Benchmarks make gap up start tracking positive global cues

The Indian equity markets have made a gap up start tracking positive cues from global indices. The US markets made a good bounce back in final hours of trade to close at the high points of the day overnight while, all the Asian equity indices were trading in the positive terrain at this point of time, indicating strong investors’ sentiments. Back home, sustained buying in all the key heavyweights along with broader indices supported BSE’s -- Sensex -- and NSE’s -- Nifty -- to regain their crucial 16,300 and 4,900 mark respectively. Realty witnessed the maximum gain in trade followed by consumer durable and metal while, there were no losers on the BSE sectoral space. Meanwhile, fresh spell of buying by funds and retail investors in recently beaten-down stocks too supported the markets sentiment. In addition, covering-up of short positions ahead of monthly expiry in the derivatives segment on Thursday also helped stocks to recover. The broader indices too were trading with a decent gain. The market breadth on the BSE was positive; there were 1,229 shares on the gaining side against 249 shares on the losing side while 30 shares remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex opened at 16,289.32; about 238 points higher compared to its previous closing of 16,051.10, and has touched a high and a low of 16,360.26 and 16,282.74 respectively.

The index is currently trading at 16,344.69, up by 293.59 points or 1.83%. All the 30 stocks were advancing on the index at this point of time.

The overall market breadth has made a strong start with 81.50% stocks advancing against 16.51% declines. The broader indices too were performing inline with benchmarks; the BSE Mid cap and Small cap indices surged 1.59% and 1.53% respectively.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were, Realty up by 2.86%, CD up by 2.82%, Metal up by 2.30%, Bankex up by 2.23% and Oil and Gas was up by 1.91%. While, there were no losers on the index.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Hindalco up by 3.76%, Jaiprakash Associates up by 3.55%, DLF up by 3.49%, Sterlite Industries up by 3.45% and Tata Motors was up by 3.33%. While, there was no loser on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, on the issue of frequent failure of the Indian Public Sector Companies to acquire overseas assets, the new Coal Secretary Alok Petri, has advocated for the removal of procedural bottleneck in buying coal block overseas.

The coal secretary Alok Petri said ‘we want companies like Coal India (CIL) or SAIL to acquire assets abroad, using the huge funds that they have. But they have several procedural hurdles and needs many one-to-one negotiations to do such a thing. By the time they come to a conclusion, somebody else will go ahead with the acquisition. On the other hand, the private sector has the advantage of over-running this process. Hence, it is upon the government to try and see that this risk factor is reduced.’

Indian PSU, Coal India (CIL) has been trying to acquire coal blocks overseas. The CIL is planning to acquire assets overseas; however the proposal is still pending with the finance ministry. The CIL was in talk with the Indonesian Golden Energy Mines, the US miner Massey Energy and Peabody Energy for assets in Indonesia, US and Australia. The Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of CIL, N C Jha, said ‘once the approval comes, if the offers are not their, then we might look for some other assets.’

The coal secretary also indicated that the estimate by the Planning Commission that India will need nearly 800 million tonne of coal during the 12th five year plan is an over estimate. The coal secretary said, ‘it says that the country will need 250 million tonne (MT) by the end of 12th Five Year Plan, I think this estimate needs serious introspection.’

In the same time, the five coal workers unions i.e. INTUC, CITU, AITUC, HMS and BMS are planning to go for a strike across the country on October 10. When asked about this, Jha termed it as ‘illegal and unfortunate.’ The one day strike will cost around Rs 120 crore to the company and it also affects the production by 1 MT of coal.

The S&P CNX Nifty opened at 4,905.15; about 70 points higher compared to its previous closing of 4,835.40, and has touched a high of 4,928.30 while low remained its opening.

The index is currently trading at 4,923.15, higher by 87.75 points or 1.81%. All the 50 stocks were advancing on the index at this point of time.

The top gainers of the Nifty were Hindalco up by 3.85%, Sterlite Industries up by 3.49%, JP Associates up by 3.32%, Tata Power up by 3.25% and Tata Motors up by 3.17%. While, there was no loser on the index.

All the Asian equity indices were trading in the green; Shanghai Composite was up 7.23 points or 0.30% to 2,400.41, Hang Seng was up 418.45 points or 2.40% to 17,826.25, Jakarta Composite was up 147.58 points or 4.45% to 3,463.72, KLSE Composite was up 21.63 points or 1.62% to 1,353.43, Nikkei 225 was up 157.73 points or 1.88% to 8,531.86, Straits Times was up 34.44 points or 1.30% to 2,688.75, Seoul Composite was up 61.65 points or 3.73% to 1,714.36 and Taiwan Weighted was up by 175.91 points or 2.56% to 7,053.03.