Benchmarks trim gains; trade marginally in green

Indian equity markets pared gains but continue to trade in green in the late afternoon session on account of profit booking in front line counters. The sentiments got dented after India’s services PMI contracted first time in 20 months to 47.9 points in July from 51.7 points in the previous month. A reading above 50 points indicates growth, while that below 50 signifies a contraction in the sector. Traders were seen piling position in Metal, FMCG and IT stocks while selling was witnessed in Capital Goods, Power and Consumer Durables sector stocks. In scrip specific development, Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL) plunged to hit a one-year low after the company reported nearly 50% decline in net profit for the first quarter ended June 30, 2013. Financial Technologies India was trading firm after suffering sharp losses over the previous two sessions.

On the global front, most of the Asian markets were trading in green while the European markets were trading on optimistic note. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading below their psychological 5,700 and 19,200 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was negative in the ratio of 916:1126, while 114 scrips remain unchanged. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 19195.21 up by 31.19 points or 0.16% after trading in a range of 19306.51 and 19141.68. There were 17 stocks advancing against 13 declines on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.35%, and Small cap index lost 0.05%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were, Metal up by 1.77%, FMCG up by 0.93%, IT up by 0.84%, TECK up by 0.62% and Bankex up by 0.61%, while, Capital Goods down by 3.31%, Power down by 1.72%, Consumer Durable down by 1.42%, Realty down by 0.41% and Auto down by 0.36% were the top losers indices on the BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Jindal Steel up by 4.47%, NTPC up by 3.58%, Sterlite Industries up by 3.18%, Coal India up by 2.30% and Tata Steel up by 2.10%. On the flip side, BHEL down by 17.30%, Tata Power down by 2.73%, Tata Motors down by 2.22%, HDFC down by 1.95% and L&T down by 1.85% were the top losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, in a move to improve infrastructure in the country's North Eastern (NE) region, the government has set a target to complete Rs 33,688 crore projects under phase -A of Special Accelerated Road Development Programme (SARDP), including Arunachal Package covers 6,418 km by June 2016. The underlined programme is aimed at providing road connectivity to all the district headquarters in the north eastern region by minimum 2-lane highway standards. The programme also envisages providing road connectivity to backward and remote areas, areas of strategic importance and neighbouring countries.

The Road Transport and Highways (RTH) Ministry has said that it targets to award projects in a total length of about 2,000 km and achieve completion in 550 km length during 2013-14. Till now, about 1,180 km have been completed. The projects are being executed by National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), the States Public Work Departments, Border Roads Organisation (BRO) and the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.

The infrastructure development is crucial to boost the economy’s growth; therefore the government is serious about the development of infrastructure in the country. Recently, it has set up the Cabinet Committee on Investments (CCI) to clear the bottlenecks holding back mega infrastructure projects. For the 12th Five Year Plan (2012-17), the government has set the $1-trillion investment target for the infrastructure sector.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 5,681.80, up by 3.90 points or 0.07% after trading in a range of 5,721.00 and 5,661.50.

There were 31 stocks advancing against 18 declines while 1 stock remained unchanged on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were Jindal Steel up by 4.68%, Sesa Goa up by 3.67%, NTPC up by 3.58%, JP Associate up by 3.37% and Ambuja Cements up by 3.33%. On the flip side, BHEL down by 17.41%, Asian paints down by 4.85%, BPCL down by 2.88%, Tata Power down by 2.84% and Cairn India down by 2.60% were the major losers on the index.

The Asian equity indices were trading mostly in the green; Shanghai Composite up by 1.04%, Hang Seng up by 0.14%, Jakarta Composite up by 0.36%, Taiwan Weighted was up by 0.48% and KLSE Composite up by 0.33%, while, Straits Times down by 0.59%, KOSPI Composite down by 0.37% and Nikkei 225 was down by 1.44%.

The European markets were trading in green; France’s CAC 40 was up 0.29%, Germany’s DAX added 0.14% and the United Kingdom’s FTSE 100 jumped 0.32%.