Benchmarks pare slender gains; going remains good

Benchmark equity indices although have pared slender gains, but the going still remain good in backdrop of positive global set-up.  After soaring to 31 months high level in early deals, some profit-booking was inevitable, given that investors’ cashed profit on higher levels. Meanwhile, 30-share index, Sensex, trading with gains of over 50 points, was oscillating above the crucial 20,300 mark, while the widely followed index, Nifty, too gaining a little over 10 points, was trading above the crucial 6,200 level. Broader indices too trimmed some of its early gains. Continued buying by foreign investors’ mainly has led to the surge of markets for yet another session. Overseas investors have poured in nearly Rs 12,000 crore (about $2.2 billion) into the Indian equity market so far this month. With this, the total foreign investment in the country's equity market has reached Rs 73,029 crore ($13.5 billion) since January.

On the global front, while Asian pacific shares continue to trade from strength to strength, European shares too have extended gains to set a new five-year high for a fourth straight session on Monday, with investors flocking to buy riskier assets such as equities on fresh signs of a recovery in the global economy. Closer home, stocks from Auto, Realty and  Metal counters are enhancing the glory of equity markets, while, those from Health Care, Consumer Durable and Bankex counters were limiting them. The overall market breadth on BSE is in favour of advances which are outnumbering declines in the ratio of 1131:899; while 109 shares remain unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 20,357.94, up by 71.82 points or 0.35% after trading in a range of 20,443.62 and 20,277.76. There were 21 stocks advancing against 9 declines on the index.

The broader indices too pared some gains; the BSE Mid cap and Small cap index was trading up by 0.36% and 0.35% respectively.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were, Auto up by 1.90%, Realty up by 0.85%, Metal up by 0.67%, Oil & Gas up by 0.45% and TECk up by 0.37%, while Health Care down by 0.78%, Consumer Durables down 0.72%, Bankex down 0.27%, Capital Goods down by 0.13% and Power down by 0.10% were the losers on the BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Maruti Suzuki up by 2.59%, Tata Motors up by 2.39%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.18%, Bajaj Auto up 2.14% and Coal India up by 1.71%.

On the flip side, Wipro was down by 2.62%, Cipla was down by 1.51%, ICICI Bank down by 0.88%, ONGC was down by 0.66% and HDFC Bank down by 0.48%, and were the top losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, pitching for urgent reforms in policy and regulatory areas, global analytical company - CRISIL, with the government setting $1-trillion investment target for the infrastructure sector for the 12th Five Year Plan (2012-17), has asked the government to ensure that benefits of the progress achieved reach the bottom of the pyramid.

CRISIL Infrastructure Advisory president Sameer Bhatia said ‘infrastructure segments like power, road and ports have significantly evolved over the years mainly due to reforms, private sector interest and strong investment flows. Now, they are at a point which calls for the next level of initiatives to reap the fruits of the first wave of reforms and policy initiatives’.

By adding further, he said that the first wave was oriented towards sharing responsibility with the private sector in developing infrastructure, while, the second wave has to be oriented towards ensuring that the desired benefits are available to the man on the street in an efficient manner.

Regarding the power sector development, Bhatia said, regulations led to implementation of key reforms like unbundling of utilities, de-licensing in generation leading to development of a competitive power market. Now, the sector requires next genre of reforms in terms of realisation of open access to provide end-consumers the option of choosing suppliers, technology transformation and upgrade in transmission and distribution, as well as more private sector participation in distribution, he added.

Referring to the port sector, he said that over the past decade, policy orientation was towards creating capacity and promoting private sector investment. Now the sector needs structural re-orientation to implement reforms like development of port-linked evacuation corridors, corporatization of ports and maritime city development.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 6,201.75, up by 14.45 points or 0.23% after trading in a range of 6,229.45 and 6,195.25. There were 30 stocks advancing against 20 declines on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were Maruti Suzuki up by 2.76%, Tata Motors up by 2.36%, Bajaj Auto up by 2.13%, M&M up by 1.90% and Reliance Infra up by 1.73%.

On the flip side, Lupin down by 4.09%, Ranbaxy Laboratories down by 3.69%, Cipla down by 1.62%, Kotak Bank down by 1.24% and BPCL down by 1.22% were the major losers on the index.

Most of the Asian equity indices were trading in green; Shanghai Composite rose 0.95%, Hang Seng surged 1.65%, Jakarta Composite jumped 1.58%, KLSE Composite increased 0.57%, Nikkei 225 was up by 1.47% and Straits Times up by 0.10% and Taiwan Weighted was up by 0.11%.

On the flip side, KOSPI Composite down by 0.22% was the sole loser amongst the Asian pack.

European markets got off to a positive start; with CAC 40 gaining 0.10%, DAX rising 0.67% and FTSE 100 adding 0.78%.