Benchmarks continue firm trade; Sensex surpasses 19,100 mark

Indian equity markets added gains hovering near the highest point of the day on account of buying in frontline blue chip counters and taking cues from European counterparts. The markets traded firm due to global cues and after Chief Economic Advisor Raghuram Rajan stated that the country’s current account deficit (CAD) for the fourth quarter of financial year 2012-13 is likely to be around 4% of the gross domestic product. The sentiments gained firm note after lower than expected WPI data bolstered rate cut hopes in RBI’s monetary policy review on June 17. Traders were seen piling position in Consumer Durables, Auto and Realty stocks. In the scrip specific development, Tata Motors was trading firm after its UK-based subsidiary Jaguar Land Rover Limited (JLR) recorded a strong growth in retail sales in May 2013. Jet Airways was trading firm ahead of today’s foreign investment board meet to clear the deal in which Abu Dhabi’s Etihad has picked up 24 percent stake in the airline. Wipro was trading in red on news that the Income Tax department has slapped Rs 816 crore tax claim on the country’s third largest software services exporter.

On the global front, all the Asian markets were trading in green barring Taiwan Weighted while the European markets were too trading on optimistic note. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading above their psychological 5,750 and 19,100 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was positive in the ratio of 1331:815, while 148 scrips remain unchanged. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 19,127.76, up by 300.60 points or 1.60%, after trading in a range of 19,144.91 and 18,952.09. There were 25 stocks advancing against 5 declines on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap and Small cap index were trading up by 1.08% and 0.82% respectively.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 3.58%, Auto up by 2.91%, Realty up by 2.83%, Metal up by 2.42% and Oil & Gas up by 2.21%, while there were no losers on the sectoral space.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Hindalco Industries up by 5.68%, Tata Motors up by 4.82%, Maruti Suzuki up by 3.90%, Tata Power up by 3.14% and Tata Steel up by 3.10%. On the flip side, Wipro down by 0.69%, Cipla down by 0.62%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.29%, Hero MotoCorp down by 0.05% and Bharti Airtel down by 0.05% were the top losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, mentioning the recent dip in gold imports, the finance minister ruled out any further hike in import duty on gold. In the first 13 business days in May, net gold import averaged $135 million a day, however, it slowed down to an average of only $36 million in the subsequent 14 business days. 

Finance minister P Chidambaram urged people not to invest in gold saying that other financial instruments provide better returns. Economic indicators like current account deficit (CAD), exchange rates and interest rates will improve drastically if Indians do not import it for a year, he added. 

High gold imports have been putting pressure on CAD, which in turn is affecting the value of rupee. Further, persistent dollar demand from banks and importers also added to the fall in rupee value. In April- May period, India’s gold imports touched around 270 tonnes, while, the CAD widened to a record high of 6.7% in the third quarter of FY13.

However, to restrain the gold imports, the government has hiked the import duty to 8 per cent recently. Further, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has also put restrictions on banks in importing gold.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 5,792.80, up by 93.70 points or 1.64% after trading in a range of 5,798.85 and 5,739.40. There were 45 stocks advancing against 5 declines on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were Hindalco Industries up by 5.94%, Tata Motors up by 4.88%, Reliance Infrastructure up by 4.37%, Maruti Suzuki up by 3.77% and IDFC up by 3.64%. On the flip side, IndusInd Bank down by 1.88%, Cipla down by 0.53%, Hero MotoCorp down by 0.41%, HCL Technologies down by 0.40% and Hindustan Unilever down by 0.29% were the major losers on the index.

Most of the Asian equity indices were trading in green; Shanghai Composite rose 0.64%, Hang Seng surged 0.39%, Jakarta Composite zoomed 3.34%, KLSE Composite increased 0.90%, Nikkei 225 soared 1.94%, Straits Times added 0.45% and KOSPI Composite was up by 0.35%. On the flip side, Taiwan Weighted was down by 0.18%.

The European markets were trading in green; France’s CAC 40 was up 0.32%, Germany’s DAX added 0.83% and the United Kingdom’s FTSE 100 edged higher 0.47%.