Markets continue firm trade; Sensex rallies past 20,300 level

Indian equity markets continued trading firm amid some fresh buying in several blue chips across various sectors, tracking positive cues from Asian bourses. The BSE benchmark Sensex rallied past 20,300 level, while Nifty index of the National Stock Exchange was up by 50.20 points. Investors’ are waiting for Reserve Bank of India's first-quarter review of the monetary policy on July 30, which will be key trigger for the market in either direction. In currency market, Indian rupee pared early gains and was trading almost flat in positive territory in the late morning session on Tuesday amid increased dollar demand from banks and importers. On sectoral front, all sectors were trading in green. Most of the jewellery stocks have recovered after initial weakness after RBI lifted financing restriction on gold and put quantitative restrictions. Moreover, the central bank says importers have to park at least 20% of imported gold for exports. With this initiative, central bank expects gold imports to fall by as much as 63% and aims to cut a record current-account deficit, which was seen as a broader positive for equities.  

On the global front, the Asian markets rallied after Japan upgraded its economic outlook and on hopes of market reforms in China after the People's Bank of China decided to remove the floor on the discount Chinese banks can offer for commercial lending rates. Back home, the market breadth was favoring positive trend; there were 993 shares on the losing side against 803 shares on the gaining side, while 118 shares remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 20,317.15, up by 158.03 points or 0.78% after trading in a range of 20,345.29 and 20,249.98. There were 26 stocks advancing against 4 declines on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.37% and Small cap index gained 0.25%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were, Consumer Durables up by 3.09%, Bankex up by 1.58%, Realty up by 1.42%, Oil & Gas up by 1.31% and Metal up by 1.26%, while there was no loser on the BSE sectoral space.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Dr Reddys Lab up by 2.04%, Sterlite Industries up by 1.81%, SBI up by 1.70%, Jindal Steel up by 1.70% and BHEL up by 1.52%.  On the flip side, Sun Pharma was down by 0.79%, HDFC was down by 0.65%, Bharti Airtel was down by 0.48%  and Tata Motors was down by 0.07% were the top losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, buoyed by favorable monsoon condition, Indian economy will achieve a gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 6 per cent in financial year 2013-14, Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council (PMEAC) Chairman C Rangarajan said at an event in Tezpur University. Earlier this month, Rangarajan had said India’s economic growth rate is expected to be at least 6 percent in the 2013 -14 fiscal.

Further, Rangarajan said the government is also taking measures to control current account deficit. In this regard, the government is trying to curb demand of gold and petroleum products, which is the biggest constraint of the trade deficit. The government has further taken steps to minimise the imports of petroleum products by encouraging domestic production.

The economy grew at 4.8 percent in the fourth quarter of FY’13, while for the full year 2012-13, the economic growth was 5 percent, a decade low. Earlier, Reserve Bank of India has estimated the economy to grow at 5.7 percent in the current fiscal, while the Finance Ministry has forecast 6.1-6.7 percent growth.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 6,082.00 up by 50.20 points or 0.83% after trading in a range of 6,089.75 and 6,061.30. There were 42 stocks advancing against 9 declines on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were Bank of Baroda up by 3.87%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 3.42%, PNB up by 2.84%, DLF up by 2.74% and Reliance Infra up by 2.55%, and On the flip side, Asian Paints down by 1.13%, Ambuja Cement down by 0.91%, Sun Pharma down by 0.82%, HDFC down by 0.80% and Bharti Airtel down by 0.55% were the major losers on the index.

The Asian equity indices were trading in green; Shanghai Composite soared 1.60%, Hang Seng surged 2.05%, Jakarta Composite jumped 1.42%, KLSE Composite rose 0.27%, Nikkei 225 increased 0.96%, Straits Times added 0.51%, Seoul Composite strengthened 1.02% and Taiwan Weighted was up by 1.35%.