Sensex, Nifty extend gains on in-line GDP numbers

After opening positive, Indian equity markets, gave up early gains and very nearly slipped into the red in mid-morning trade, but rebounded from lows on inline gross domestic product (GDP) numbers in the late morning session. Gross domestic product (GDP) has slowed down to 5.3% in the July-September versus 5.5% in last quarter and 6.7% in corresponding quarter last fiscal. In currency market, Indian rupee continued its northward journey after touching three weeks high against American currency on Friday amid dollar selling by banks. On sectoral front metal, power, oil and PSU stocks were among the notable gainers, while, auto and FMCG stocks were mostly subdued amid lackluster moves by investors. In global markets, Asian shares were trading in green. Back home, the market breadth favoring positive trend; there were 1,457 shares on the gaining side against 1,046 shares on the losing side while 99 shares remain unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 19,275.45, up by 104.54 points or 0.55%, after touching a high and a low of 19,323.52 and 19,186.30 respectively. There were 18 stocks advancing against 12 declines on the index.

The broader indices were outperforming benchmarks; the BSE Mid cap and Small cap indices rose by 0.93% and 0.77% respectively.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were, Metal up by 1.84%, Power up by 1.40%, CG up by 1.03%, Oil & Gas up by 1.03% and PSU up by 1.02%. While, FMCG down by 0.84% and Auto down by 0.39% were the only losers on the index.

The top gainers on the Sensex were BHEL up by 4.18%, Sterlite up by 3.62%, Jindal Steel up by 3.42%, ONGC up by 2.98%, and HDFC up by 2.56%.

On the flip side, Bajaj Auto was down by 256%, HUL was down by 1.50%, Coal India was down by 1.07%, ITC was down by 0.96% and Tata Motors was down by 0.75% were the top losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, a CII-Ascon survey, tracking the growth of about 110 sectors, has stated that majority of units in the manufacturing sector are likely to register low to negative growth in the October-December quarter due to high interest rates and increasing prices. Sectors that are expecting low to negative growth include earth moving & construction equipment, machine tools, transformers, textile machinery, and tractors.

According to the survey, the percentage of negative growth reported by the sectors has increased to 56.4% during the quarter from 48.6% in the corresponding period last year, pointing the continuation of the slowdown as the positive results of the recent reform measures announced are yet to become effective. Those sectors reporting negative growth also moved up from 17.1 per cent to 20.8 per cent during the same period. However, the backdrop of a slew of economic reforms announced by the government has belied the expectation of a recovery in industrial performance.

Besides, consumer durables like passenger cars, two wheelers, refrigerators, washing machines, air conditioners, TV, are among the sectors expecting low to negative growth. However, an appropriate action is expecting to be taken up from the RBI in the form of reduction in repo rate to ease the monetary situation, CII survey added.

The S&P CNX Nifty is currently trading at 5,852.60, up by 27.60 points or 0.47%, after touching a high and a low of 5,865.85 and 5,827.85 respectively. There were 31 stocks advancing against 19 declines on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were BHEL up by 4.37%, IDFC up by 3.68%, Jindal Steel up by 3.37%, ONGC up by 3.13% and Hero MotoCorp up by 2.48%.

On the flip side, Ranbaxy down by 2.04%, HUL down by 1.53%, Bajaj auto down by 1.47%, Coal India down by 1.32%, and Tata Motors down by 1.17%, were the major losers on the index.

Most of Asian markets were trading in green; Nikkei 225 gained 0.48%, Straits Times gained 1.08%, Taiwan Weighted surged by 1.02%, Shanghai Composite was up 0.43%, Hang Seng up by 0.68% and KLSE Composite down by 0.25%. On the other hand, Seoul Composite down 0.10% and Jakarta Composite down by 0.65%, were the losers in the Asian pack.