Benchmarks add gain; Nifty surpasses 5,900 mark

Indian equity markets added gains to continue its firm trade in the late afternoon session on account of buying in front line blue chip counters. The sentiments on the street turned optimistic after Finance Ministry stated that there is an unwarranted panic in the market after rupee plunged to lifetime low of 57.54 against dollar and hoped it will settle down in some time. The investors also kept an eye on Reuters poll which showed that the country’s industrial output probably rose for a fourth consecutive month in April, but at a slightly slower pace, suggesting economic recovery remains tepid. Traders were seen piling position in Oil & Gas, TECK and FMCG stocks while selling was witnessed in Consumer Durables, Health Care and Auto sector stocks.

In the scrip specific development, Hexaware Technologies was trading in green after brokerage house Jefferies retained its hold rating on the stock, citing lack of near term catalysts even though the stock is quoting cheap. Jet Airways was trading deep in red after two senior MPs alleged that the government’s decision to increase the number of flights between India and Abu Dhabi was aimed at facilitating the Jet-Etihad deal. A parliamentary panel-led by CPI-M’s Sitaram Yechury has also objected to the bilateral air agreement with Abu Dhabi to increase the number of flights between the two counties. GlaxoSmithkline Pharma was trading under pressure after Nomura downgraded its rating on the company to reduce, citing lower profitability resulting from price controls, and rich valuations.

On the global front, the Asian markets were trading in green barring Jakarta Composite while the European markets were trading on a mixed note. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading above their psychological 5,900 and 19,500 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was negative in the ratio of 905:1213, while 138 scrips remain unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 19,522.35, up by 93.12 points or 0.48% after trading in a range of 19,585.75 and 19,407.07. There were 18 stocks advancing against 12 declines on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap and Small cap index were trading down by 0.55% and 0.16% respectively.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were, Oil & Gas up by 0.71% , TECK up by 0.70%, FMCG up by 0.19%, and PSU up by 0.19% while, Consumer Durables down by 1.48%, Health Care down by 1.11%, Auto down by 0.65%, Realty down by 0.56% and Bankex down by 0.39% were the top losers on the BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were HDFC up by 2.70%, NTPC up by 2.36%, Wipro up by 2.12%, Infosys up by 1.84%, and HDFC Bank up by 1.22%. On the flip side, Jindal Steel was down by 2.76%, BHEL was down by 2.19%, Tata Motors was down by 2.10%, Maruti Suzuki was down by 1.57% and ICICI Bank was down by 1.56% were the top losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, concerned over the ponzi and chit fund schemes collecting huge amounts of public money, the RBI governor D Subbarao said that the central bank is of the view that setting up a new regulator might not solve the problem and such illegal activities can only be checked by stronger surveillance and better enforcement of laws.

Subbarao favored a review of the present legal framework to remove any loopholes and said that active involvement of state governments is very important to keep a tab on such activities and take action against the culprits. An amendment of the regulations would not be sufficient and an effective implementation of laws is more important to tackle this menace, he added.

The governor’s comments come against the backdrop of numerous cases about investors being duped of thousands of crores of rupees by ponzi schemes across the country, particularly in north-east area. By adding further he said, the recent scams have occurred in unregulated and illegal entities and need to tighten regulation to make regulation more effective.

Moreover, as per Subbarao, there is lack of clarity on what a legal deposit is and what is illegal, and if these are legal schemes that who is the concerned regulator. The issue is currently being debated by a Parliamentary Committee and an inter-ministerial group, among other forums.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 5,906.50 up by 25.50 points or 0.43% after trading in a range of 5,931.65 and 5,872.75. There were 26 stocks advancing against 23 declines while 1 stock remained unchanged on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were HDFC up by 2.76%, NTPC up by 2.47%, UltraTech Cement up by 2.08%, Infosys up by 1.86%, and ACC up by 1.66%. On the flip side, Jindal Steel down by 2.67%, IndusInd Bank down by 2.20%, Tata Motors down by 2.05%, BHEL down by 2.01% and Ranbaxy Laboratories was down by 1.88% were the major losers on the index.

Most of the Asian equity indices were trading in green; Hang Seng rose 0.18%, KLSE Composite jumped 0.78%, Nikkei 225 soared 4.94%, Straits Times increased 0.59%, KOSPI Composite surged 0.46% and Taiwan Weighted was up by 0.81%.  On the flip side, Jakarta Composite was down by 1.46%. 

Chinese markets remained shut for trade today.

The European markets were trading on a mixed note; France’s CAC 40 was down 0.15%, Germany’s DAX added 0.63% and the United Kingdom’s FTSE 100 edged higher 1.07%.