Firm trade continues at D-street; Nifty above 5,950 level

Firm trade continued on Dalal Street with frontline gauges trading comfortably above their crucial 5,950 (Nifty) and 19,800 (Sensex) bastions after IT bellwether Infosys retained its US revenue guidance of 6% to 10% growth in dollar terms for FY14. Sentiments also remained up-beat on report that foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 638.26 crore on July 11, 2013. Meanwhile, positive opening in European markets too was supporting the sentiments. CAC, DAX and FTSE all edged higher taking cues from minutes of the Federal Reserve’s latest policy meeting showing that many members preferred the extension of the stimulus program. Though, Asian equity indices were exhibiting mixed trend with some of the indices in the region running out of steam with fresh evidence of weakness in the world's second biggest economy China.

Back home, software counter remained top gainer among sectoral indices on the BSE,  surging by over 6% after Infosys on the consolidated basis, registered a gain of 3.71% in its net profit at Rs 2374 crore for the quarter as compared to Rs 2289 crore for the same quarter in the previous year. Total income of the company has surged by 17.36% at Rs 11844 crore for quarter under review as compared to Rs 10092 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2012. However, selling witnessed in auto sector on report that domestic passenger car sales declined by 9% to 1,39,632 units in June from 1,53,450 units sold in the same month last year, on account of decline in demand for the eighth straight month due to rising ownership costs and sluggish economic growth.

Consumer durables, realty and public sector undertaking counters reeling under pressure. The overall market breadth on BSE is in the favour of declines which have thumped advances in the ratio of 945: 1037; while 116 shares remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 19849.78, up by 173.72 points or 0.88% after trading in a range of 19962.78 and 19785.59. There were 14 stocks advancing against 16 declines on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap and Small cap index were trading down by 0.05% and 0.07% respectively.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were, IT up by 6.29%, Teck up by 4.87%, Capital Goods up by 1.24%, Health Care up by 0.36% and Power up by 0.20%, while Consumer Durables down by 1.18%, Realty down by 1.15%, PSU down by 0.79%, Auto down by 0.66% and FMCG down by 0.59% were the top losers on the sectoral index.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Infosys up by 11.07%, TCS up by 2.88%, Wipro up by 2.04%, L&T up by 1.85% and Dr Reddys Lab up by 1.48%.  On the flip side, ONGC was down by 3.10%, Mahindra & Mahindra was down by 2.31%, Maruti Suzuki was down by 2.02%, ITC was down by 1.18% and Hindalco Industries was down by 1.17% were the top losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, with an aim to boost the growth of India’s infrastructure sector, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has approved the Modified Industrial Infrastructure Upgradation Scheme (MIIUS) with an outlay of Rs 1,030 crore during the 12th Five Year Plan period (2012-2017).

Under the MIIUS scheme, Project Management Agency (PMA) would be appointed to assist the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) in appraising proposals and monitoring projects. The project proposals would be scrutinised with the help of the PMA and they would be placed before an apex committee for in-principle approval. After in-principle approval, the project will be monitored and will continue to be monitored until the project achieves completion.

Moreover, out of the total outlay under the scheme, Rs 450 crore will be used for committed liability and the remainder for taking up 14 to 16 new infrastructure upgradation projects in existing or greenfield industrial clusters.  The scheme will cover all states and at least 10 percent of the outlay will be set aside for a minimum of two projects in the North East region of the country.

The move will help to develop better common infrastructure and facilities, including skill development centres, at the selected industrial clusters. It will also positively impact better employment generation in these clusters. The government had launched an Industrial Infrastructure Upgradation Scheme (IIUS) in 2003 to enhance the industry's competitiveness by providing infrastructure through the public-private partnership model in selected functional clusters.   

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 5,971.20, up by 36.10 points or 0.60% after trading in a range of 5,898.80 and 5,869.35. There were 19 stocks advancing against 31 declines on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were Infosys up by 11.06%, TCS up by 2.68%, L&T up by 2.21%, HCL Tech up by 2.18% and IDFC up by 2.07%. On the flip side, ONGC down by 3.05%, Ultra Tech Cement down by 2.79%, M&M down by 2.17%, Maruti Suzuki down by 2.05% and Ranbaxy down by 2.02% were the major losers on the index.

The Asian equity indices were trading mixed; Shanghai Composite declined 1.56%, Hang Seng contracted 0.75%, Straits Times dropped 0.40% and Seoul Composite was down by 0.41%.

On the flip side, Jakarta Composite rose 0.06%, KLSE Composite increased 0.09%, Nikkei 225 gained 0.23% and Taiwan Weighted was up by 0.50%.

European markets have got off to a negative start; with CAC 40 declining 0.26%, FTSE 100 sliding by 0.63% and DAX losing 0.56%.