Benchmarks make gap-up start amid firm global cues

Indian equity indices made a gap-up opening on Thursday with both the frontline gauges recapturing their crucial 5,600 (Nifty) and 18,700 (Sensex) bastions amid firm global cues. The US markets ended the session in fine fettle overnight on speculation that the Fed may hold back from reducing stimulus after slower-than-estimated growth in the economy. Asian markets too were rallying at this point of time with KOSPI Composite surging by about three per cent after South Korean government revised up its growth forecast for the economy this year, as it expects the recent stimulus measures to boost economic activity further ahead.

Back home, sentiments remained jubilant after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) surprised markets by announcing the current account deficit a day in advance. India’s current account deficit stood at $18.1 billion or 3.6 per cent of the GDP in the March quarter, sharply lower than the $21.7 billion deficit a year earlier. The current account gap for the full fiscal year ending in March 2013 was $87.8 billion, which was 4.8 per cent of GDP, compared with $78.2 billion a year earlier. Meanwhile, the balance of payments for the January-March quarter was a $300 million surplus, compared with a $600 million deficit a year earlier. Recovery in Indian Rupee too aided the sentiments as it gained 35 paise against the US dollar and was at Rs 60.37 in early trades against Wednesday’s close of 60.72.

On the sectoral front, software witnessed the maximum gain in trade followed by oil and gas and technology, while consumer durables remained the lone loser on the BSE sectoral space. The broader indices were trading in fine fettle, while the market breadth on the BSE remained positive; there were 834 shares on the gaining side against 394 shares on the losing side while 49 shares remain unchanged.

The BSE Sensex opened at 18716.11; about 163 points higher compared to its previous closing of 18552.12 and has touched a high and a low of 18775.47 and 18708.87 respectively.

The index is currently trading at 18710.30, up by 158.18 points or 0.85%. There were 24 stocks advancing against 6 declines on the index.

The overall market breadth has made a strong start with 65.31% stocks advancing against 30.85% declines. The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap and Small cap indices down by 0.45% and 0.66% respectively. 

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were, IT up by 1.79%, Oil & Gas up by 1.73%, Teck up by 1.48%, Health Care up by 1.20% and Realty up by 1.18%, while Consumer Durables down by 0.75% was the sole loser on the sectoral index.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bajaj Auto up by 3.06%, ONGC up by 2.27%, TCS up by 2.14%, Sun Pharma up by 1.91% and RIL up by 1.88%.

On the flip side, Tata Motors was down by 1.87%, Coal India was down by 0.83%, NTPC was down by 0.53%, Maruti Suzuki was down by 0.34% and L&T was down by 0.27% were the top losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, Finance Ministry will examine financial and operational performance of major 70 government schemes, like mid-day meal, bank recapitalisation and rural employment guarantee scheme. In this regard the ministry has asked expenditure details from the concerned ministries and departments. Some of the other major schemes which are to be examined include Ashtray Kristi Vices Yolanda, equity infusion in Air India, Haj subsidy, e-governance projects, modernisation of State police forces and Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan.

The Ministry in a circular said that “To decide about the sectoral projections it has been decided that major programme of Government will be examined and the meetings under the Chairmanship of Finance Secretary will be held in July, 2013”.

The review is being done for fiscal year 2013-14 as government would be tabling Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) statement in Parliament in the upcoming Monsoon Session. The MTEF statement to be laid will be consistent with the medium term fiscal policy framework laid in the Budget session and will lay down the expenditure commitments for various sectors over a three-year rolling framework.

The CNX Nifty opened at 5,647.95; about 59 points higher as compared to its previous closing of 5,588.70, and has touched a high and a low of 5,662.25 and 5,640.45 respectively.

The index is currently trading at 5,643.70, up by 55.00 points or 0.98%. There were 42 stocks advancing against 7 declines, while one stock remains unchanged on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were UltraTech Cement up by 3.47%, Bajaj Autoup by 3.18%, ONGC up by 2.06%, Sun Pharmaceuticals up by 2.03% and Ranbaxy Laboratories up by 1.98%.

On the flip side, Tata Motors down by 1.76%, Coal India down by 0.76%, NTPC down by 0.71%, Maruti Suzuki down by 0.18% and Larsen & Toubro down by 0.17% were the major losers on the index.

The Asian equity indices were trading in green; Shanghai Composite rose 7.75 points or 0.40% to 1,959.25, Hang Seng soared 268.72 points or 1.32% to 20,607.27, Jakarta Composite jumped 119.17 points or 2.60% to 4,706.90, KLSE Composite increased 10.94 points or 0.63% to 1,751.70, Nikkei 225 surged 281.67 points or 2.19% to 13,115.68, Straits Times added 47.01 points or 1.51% to 3,151.41, KOSPI Composite strengthened 49.76 points or 2.79% to 1,833.21 and Taiwan Weighted was up by 83.44 points or 1.07% to 7,868.24.