Benchmarks oscillate in narrow range; Nifty holds past 6050 level

Indian benchmark indices continue to trade in narrow range in absence of any fresh positive triggers. Nevertheless, trade remains jubilant, with both Sensex and Nifty, sustaining gains of over half a percent, to trade past the crucial 20,300 and 6050 levels respectively. Meanwhile, broader indices were ruling firm.

On the global front, borrowing positive cues from Asian pacific shares, European counterparts got off to a positive start after weaker-than-expected US economic data buoyed expectations of continued monetary stimulus from the Federal Reserve. In Asia-pacific region, China's benchmark stock index led Asian stocks higher amid growing talk that Beijing could resort to stimulus measures to bolster a weakening economy.

Closer home, no sectoral space was in red on BSE, while the prominent gainers were stocks belonging to Consumer Durables, Realty and Bankex counters. Value-buying of blue chip bank stocks was witnessed after recent sharp falls, with a 6.4% fall in NSE's banking sub-index last week.

However, jewellery makers fell sharply on Tuesday following Reserve Bank's stringent conditions for gold importers, linking inward shipments to future exports, a move which is likely to make gold prices costlier and may impact demand. The overall market breadth on BSE is in the favour of advances which thumped declines in the ratio of 1048:924; while 128 shares remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 20318.94, up by 159.82 points or 0.79% after trading in a range of 20,345.29 and 20,249.98.  The broader indices too continued to trade in fine fettle; the BSE Mid cap and Small cap index gained 0.40% and 0.24% respectively.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were, Consumer Durables up by 3.65%, Realty up by 2.03%, Bankex up by 1.54%, Oil & Gas up by 1.44% and Metal up by 1.32%, while there was no loser on the BSE sectoral space.

Of the Sensex, 24 shares were advancing and 6 of them were on declining side.The top gainers on the Sensex were BHEL up by 2.54%, Sterlite Industries up by 2.41%, Dr Reddys Lab up by 2.01%, SBI up by 1.57% and ONGC up by 1.56%. 

On the flip side, Sun Pharma down by 1.00%, HDFC and WIpro down by 0.75%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.72% and Tata Motors down by 0.23% were the top losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, according to the quarterly survey conducted by global information and insights company Nielsen, global consumer confidence rose in the second quarter on account of more optimistic perceptions about jobs, personal finances and spending intentions in the United States, China and Japan.  The Nielsen Global Consumer Confidence Index rose 1 point in the second quarter to 94, after rising 2 points in the previous quarter from 91 in Q4 2012. A reading below 100, however, signals consumers are pessimistic overall about the outlook.

According to the survey, which was conducted between May 13 and May 31 and covered more than 29,000 online consumers across 58 markets, Indonesia remained the most bullish consumer market, followed by the Philippines, which pushed India into third place. India’s rating stood at India 118, down by 2 points from the first quarter survey. Pakistan, Greece and Colombia saw the biggest increases in consumer confidence between the first and second quarters.  Nevertheless, consumers in Asia Pacific region remained most confident about the outlook for jobs and their personal finances over the next 12 months.

Portugal retained its position as the most pessimistic consumer market in the survey, which was taken before a political crisis deepened in Portugal, while Hungary and Italy competed for the second most downbeat markets.

Further, the survey found distinct set of tiers with German consumers being the most confident, followed by consumers in the UK, France, and then Italy and Greece where confidence was both low and also sinking. As government budget cuts, tax rises and high unemployment continued to weigh on households in Europe, consumer confidence declined in 14 of 29 European markets. However, reflecting increasing employment opportunities, higher home prices and a rising stock market consumer morale improved in the United States, the world’s biggest economy.

Additionally, Japanese consumer confidence jumped in the wake of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's aggressive efforts to revive the economy, while it decreased in Latin America, for a second consecutive quarter.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 6,084.65, up by 52.85 points or 0.88% after trading in a range of 6,089.75 and 6,061.30.

On Nifty 40 shares were on advancing side and 10 on declining. The top gainers of the Nifty were DLF up by 3.80%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 3.80%, Bank of Baroda up by 3.72%, PNB up by 3.01%, Reliance Infra up by 2.99%. On the flip side, Ambuja Cement down by 1.29%, Asian Paints down by 1.08%, Sun Pharma down by 0.99%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.86% and HDFC down by 0.83% were the major losers on the index.

The Asian equity indices were trading in green; Shanghai Composite soared 1.80%, Hang Seng surged 2.30%, Jakarta Composite jumped 1.52%, KLSE Composite rose 0.31%, Nikkei 225 increased 0.82%, Straits Times added 0.55%, Seoul Composite strengthened 1.27% and Taiwan Weighted was up by 1.35%.

European markets too made a positive start; with CAC 40 adding 0.37%, DAX rising 0.29% and FTSE 100 gaining 0.27%.