Markets hold early gains amid choppy session

Following a robust start and a subsequent fall to lower levels, the Indian equity markets edged higher and continue trading in positive territory in the late morning session on a fresh round of buying in several blue chip stocks. A positive lead from global markets also boosted local equity market sentiment to a notable extent. The Nifty is trading above 5,550 mark, while Sensex is up by 84 points. On the sectoral front, information technology stocks, which had a good outing on Wednesday, were extending their gains. Realty, Automobile and bank stocks were also trading firm. Capital goods, healthcare and metal stocks were also finding good support. FMCG stocks also edged higher after a subdued start. While Power and oil stocks were trading weak.

On the global front, most Asian markets were trading higher on Thursday, following another record performance from Wall Street, while Tokyo hit fresh multi-year highs as the dollar approached the 100-yen (S$1.24) mark. Back home, the market breadth was favoring positive trend; there were 1,072 shares on the gaining side against 768 shares on the losing side while 97 shares remain unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 18,498.48, up by 84.03 points or 0.46% after trading in a range of 18,595.12 and 18,469.83. There were 14 stocks advancing against 16 declines on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.27% and Small cap index was up by 0.77%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were, IT up by 1.60%, Realty up by 1.23%, Bankex up by 1.09%, TECK up by 1.02% and Auto up by 0.77% while, Oil & Gas down by 0.91%, Power down by 0.59%, PSU up 0.28% and Metal down by 0.10% were the top losers on the BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Motors up by 3.87%, ICICI Bank up by 3.13%, Infosys up by 2.54%, Cipla up by 1.55% and L&T up by 1.26%.

On the flip side, Bharti Airtel was down by 2.01%, HDFC was down by 1.55%, Mahindra & Mahindra was down by 1.20%, Reliance was down by 1.09%, and Gail India was down by 1.03% were the top losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, coal and power ministries are likely to meet again to come up with the best possible model for coal price pooling by which the prices of domestic and imported coal are averaged to get a uniform price for the fuel in the country. The proposed model will be then taken to the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) for its consideration.

Earlier, in February, CCEA had given its in-principle approval to coal price pooling and had asked coal and power ministries to work out for a formula. It is reported that the various thermal power plants in the country have been stranded due to scarcity of coal and the decision on coal price pooling will help these plants.   

The decision on price pooling has been pending for long time because of the conflict between the coal and power ministries on how the impact of higher imported coal prices will be shared between state miner Coal India (CIL) and power companies. Earlier, the power ministry after consultation with the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) has suggested the Coal Ministry that the difference in cost of imported and domestic coal should be added to the cost of indigenous fuel at the time of finalising proposal for pooling coal prices.

On the other hand, coal India had said that price pooling was a mechanism to implement fuel supply agreement (FSA) and if price pooling is approved then 15 percent supply of imported coal ‘will be not in the cost plus method, but in pooling mechanism’. Coal India board had earlier approved the modified FSA without price-pooling with 65 percent domestic coal and 15 percent imported coal at cost plus basis. Till now, Around 50 companies have entered into fuel supply pacts with Coal India for receiving the fuel. As per the FSA, Coal India has to provide an assured supply of minimum 80 percent of the total quantity, if failing to which would be penalized.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 5,577.60 up by 18.90 points or 0.34% after trading in a range of 5,610.60 and 5,566.85. There were 22 stocks advancing against 27 declines on the index, and one remains unchanged. 

The top gainers of the Nifty were Tata Motors up by 3.81%, ICICI Bank up by 3.06%, DLF up by 2.81%, Infosys up by 2.46%, and HCL Tech up by 2.29%.

On the flip side, Reliance Infra down by 2.99%, Bharti Airtel down by 2.47%, HDFC down by 2.04%, Grasim down by 1.56% and Kotak Bank down by 1.54% were the major losers on the index.

Most Asian equity indices were trading in green; Hang Seng surged 0.77%, Jakarta Composite increased 0.69%, KLSE Composite jumped 0.64%, Nikkei 225 soared 1.96%, Straits Times strengthened 0.40%, KOSPI Composite added 0.73% and Taiwan Weighted was up by 1.36%, while Shanghai Composite down by 0.09%.