Sensex, Nifty continue to trade in green

Indian benchmarks have continued to trade in the green holding on to their gains through the late morning session. On the global front, most of Asian markets were trading in red while some of the indices have gained tailing the encouraging sign of retail sales from US which buoyed the earnings outlook of the exporters in the region. However, the Chinese market was trading marginally in red ahead of the FDI data to be released later in the day. Back home, the traders were seen piling up positions in Oil & Gas, PSU and Teck while selling was seen in Consumer Durables sector.

In scrip specific actions, Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers (RCFL), zoomed after the company reported 9.6 per cent increase in consolidated net profit at Rs 272.67 crore for 2012-13 fiscal during which it incurred higher expenses and financial costs. Zydus Wellness rose after the consumer products firm reported 59.14 per cent rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 37.4 crore for the quarter ended March 31. Cairn India gained as the company plans to drill 48 wells at a cost of less than $100 million in the Mangala oilfield in the Rajasthan block to extend the current production plateau. Bharti Airtel surged after India's largest mobile phone company by subscribers and revenue and Mumbai-based Loop Mobile moved the Delhi High Court seeking extension of their licences in metro areas where they are due for renewal in 2014. Reliance Power soared after the company reported a 15% year-on-year rise in net profit at Rs 266 crore in the fourth quarter 2012-13, driven by new capacity and higher generation from plants. Ranbaxy Laboratories dropped after the Gurgaon-based drug firm agreed to pay $500-million penalty to the US government to settle a criminal and civil lawsuit which leveled charges of falsifying data from its drug facilities and shoddy manufacturing practices against it. Amara Raja Batteries tanked after reporting a marginal 2.2% year-on-year rise in net profit at Rs 59.60 crore for Q4.

Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading just above their psychological 5,900 and 19,700 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was showing positive trend with advances to declines in ratio of 1019: 693.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 19770.19, up by 78.52 points or 0.40% after trading in a range of 19770.19 and 19652.69. There were 20 stocks advancing against 10 declines on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.58% and Small cap index was up by 0.44%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were, Oil & Gas up by 1.06%, PSU up by 0.95%, Teck up by 0.79%, Metal up by 0.74% and Health Care up by 0.71% while Consumer Durables down by 0.59%, was the only the loser on the BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Hindalco Industries up by 2.39%, Gail India up by 2.15%, ONGC up by 2.09%, Bharti Airtel up by 0.95% and TCS up by 1.05%. On the flip side, Bajaj Auto was down by 0.79%, Tata Steel was down by 0.67%, HDFC Bank was down by 0.52%, BHEL was down by 0.50% and Wipro was down by 0.40% were the top losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, to boost the investment in Infrastructure sector, India Ratings, an arm of global rating agency Fitch, will assign credit ratings to Infrastructure Debt Funds (IDFs) to instill confidence among the global investors for making investment in the infrastructure sector. The rating denotes the highest strength of the credit protection factors embedded in a fund’s investment policies and the quality of the sponsors.

Department of Economic Affairs secretary Arvind Mayaram has said that IDFs are crucial to provide thrust among investor to infrastructure sector as it will give confidence to investors especially for overseas sovereign wealth fund and pension funds and others. By adding further, he said that it will also help the investors to assess whether their investments in a particular IDF or another IDF would be able to give the kind of return they expect. Infrastructure Leasing and Finance Services Ltd, Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) and Hamon Group of Industries will sponsor the IDFs.

The development of infrastructure is a most critical prerequisite for sustaining the current growth momentum of the economy. The government has set a target of $1 trillion for development of infrastructure in the country for the 12th Five Year Plan.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 5,997.45 up by 17.00 points or 0.28% after trading in a range of 6,001.55 and 5,970.05. There were 36 stocks advancing against 14 declines on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were ONGC up by 2.17%, Power Grid up by 2.14%, GAIL up by 2.11%, Hindalco up by 2.05% and BPCL up by 1.18%. On the flip side, HCL Technologies down by 1.69%, Ambuja Cements down by 1.26%, Bajaj-Auto down by 1.07%, Tata Steel down by 0.77%, BHEL down by 0.76% were the major losers on the index.

Most of the Asian equity indices were trading red; Shanghai Composite was down by 35.32 points or 1.53% to 2,2905.65, Hang Seng was lower by 84.16 points or 0.37% to 22,905.65, KLSE Composite decline by 2.78 points or 0.16% to 1,785.12, Nikkei 225 was down  by 9.00 points or 0.06% to 14,774.39 and Jakarta Composite was down by 4.15 point or 0.08% to 5,050.48.

On the other hand, Taiwan Weighted was up by 9.92 points or 0.12% to 8,258.11, Straits Times added 8.26 points or 0.24% to 3,436.93 and KOSPI Composite gained 18.13 points or 0.92% to 1,966.67.