious stance ahead of the release of Shome panel’s final report on General Anti-Avoidance Rules (GAAR) to Finance Minister P Chidambaram. The report, which is expected to have high implication, is expected to be public only by November 1. Traders were seen piling some position in Health Care (HC), Auto and Consumer Durables (CD) sector while selling was witnessed in FMCG, Oil & Gas and Capital Goods sector. In the scrip specific development, Tata Motors shares were seen trading firm on reports that Goldman Sachs stated in its report that the auto maker’s market cap has potential to reach $30 billion by fiscal 2017, from current value of $13.8 billion, and to nearly double its cash flow during these four years. TV Today Network edge higher on reports that Kumar Mangalam Birla-led AV Birla group may increase its stake to 51% in Living Media, which in turn owns 57.46% stake in TV Today Network.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading in green barring Jakarta Composite and Taiwan Weighted, while the European markets were trading on optimistic note on news of Greece-Troika deal. Besides, preliminary data released by Spain showed that the economy shrank less than expected in third quarter, with gross domestic product declining 0.3%. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading above their psychological 5,600 and 18,400 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was neutral in the ratio of 1301:1306 while 125 scrips remain unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 18,461.41, up by 30.56 points or 0.17% after trading in a range of 18,497.64 and 18,398.48. There were 20 stocks advancing against 10 declines on the index.

The broader indices were too trading in green; the BSE Mid cap and Small cap indices were trading higher by 0.52% and 0.20% respectively.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were, Health Care up by 1.36%, Auto up by 1.13%, Consumer Durables up by 0.66%, TECk up by 0.60% and Realty up by 0.54%. While, FMCG down by 0.63%, Oil & Gas down by 0.48%, Capital Goods down by 0.46%, PSU down by 0.35% and Power down by 0.17% were the top losers on the index.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Hindalco Industries up by 2.89%, Maruti Suzuki up by 2.76%, Dr Reddy’s Lab up by 1.92%, Cipla up by 1.78% and Tata Motors up by 1.70%.

On the flip side, ONGC down by 2.18%, Gail India down by 1.82%, HUL down by 1.43%, BHEL down by 1.27% and Jindal Steel down by 0.96% were the top losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, disappointing the tactical measures taken by the government to garner more foreign investments for triggering financial health of the nation, the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion has reported that the foreign direct investment (FDI) in India has dipped by 20% to $2.26 billion in the month of August with respect to same month last year’s $2.83 billion worth foreign inflows, while in July month foreign investments were about 60%.

However, the centre has expressed hopes that relaxation of investment caps in FDI in multi- brand retail and civil aviation would aid in garnering more investments to the country in the coming months. It also affirmed the significance of foreign investments as India needs fund above $1 trillion over the next five years for its infrastructure developments in sector like ports, airports and highways.

The pummeled foreign inflows are likely to weigh on the country's balance of payments (BoP) and could also impact on rupee. The major shares of FDI inflows in the month has reached the sectors like services with $2.28 billion, automobile about $617 million, for construction $601 million and metallurgical by about $595 million.

The major contributors to FDI in India are Mauritius with $2.53 billion, Japan with $1.16 billion, the Netherlands with $923 million, the UK with $570 million and Singapore with $961 million. While the foreign inflows for the financial year in 2011-12 was about $36.50 billion, with respect to 2010-11’s $19.42 billion and 2009-10’s $25.83 billion.

The S&P CNX Nifty is currently trading at 5,608.75, up by 10.85 points or 0.19% after trading in a range of 5,614.95 and 5,583.05. There were 30 stocks advancing against 20 declines on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were Maruti Suzuki up by 3.23%, Hindalco Industries up by 3.20%, Dr Reddy’s Lab up by 1.86%, Tata Motors up by 1.80% and Cipla up by 1.71%.

On the flip side, Reliance Infrastructure down by 2.48%, ONGC down by 2.16%, GAIL India down by 1.81%, BHEL down by 1.44% and Ultratech Cement down by 1.24%, were the major losers on the index.

Most of the Asian equity indices were trading in green; Jakarta Composite declined 0.56% and Taiwan Weighted shed 0.23%. On the other hand, KLSE Composite inched up 0.09%, Straits Times jumped 0.06% Shanghai Composite added 0.32%, Hang Seng gained 1.00%, Nikkei 225 surged 0.98% and Kospi Composite surged 0.66%.

The European markets were trading in green with, France’s CAC 40 added 0.52%, Germany’s DAX ascended 0.59% and the United Kingdom’s FTSE 100 gained 0.16%.