Benchmarks off day’s high; Nifty faces resistance near 6,000 mark

Though off day’s high, the mood at D-Street continues to remain jubilant as investors continue to build position on hopes of at least 25 basis points rate cut in RBI’s monetary policy review tomorrow. Facing stiff resistance near higher level, Sensex and Nifty were trading below 19,750 and 6,000 mark respectively, with gains of over a percent. Sentiment to some extent was dented after India’s manufacturing PMI expanded the least since Nov 2011 in April; with factory output rising at weakest pace in current 49-month period of expansion. On the global front, weak Chinese manufacturing data, which reinforced doubts over the health of global economies, pushed Asian shares lower on Thursday, as investors cautiously awaited a European Central Bank meeting that could see interest rates cut to support growth. Closer home, besides Information Technology and Capital Goods, rate sensitives, viz. Bankex and Realty, were the pillars of strength. Further, with across the board buying taking place, there were no losers on BSE sectoral front. The overall market breadth on BSE is in favour of advances which thumped declines in the ratio of 1115:796; while 103 shares remain unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 19,717.08, up by 212.90 points or 1.09% after trading in a range of 19,750.56 and 19,451.26. There were 22 stocks advancing against 8 declines on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap and Small cap index were trading up by 0.66% and 0.82% respectively.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 2.03%, Teck up by 1.85%, Capital Goods up by 1.43%, Bankex up by 1.39% and Realty up by 1.06%, while there were no losers on the sectoral space.

The top gainers on the Sensex were TCS up by 3.03%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.67%, SBI up by 2.31%, L&T up by 2.09% and Infosys up by 1.90%.

On the flip side, Gail India down by 1.31%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.23%, Dr Reddys Lab down by 0.52%, Tata Power down by 0.32% and BHEL down by 0.26% were the top losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, Expressing confidence that India’s current account deficit (CAD) will reach at comfortable level, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said, the CAD will come down to 2.5 percent of GDP in the next two to three years from around 5 percent currently. 

While, addressing a meeting of the Asia Pacific Regional Committee, Ahluwalia said that although the global economic slowdown was the primary reason for declining export, a lot of domestic problems and supply side constraints are other reasons affecting growth. These supply-side rigidities are the result of several years of rapid growth which puts a lot of pressure on the system, he added.   

By adding further he said, the government is focusing on the foreign investments, but it is also necessary to manage the high current account deficit. He emphasized the need for coordinated action among various ministries to spur the economy’s growth. Meanwhile, the current account deficit (CAD) reached an all-time high of 6.7 percent of GDP in the third quarter of FY13.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 5,995.10, up by 64.90 points or 1.09% after trading in a range of 6,007.25 and 5,910.95. There were 39 stocks advancing against 11 declines on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were TCS up by 2.95%, M&M up by 2.56%, SBI up by 2.31%, IDFC up by 2.22% and L&T up by 2.21%.

On the flip side, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.32%, GAIL down by 1.25%, Cairn down by 0.79%, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories down by 0.70% and BHEL down by 0.39% were the major losers on the index.

Most of the Asian equity indices were trading in red; Shanghai Composite 0.50%, Hang Seng slipped 0.25%, Jakarta Composite dropped 0.41%, KLSE Composite decreased 0.24%, Nikkei 225 contracted 0.76% and KOSPI Composite was down by 0.34%. On the flip side, Straits Times added 0.90% and Taiwan Weighted was up by 0.43%.