Indian equity markets add gains to trade in green

Indian equity markets added gains to continue firm trade above neutral line in the late afternoon session on account of buying in frontline counters and taking cues from European counterparts. Investors have however opted for conservative approach from taking position in risky assets ahead of the Union Budget 2013-14 and the Railway Budget scheduled to be released tomorrow. Traders were seen piling some position in IT, TECk and Auto sector while selling was witnessed in Realty, CD and CG sector. In the scrip specific development, financial services stocks were trading firm on hopes that companies would win bank licences after the RBI unveiled new rules for applicants late on Friday. IDFC was trading in green after the research firm Morgan Stanley has put an equal-weight rating on the stock with a target price. On the global front, the Asian markets were trading in green barring KOSPI Composite and Taiwan Weighted while the European markets were trading on optimistic note. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading above their psychological 5,850 and 19,300 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was negative in the ratio of 947:1677 while 137 scrips remain unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 19,371.87, up by 54.86 points or 0.28% after trading in a range of 19,411.18 and 19,237.98. There were 15 stocks advancing against 15 declines on the index.

The broader indices were trading in the red; the BSE Mid cap and Small cap indices were down by 0.96% and 1.17% respectively.

The few gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were, IT up by 1.82%, TECk up by 1.32%, Auto up by 0.68%, FMCG up 0.22% and Bankex up 0.19%. While Realty down by 1.89%, Consumer Durables (CD) down by 1.44%, Capital Goods (CG) down by 0.91%, Oil and Gas down by 0.76% and Metal down by 0.68% were the losers on the BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were, Infosys up by 2.84%, Tata Motors up by 2.05%, SBI up by 1.45%, Wipro up by 1.31% and BHEL up by 1.12%

On the flip side, Cipla down by 1.80%, Coal India down by 1.62%, ONGC down by 1.56%, L&T down by 1.29% and Sterlite Industries down by 1.13% were the top losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, giving relief to the loss-making banks, the government has exempted merger and takeover plans for loss-making and failing banks from the purview of fair trade regulator Competition Commission of India (CCI) for a period of five years.

All Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) deals, happening in the country have to get clearance from the CCI, which keeps a tab on anti-competitive practices across sectors. CCI comes under the administrative control of the Corporate Affairs Ministry. Earlier, in December, Finance Minister P Chidambaram had said in the Parliament that Reserve Bank of India (RBI) would regulate the banking sector while CCI would look into competition practices in the banking sector.

However, CCI, in its pre-budget memorandum, has asked the government to extend tax benefits pertaining to M&As to all businesses including IT, telecom, sports and entertainment. M&A tax benefits are currently limited only to industrial undertakings and select services such as aircraft, shipping, hotels, and banking.  As per CCI, this move will help the industry restructure and reorganize operations with the rapidity of changes taking place in the business environment as well as to deal with the emergence of new sectors and segments.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 5,868.55 up by 18.25 points or 0.31% after trading in a range of 5,878.40 and 5,825.00. There were 27 stocks advancing against 23 declines on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were Ranbaxy up by 3.71%, Infosys up by 2.76%, Power Grid up by 2.11%, Tata Motors up by 2.00% and SBI up by 1.62%.

On the flip side, DLF down by 3.11%, BPCL down by 2.34%, JP Associates down by 2.14%, Cipla down by 1.81% and ONGC down by 1.45% were the major losers on the index.

Most of the Asian equity indices were trading in the green; Shanghai Composite rose 0.50%, Hang Seng increased by 0.17%, Jakarta Composite jumped 0.27, KLSE Composite added 0.24%, Nikkei 225 surged 2.43% and Straits Times was up by 0.09%.

On the flip side, KOSPI Composite declined by 0.46% and Taiwan Weighted was down by 0.49%.

The European markets were trading in green; France’s CAC 40 added 0.48%, Germany’s DAX strengthen 1.08% and United Kingdom’s FTSE 100 edged higher by 1.31%.