Benchmarks build gains; trade near day’s high

Indian equity markets, building on gains, are now trading near day’s high point on the back of continued buying activity by funds and retail investors, amidst supportive global cues. The gains are despite the stormy start of the parliament as members from various parties forced adjournment of Lok Sabha on various issues, including heckling of Mamata Banerjee, incidents of rapes and demand for separate Telangana.

On the global front, European shares have made a positive start following gains in Asia, boosted by the fact that the Group of 20 (G20) appeared to endorse Japan's stimulus plans. Group refrained from criticizing Japan's stimulus program, appearing to give the Bank of Japan the green signal to go ahead with its currency depreciation plan. Back home, benchmark 30 share index, Sensex, is comfortably oscillating above 19,100 level with gains of close to half a percent, while Nifty is hovering above the crucial 5800 mark. Broader indices outperforming the frontline equity indices were up with gains of over half a percent. On BSE sectoral front, Consumer Durable, Bankex and Capital Goods counters continued to steal the show, while Information Technology and Technology stocks are still witnessing selling pressure. The overall market breadth on BSE is in the favour of advances which have thumped declines in the ratio of 1084:960, while 126 shares remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 19105.44, up by 88.98 points or 0.47% after trading in a range of 19144.47 and 18989.78. There were 20 stocks advancing against 10 declines on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap and Small cap indices were trading up by 0.58% and 0.62% respectively.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were, Consumer Durables up by 3.61%, Bankex up by 1.93%, Capital Goods up by 1.64%, Metal up by 1.33% and PSU up by 1.03% while, IT down by 2.36% and Teck down by 1.54% were the losers on the BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Coal India up by 4.11%, HDFC Bank up by 3.73%, L&T up by 2.22%, Hero MotoCorp up by 1.92% and SBI up by 1.69%.

On the flip side, Wipro down by 8.99%, Infosys was down by 2.15%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.83%, Dr Reddys Lab down by 1.50% and ONGC down by 1.46% were the top losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), an international organization of 188 countries working to foster global monetary cooperation and financial stability, in its latest edition of annual Fiscal Monitor report has said that India would achieve its potential growth rate on the back of recent measures taken by the government like liberalising foreign direct investment, putting pending projects on fast track and fiscal consolidation. It has said that at a time when many countries are facing challenges on the fiscal consolidation front, India with its favorable interest rate growth differential has an advantage in addressing deficit concerns in 2013.

According to the report, the overall debt situation in most emerging market economies and low-income countries remains more favorable than in advanced economies, owing in part to relatively low levels of debt and deficits combined with low interest rates and growing economies.

Anoop Singh Director of the Asia and Pacific Department, IMF has said that potential growth in India could certainly go from current level as the government is acting on a number of areas, he further stated that IMF believes that India has the potential of a higher growth rate than it is now.

IMF report attributed much of the improved picture globally to concerted efforts by governments to bring spending under control following the peak of the crisis in 2009  and has highlighted that in India, subsidy reduction measures, other spending cuts and tax administrative measures recommended by the government-appointed Kelkar Commission will contribute to a reduction in the projected 2013 deficit of about 0.75 per cent of GDP relative to previous forecasts.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 5,823.55, up by 40.45 points or 0.70% after trading in a range of 5,833.45 and 5,789.80. There were 35 stocks advancing against 15 declines on the index. The top gainers of the Nifty were Coal India up by 4.17%, IndusInd Bank up by 3.91%, HDFC Bank up by 3.89%, BPCL up by 3.47% and Power Grid Corporation of India up by 2.48%.

On the flip side, Infosys down by 2.22%, HCL Technologies down by 2.19%, IDFC down by 2.11%, DLF and M&M were down by 1.89% were the major losers on the index.

Asian equity indices were a mixed bag; Nikkei 225 surged 1.89%, Straits Times jumped 0.27%, KOSPI Composite spiked up 1.03%, Hang Seng added 0.24% and Taiwan Weighted was up by 0.50%.

On the flip side, Shanghai Composite declined 0.19%, KLSE Composite was down by 0.13%, and Jakarta Composite decreased 0.30%.