Benchmarks hold early gains; FMCG, realty major gainers

Following a somewhat shaky start, Indian stock markets edged higher and currently extended gains amid stock specifying buying. The 30-share BSE Sensex which had declined after a positive start gained 84.80 points while, 50-share NSE Nifty was up 23 points. In currency markets, Indian rupee extended early losses and touched two-month low against dollar on Wednesday amid increasing demand for dollar from importers and banks. On sectoral front bank, realty, FMCG, metal and information technology sectors were trading in green while, automobile, power and oil stocks were mostly subdued. In global markets, Asian shares eased on Wednesday as investors refocused on the euro zone debt crisis after European officials failed to reach a deal on a bailout for Greece, while Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke highlighted the dangers of US fiscal crisis. Back home, the market breadth favoring positive trend; there were 1,266 shares on the gaining side against 1,070 shares on the losing side while 125 shares remain unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 18,414.12, up by 84.80 points or 0.46%. There were 19 stocks advancing against 10 declines and one remains unchanged on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap up and Small cap index were up by 0.22% and 0.38% respectively.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were, CD up by 1.36%, Realty up by 1.30%, FMCG up by 1.01%, Bankex up by 0.87% and IT up by 0.82%. While, Power down by 0.25%, Auto down 0.06% and Oil & Gas down by 0.02% were the top losers on the index.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Sun Pharma up by 1.82%, Cipla up by 1.80%, ICICI Bank up by 1.63%, Tata Power up by 1.42% and Jindal Steel up by 1.34%

On the flip side, BHEL was down by 1.97%, Bharti Airtel was down by 1.08%, NTPC was down by 1.04%, Hero MotoCorp down by 0.91% and HDFC was down by 0.72% were the top losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, after slipping for last five months, domestic airline passenger traffic, gained some momentum in October as it grew by 13.36 per cent and stood at 45.50 lakh from 40.18 lakh in September 2012, according to data released on Tuesday by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). The respite came after the passenger traffic fell 8.03 per cent for the fifth consecutive month in September and stood at 40.18 lakh from 43.69 lakh in August.

However, airline passenger traffic in India, dipping by 15.7% in October compared with a year ago turns out to be the sharpest fall in traffic this year, importantly in redeeming month for Indian carriers. The October-December quarter, is peak season for domestic airlines.

The civil aviation ministry data, however, showed that the total passengers carried by all domestic airlines in the January-October period fell by 2.47 percent at 483.94 lakh passengers from 496.19 lakh during the corresponding month of 2011. The total passengers carried by all the domestic airlines in the January-September period had grown marginally by 0.90 per cent at 438.39 lakh passengers from 442.18 lakh during the corresponding period of 2011.

Further, in terms of market share, Indigo maintained its top position with 27.8 per cent followed by Air India with 20.8 percent, Spicejet at third position with 19.1 percent and at fourth position Jet Airways-Jetlite (Jet Konnect) combine with 24.7 per cent. However, it is Air India whose share is on the rise for six successive months.

S&P CNX Nifty is currently trading at 5,595.15, up by 23.60 points or 0.42%, after touching a high and a low of 5,602.25 and 5,561.40 respectively. There were 33 stocks advancing against 17 declining ones on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were Sun Pharma up by 2.01%, Asian Paints up by 1.85%, Cipla up by 1.82%, ICICI Bank up by 1.63% and Tata Power up by 1.47%.

On the flip side, BHEL down by 1.97%, NTPC down by 1.25%, Cairn down by 1.16%, HDFC down by 0.95% and Bharti Airtel down by 0.95%, were the major losers on the index.

Most of the Asian equity indices were trading in the red; Jakarta Composite was down by 0.25%, KLSE Composite was down by 0.22%, Straits Times was down by 0.06%, Seoul Composite was down by 0.32% and Taiwan Weighted was down by 0.80%. On the flip side, Shanghai Composite was up by 0.44%, Hang Seng up by 0.47% and Nikkei 225 up by 0.87% were the few gainers amongst Asian pack.