Firm trade prevails; Nifty above 5,950 level

Indian equities added gains to continue its firm trade in green in the late afternoon session on account of buying in frontline counters. The sentiments on the street were in upbeat mood with the barometer index, the BSE Sensex, and the 50-unit S&P CNX Nifty, both touching three weeks high, on reports that White House and Congressional lawmakers have reached a deal to avoid the 'fiscal cliff' that would delay harsh spending cuts by two months. Traders were seen piling some position in Realty, Metal and Bankex sector. In the scrip specific development, Kingfisher Airlines is trading under pressure after the airline's flying licence got expired yesterday and on reports that the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has asked cash-strapped airline to clear employees' dues at one go before being allowed to resume operations. Tulip Telecom is locked at upper circuit limit after the company stated that it is in talks with lenders to restructure the long-term debt. Sintex Industries is trading firm as the company has raised $170 million through a mix of foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCBs) and shares to qualified institutional investors. Aksh Optifibre is trading in green as the members of the company at their 25th Annual General Meeting (AGM) which was held yesterday on December 31, 2012 have unanimously approved the raising of funds to the extent of $20 million through international offerings.

On the global front, Asian markets were closed while the European markets were too closed for the day. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading above their psychological 5,950 and 19,500 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was positive in the ratio of 1831:899 while 136 scrips remain unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 19,583.75, up by 157.04 points or 0.81% after trading in a range of 19,623.76 and 19,508.93. There were 28 stocks advancing against 2 declines on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index and Small cap index were holding up by 1.12% and 1.02% respectively.

Buying was witnessed across the space with no losers, the top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were, Realty up by 2.32%, Metal up by 1.90%, Bankex up by 1.28%, Capital Goods up by 1.16% and PSU up by 1.01%.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Jindal Steel up by 2.46%, Hindalco Industries up by 2.34%, Tata Steel up by 2.30%, BHEL up by 2.15% and Sterlite Industries up by 1.89%.

On the flip side, NTPC down by 0.77% and ONGC down by 0.06% were the only losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, surge in prices of food items, cooking gas, medicines and bus fares mainly pulled the consumer price index (CPI) for industrial workers higher to 9.55% in November against 9.34% increase in the same month a year ago and 9.60% recorded in the previous month. Similarly, food inflation stood at 10.85% against 9.91% of the previous month and 7.61% during the corresponding month of the previous year. 

As per the government data, the largest upward contribution came from food items which contributed 1.01 percentage points to the total change in CPI index and prices of food items increased by 0.86%. At item level, largest upward pressure came from rice, wheat Atta, goat meat, milk, onion, potato, tea (readymade), Snack Saltish etc. The other items like cooking gas, medicine, bus fare, auto rickshaw fare, etc. also added upward pressure in total change.

The largest downward contribution to the change in current index came from Pulses and Products with a decline of 0.38%, contributing (-) 0.03 percentage points to the total change in CPI index. However, at item level, vegetable & fruit items like cauliflower, radish, palak, brinjal and orange put downward pressure on the index.

At centre level, the CPI indices of 41 centres are above All-India Index and other 36 centres’ indices are below national average. Puducherry’s index remained at par with all-India index. Mysore recorded the largest increase of 7 points followed by Vijaywada of 6 points and Guntur, Tiruchirapally, Coimbatore and Bengaluru recorded 5 points each. However, Nagpur centre reported a decline of 2 points and other 9 centres registered a fall of 1 point each. Rest of the 19 centres’ indices remained stationary.

The S&P CNX Nifty is currently trading at 5,951.65, up by 46.55 points or 0.79% after trading in a range of 5,963.90 and 5,935.20. There were 45 stocks advancing against 5 declines on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were Reliance Infrastructure up by 4.79%, Jindal Steel up by 2.50%, Hindalco Industries up by 2.34%, Tata Steel up by 2.24% and PNB up by 2.22%.

On the flip side, Power Grid down by 0.70%, NTPC down by 0.67%, ONGC down by 0.35%, Asian Paints down by 0.26% and Kotak Bank down by 0.03% were the only losers on the index.

All the major Asian markets remained closed for trade today on account of the New Year while the European markets were too closed for the day on account of New Year.