Bulls continue to dominate; Sensex at striking distance of 19,600 mark

Sustained buying by funds and retail investors has kept the mood upbeat at D-street, however stiff resistance at higher level is mainly restricting benchmarks from scaling further highs. Benchmark indexes, Sensex and Nifty trading marginally below 19,600 and 5,900 psychological levels, were up with gains of close to a percent, broader indices too continue to trade with traction. However, bourses’ gain could be tempered in the remaining part of the session tailing a cautious start of European markets. While, Asian pacific shares have rallied on after two of Europe's most important central banks surprised the market by assuring investors they were in no hurry to wind down stimulus, European shares have got off to a cautious start.

Closer home, reports which suggested that Indian business climate improved in June on the back of rising output of intermediate goods and cooling commodity prices globally, also added to the upside triggers. Almost all the sectors, except consumer durables, were trading in the green, riding on improved sentiments. The rally was led by Oil and Gas, Metal and Fast Moving Consumer Goods. Additionally, gains of sugar stocks too bolstering sentiment. Sugar stocks rose on reports that the government has decided to raise the import duty on the sweetener to 15 per cent from 10 per cent currently. The move is aimed to discourage overseas buying amid a drop in local prices due to ample supplies. The overall market breadth on BSE in the favour of advances which have outnumbered declines in the ratio of 1254:762; while 133 shares remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 19595.51, up by 184.67 points or 0.95% after trading in a range of 19,640.27 and 19532.13.  The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap and Small cap indexes were trading higher by 0.86% and 0.73% respectively.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were, Oil & Gas up by 1.54%, Metal up by 1.41%, FMCG up by 1.30%, Bankex up by 1.16% and Capital Goods up by 1.07%, while Consumer Durables down by 0.05% was the sole loser on the BSE sectoral space.

Of the 30 share index, Sensex, 26 stocks were on gaining side, while 4 were losing side. The top gainers on the Sensex were Jindal Steel up by 2.73%, HDFC Bank up by 2.50%, Reliance up by 2.31%, Tata Power up by 2.11% and Hindalco Industries up by 2.00%. On the flip side, GAIL down by 1.04%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.81%, Coal India down by 0.67%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.48% and NTPC down by 0.03% were the top losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, Indian business climate improved in June on the back of rising output of intermediate goods and cooling commodity prices globally. The 'BluFin Business Cycle Indicator (BCI)', which reflects various macroeconomic trends on a monthly basis, stood at 167.1 points in June, 5.6 percent higher compared to the same month of previous year, suggesting that Indian economy is growing at a faster rate than the previous year. The BCI index is based on components in four broad categories including foreign trade, capital market, policy and the real economy. 

As per the financial services provider BluFin’s reported that the intermediate sector continues to be a major contributor to BCI growth. It said that high production of aluminium, pig iron and copper and data on consumer demand indicate an economic expansion. Further, declining international commodity prices like copper, aluminium and gold have boosted the economy's growth, despite the major fall in rupee value, which has eroded a large part of the benefit.

Indicating a reversal in the economic slowdown since July 2012, BluFin expects that Indian economy would grow at 5.3% in the first quarter of financial year 2013-14.However, in past, the BCI has grown by an average of 7 percent year-on-year.

Earlier, the BluFin has reported that Indian consumers' confidence level rose in June on the back of easing inflation but concerns remained over job security. BluFin's Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) rose to 41.9 points in June, an uptick of 0.5 points over the previous month.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 5,892.95, up by 56.00 points or 0.96% after trading in a range of 5,900.45 and 5,872.35.

Of the 50 stocks index, 41 stocks were on advancing side, the top gainers of the Nifty were JP Associates up by 4.10%, IDFC up by 4.03%, NMDC up by 2.82%, HDFC Bank up by 2.64% and Jindal Steel up by 2.44% . On the flip side, GAIL down by 1.05%, Lupin down by 1.01%, Coal India down by 0.85%, M&M down by 0.66% and BPCL down by 0.50% were the major losers on the index.

Most of the Asian equity indices were trading in green; Shanghai Composite rose 0.28%, Hang Seng surged 1.63%, Jakarta Composite jumped 0.35%, KLSE Composite increased 0.23%, Nikkei 225 soared 2.08%, Straits Times added 0.83% and Taiwan Weighted was up by 1.37%. On the flip side, KOSPI Composite was down by 0.32%.

European shares got off to a cautious start; with CAC 40 rising by 0.20%, DAX rising by 0.09% and FTSE 100 declining by 0.23%.