Sensex, Nifty hold heads in green

Indian equity benchmarks were holding their heads in green terrain during early afternoon deals, aided with positive cues from other Asian markets along with buying at Power, Utilities and FMCG counters. Traders got relief, as data put out by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its latest monthly bulletin showed that transmission of repo rate to banks’ deposit and lending rates seems to be better in an interest rate easing cycle than in the monetary tightening period. Further, Industry body PHDCCI has approached the government seeking reintroduction of the Credit Linked Capital Subsidy Scheme to facilitate technology upgradation of micro and small enterprises.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green, after Singapore's core inflation remained unchanged at 5.5 per cent year-on-year in February. In January, core inflation had gone up from 5.1 per cent to 5.5 per cent - the highest since November 2008.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 58254.58, up by 39.99 points or 0.07% after trading in a range of 57838.85 and 58287.42. There were 21 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in mixed; the BSE Mid cap index fell by 0.35%, while Small cap index was up by 0.10%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Power up by 0.93%, Utilities up by 0.91%, FMCG up by 0.50%, Telecom up by 0.32% and Auto up by 0.23%, while IT down by 0.54%, PSU down by 0.45%, TECK down by 0.32%, Realty down by 0.22% and Consumer Durables down by 0.12% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Nestle up by 1.39%, Tata Motors up by 1.31%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.19%, Indusind Bank up by 1.15% and Axis Bank up by 1.14%. On the flip side, Asian Paints down by 1.93%, HCL Technologies down by 1.21%, Reliance Industries down by 1.02%, Wipro down by 0.90% and Infosys down by 0.88% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister Mansukh Mandaviya has asserted that there will be no shortage of fertilisers in the upcoming kharif sowing season as the domestic production and stocks-in-hand will be sufficient to meet the local demand for soil nutrients. He said the country might not require to import urea from the spot market to meet Kharif (summer-sown) demand. Urea being imported under long-term supply agreements will come. However, he said, there will be some import of DAP (Di-Ammonium Phosphate) to meet the local demand.

Mandaviya has stated that the planning for fertiliser demand and supply for the upcoming Kharif season has already been done by the ministry. The sowing of crops in the Kharif season starts with the onset of the monsoon. Paddy and cotton, pulses and soyabean are the major crops. He said the estimated requirement of urea for the kharif season is 179 lakh tonnes, while the total availability will be 194.31 lakh tonnes, which includes an opening stock of 55 lakh tonnes as of April 1 and production of 139.31 lakh tonnes during the next six months.

He further said similarly, the opening stock of DAP is 25 lakh tonnes and production is estimated at 20 lakh tonnes, taking the total availability to 45 lakh tonnes for the Kharif season. The requirement for DAP for Kharif is estimated at 58.82 lakh tonnes, and the gap would be filled through imports. For NPKS, the total requirement for Kharif is 63.72 lakh tonnes while the total availability will be 77.15 lakh tonnes, including an opening stock of 28 lakh tonnes and estimated production of 49.15 lakh tonnes.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17161.75, up by 9.85 points or 0.06% after trading in a range of 17045.30 and 17173.30. There were 30 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Motors up by 1.31%, Nestle up by 1.27%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.19%, Axis Bank up by 1.17% and Indusind Bank up by 1.15%. On the flip side, Asian Paints down by 1.91%, Bajaj Auto down by 1.22%, HCL Technologies down by 1.20%, Reliance Industries down by 1.06% and Wipro down by 0.89% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Hang Seng advanced 332.32 points or 1.7% to 19,923.75, Taiwan Weighted added 103.49 points or 0.65% to 15,863.95, Shanghai Composite strengthened 16.41 points or 0.5% to 3,282.16 and KOSPI increased 7.52 points or 0.31% to 2,424.48, while Straits Times fell 3.44 points or 0.11% to 3,217.54 and Nikkei 225 slipped 47 points or 0.17% to 27,419.61.