Markets continue firm trade; realty stocks leading rally

Following six consecutive sessions’ of losses, Indian equity markets are trading firm in the late morning session on Monday, ahead of expiry of March series derivatives contracts. The S&P BSE Sensex up by 124.99 in the late morning session, while Nifty gained by 39.95 points. In currency market, rupee appreciated against US currency amid continued selling of the American currency by exporters and banks. Market sentiments were boosted with the Finance Minister P Chidambaram’s assurance that the government will ease restrictions for foreign institutional investors in government and corporate bonds next month to attract inflows, which will help to fund a widening current account deficit. On sectoral front, bank stocks were in demand. Select capital goods, automobile and pharmaceuticals stocks were up with smart gains, while FMCG and information technology stocks were mostly subdued. On the global front, most Asian shares were trading higher after officials agreed a bailout deal for Cyprus, easing fears that it’s banking system problems may spread. Back home, the market breadth was favoring positive trend; there were 1,241 shares on the gaining side against 1,186 shares on the losing side while 126 shares remain unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 18,860.59, up by 124.99 points or 0.67% after trading in a range of 18,950.22 and 18,833.39. There were 20 stocks advancing against 9 declines on the index and one remains unchanged.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.84% and Small cap index was up by 0.52%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 2.95%, PSU up by 1.89%, Oil & Gas up by 1.83%, Power up by 1.46% and Metal up by 1.40%, while IT down by 0.17%, FMCG down by 0.14% and Teck down by 0.02% were the top losers on the BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ONGC up by 4.53%, NTPC up by 2.51%, Jindal Steel up by 2.50%, HDFC up by 2.01% and Sterlite Industries up by 1.57%.

On the flip side, ITC was down by 0.72%, Hero MotoCorp was down by 0.56%, Infosys was down by 0.55%, Mahindra & Mahindra was down by 0.54% and Bharti Airtel was down by 0.49% were the top losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, India is planning to unveil its shale gas policy within next two weeks as it seeks to exploit unconventional resources to fuel its expanding economy and cut subsidies. According to oil minister Veerappa Moily, Shale gas blocks will be offered on terms that are likely to be remarkably different from those offered in bid rounds for oil and gas blocks.

The policy, is likely to be approved by the Cabinet in 10 to 15 days, based on which the government will launch its first auction of shale gas block by 2013-end. By adding further Moily said, the government has formed an expert committee under Vijay Kelkar to suggest roadmap for cutting India's dependence on imports to meet its oil needs. India currently imports as much as 79 per cent of its oil needs and the Ministry wants this to be cut to 50 per cent by 2020 through intensive exploration and exploitation of untapped reserves.

Shale gas or natural gas trapped in sedimentary rocks (shale formations) below the earth's surface is the new focus area in the US, Canada and China as an alternative to conventional oil and gas for meeting growing energy needs. The government, however, is also working on a new policy for exploiting gas lying below coal seams, called Coal-Bed Methane.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 5,691.30 up by 39.95 points or 0.71% after trading in a range of 5,718.40 and 5,682.45. There were 38 stocks advancing against 12 declines on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were DLF up by 5.04%, ONGC up by 4.62%, JP Associates up by 3.39%, Reliance Infra up by 2.90% and BPCL up by 2.75%.

On the flip side, Hero MotoCorp down by 0.88%, ITC down by 0.85%, Asian Paint down by 0.67%, Infosys down by 0.67% and Bharti Airtel down by 0.53% were the major losers on the index.

Most of the Asian equity indices were trading in the green; Hang Seng surged 0.66%, Jakarta Composite rose 0.84%, KLSE Composite jumped 0.49%, Nikkei 225 soared 1.89%, Straits Times increased 0.54%, KOSPI Composite added 1.44% and Taiwan Weighted was up by 0.77%.

On the flip side, Shanghai Composite was down by 0.02% was the only loser.