Domestic bourses remain in fine fettle in noon trade

Key domestic markets continued to trade in pink of their health in early noon session with both the frontline gauges comfortably trading above their psychological 5,800 (Nifty) and 19,200 (Sensex) levels led by significant buying in real-estate, banking and automobile stocks amid optimism the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) may cut interest rates in March policy to boost growth. Sentiments also got some boost after global rating agency S&P said in a statement that it sees India’s FY14 GDP growth at 6.4% and FY15 figure at 7.2% and expects a turnaround in Indian corporate sector by mid-FY14.

Risk appetite was also bullish after US service-industry growth gained momentum, amid speculation that the US Federal Reserve will continue its accommodative monetary policy stance taking Dow Jones Industrial Average index to record-high on Tuesday. Asian markets traded higher with China’s Shanghai Composite Index gaining over half a percent after outgoing Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao promised increased fiscal spending.

Back home, support also came in from buying in software counter as stocks like Infosys, TCS, Wipro and HCL Technologies edged higher on positive economic data in the United States, the biggest outsourcing market for the Indian IT firms. On the sectoral front, realty witnessed the maximum gain in trade followed by capital goods and metal, while fast moving consumer goods remained the lone loser on the BSE sectoral space. The broader indices were outperforming benchmarks while, the market breadth on the BSE was positive; there were 1608 shares on the gaining side against 883 shares on the losing side while 126 shares remain unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 19249.68, up by 106.51 points or 0.56% after trading in a range of 19293.39 and 19195.47. There were 22 stocks advancing against 8 declines on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 1.26% and Small cap index was up by 1.36%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were, Realty up by 4.78%, Capital Goods up by 2.31%, Metal up by 1.92%, IT up by 1.12% and PSU up by 0.93% while, FMCG down by 0.34% were the sole losers on the BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Sterlite Industries up by 3.75%, L&T up by 2.81%, Hindalco Industries up by 2.28%, Tata Steel up by 1.98% and Tata Motors up by 1.93%.

On the flip side, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.01%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.00%, ITC down by 0.68%, Gail India down by 0.65% and Dr Reddys Lab down by 0.33% were the top losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, to sort out the differences on issues relating to the disputed land acquisition bill, the Government has decided an all party meeting on March 7. The Government does not want to send the bill again to the standing committee and hence decided to call the all-party meeting to find out a compromise. The meeting will discuss about certain clauses in the bill including compensation package and rehabilitation.

The land acquisition bill, which was moved in the Winter Session of Parliament, is likely to be taken up for discussion in the ongoing session.

Earlier, in December, the Union Cabinet cleared the controversial land acquisitions bill. With the new land acquisitions law, the government hopes to make easy land acquisition and also remove bureaucratic hurdles that hold up highway projects that have become a roadblock for the economic growth.

According to the provisions of the bill, permission of 80% of landowners would be required to acquire land for private industrial projects and in case of Public-Private Partnership projects permission of 70 percent of the landowners would be mandatory. However, no permission would be required in case of projects acquired for government purpose. The bill also has provisions to return the unutilized land to the land losers.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 5,813.30, up by 29.05 points or 0.50% after trading in a range of 5,828.25 and 5,795.05. There were 32 stocks advancing against 18 declines on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were JP Associate up by 4.54%, DLF up by 3.89%, Bank of Baroda up by 3.55%, L&T up by 2.72% and Sesa Goa up by 2.55%.

On the flip side, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.12%, Ambuja Cements down by 1.00%, M&M down by 0.95%, BPCL down by 0.88% and ITC down by 0.84% were the major losers on the index.

All Asian equity indices were trading in the green; Shanghai Composite rose 0.81%, Hang Seng surged 0.95%, Jakarta Composite strengthened 1.42%, KLSE Composite jumped 0.43%, Nikkei 225 soared 2.13%, Straits Times increased 1.14%, KOSPI Composite added 0.20% and Taiwan Weighted was up 0.22%.