Indian benchmarks trade higher in early deals; IIP data eyed

Indian equity benchmarks, after a day of consolidation, have resumed their northward journey in Friday’s morning deals ahead of the index of industrial production (IIP) data and the consumer price index numbers. The Indian factory output is expected to rise for a third consecutive month in March, boosted by improving exports and investment. Some support also came in from buying in software and technology counters after the rupee depreciated by 32 paise to 54.57 against the dollar in early trade on the Interbank Foreign Exchange market due to appreciation of the US currency against other currencies overseas.

Global cues however remain mixed as the US markets gave up some of their last session gains and all the major indices closed marginally in red, though the selling pressure remain subdued and also due to the initial jobless claims unexpectedly falling to a new five-year low, the major downside for the markets was restricted. However, most of the Asian equity indices were trading in green led by Japanese equities which soared to fresh five-year highs as the dollar breaks above the symbolic 100 yen level.

Back home, on the sectoral front, consumer durables witnessed the maximum gain in trade followed by auto and realty while, metal remained the lone losers. The broader indices were trading in-line with benchmarks while, the market breadth on the BSE was positive; there were 806 shares on the gaining side against 476 shares on the losing side while 58 shares remain unchanged.

The BSE Sensex opened at 19,911.08; about 27 points lower compared to its previous closing of 19,939.04, and has touched a high and a low of 20,016.74 and 19,908.80 respectively.

The index is currently trading at 20,012.77, up by 73.73 points or 0.37%. There were 23 stocks advancing against 7 declines on the index.

The overall market breadth has made a strong start with 60.15% stocks advancing against 35.52% declines. The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap and Small cap indices up by 0.46% and 0.57% respectively. 

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were, Consumer Durables up by 1.99%, Auto up by 1.02%, Realty up by 0.76%, Power up by 0.62% and IT up by 0.61% while, Metal down by 0.28% was the only losers on the sectoral index.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Maruti Suzuki up by 1.87%, Hero MotoCorp up by 1.66%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.35%, Dr Reddys Lab up by 1.12% and SBI up by 1.03%.

On the flip side, Coal India was down by 1.47%, Jindal Steel was down by 1.32%, Cipla was down by 0.80%,  HDFC was down by 0.78% and Wipro was down by 0.42% were the top losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, as per the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) Secretary Arvind Mayaram, India’s current account deficit (CAD) for 2012-13 is likely to be less than 5 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The CAD, which occurs when a country's total imports of goods, services and transfers are greater than its exports, has reached an all-time high of 6.7 percent of GDP in the 3rd quarter of FY13. By adding further, he said  despite all gloom and pessimism about the growth, the fundamentals of Indian economy are very strong.

Referring to the finance ministry meeting with the representatives of three global rating agencies-Fitch, Moody's and Standard and Poor's, Mayaram said that ministry did not make a pitch for rating upgrade, but engaged with them for them to get the right information. Moreover, with the strong measures that has been taken by the finance minister in last 7-8 months, especially on fiscal consolidation, the question about credibility has also come down.

The CNX Nifty opened at 6,046.25; about 13 points lower as compared to its previous closing of 6,050.15, and has touched a high and a low of 6,073.95 and 6,045.60 respectively.

The index is currently trading at 6,072.25, up by 22.10 points or 0.37%. There were 40 stocks advancing against 10 declines on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were Maruti Suzuki up by 2.04%, Hero MotoCorp up by 1.62%, Reliance Infrastructure up by 1.58%, Lupin up by 1.49% and M&M up by 1.38%.

On the flip side, Coal India down by 1.49%, Jindal Steel & Power down by 1.37%, PNB down by 1.26%, HDFC down by 0.82% and Cipla down by 0.76%, were the major losers on the index.

Most of the Asian equity indices were trading in green; Shanghai Composite rose 1.21 points or 0.05% to 2,234.18, Jakarta Composite increased marginally by 1.06 points or 0.02% to 5,090.39, KLSE Composite jumped 1.64 points or 0.09% to 1,767.71, Nikkei 225 soared 419.33 points or 2.95% to 14,610.81 and Straits Times was up by 3.10 points or 0.09% to 3,435.88.

On the flip side, Hang Seng declined 37.79 points or 0.16% to 23,173.69, KOSPI Composite dropped 26.74 points or 1.35% to 1,952.71 and Taiwan Weighted was down by 19.33 points or 0.23% to 8,266.56.