Benchmarks add gains; Nifty surpasses 5,450 mark

Indian equity markets added gains to continue firm trade hovering near the highest point of the day in the late afternoon session on account of buying in front line counters. The sentiments got a boost after Finance Minister P. Chidambaram stated that the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) liquidity measures to curb volatility in the forex market are likely to help moderate the inflation. Last month, the central bank engineered an increase in money-market interest rates in an effort to give investors in short-term rupee debt an incentive to keep their money in India. Traders were seen piling position in Auto, Oil & Gas and Capital Goods stocks while selling was witnessed in Realty sector stocks. In scrip specific development, NHPC was trading firm on reports that the company will go ahead with a share buyback worth Rs 1,600 crore instead of an offer for sale. Future Ventures India was trading in green on news that the Kishore Biyani-owned company is in the final stages of negotiations to sell its 22.86% stake in apparel maker and designs India to private equity fund General Atlantic for Rs 150-200 crore. Tech Mahindra was trading in green for second day in a row after Goldman Sachs initiated a buy rating on the stock with a target price of Rs 1,500. Jet Airways was trading firm on bargain hunting and hopes of deal closure with Etihad.

On the global front, most of the Asian markets were trading in green while the European markets were trading on a mixed note. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading above their psychological 5,450 and 18,500 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was positive in the ratio of 1218:868, while 148 scrips remain unchanged. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 18521.39, up by 208.45 points or 1.14% after trading in a range of 18521.48 and 18210.75. There were only 20 stocks advancing against 10 declines on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap and Small cap index were trading higher by 0.88% and 0.78% respectively.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were, Auto up by 2.19%, Oil & Gas up by 2.08%, Capital Goods up by 1.81%, Bankex up by 1.73% and PSU up by 1.42% while, Realty down by 0.79% was the sole loser indices on the BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were, BHEL up by 8.47%, Tata Power up by 3.94%, ONGC up by 3.85%, Jindal Steel up by 3.61% and ICICI Bank up by 3.50%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 1.67%, NTPC down by 1.30%, Cipla down by 1.18%, Hindalco Industries down by 0.87% and Sterlite Industries down by 0.80% were the top losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, expressing need to boost investment into the country, the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) said that the government should focus on bringing more reforms to kick start investments and set the economic growth rolling on the fast track. Indian economy’s growth is likely to remain flat in the first quarter of the current fiscal on account of sluggish economic conditions. 

Pointing out that, Finance Minister P Chidambaram's statement on growth being the key focus area as encouraging, FICCI president Naina Lal Kidwai said that presently there is need to return the investment cycle into the country and to continue the momentum on the reform front. By adding further, she added that India should focus on introducing goods and services tax (GST) and speed up the implementation of infrastructure projects cleared by Cabinet Committee on Investment (CCI) and restart investments.

At present, Indian economy is struggling with slowdown and all macro-economic indicators are deteriorating. Recently, domestic currency depreciated to a record low of over 65 per dollar on account of high current account deficit (CAD), which widened due to high gold imports and crude oil prices. In the last fiscal year, India’s economic growth slowed down to decade low of 5 percent owing to the poor performance of farm, manufacturing and mining sectors.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 5,467.95, up by 59.50 points or 1.10% after trading in a range of 5,469.20 and 5,377.80. There were 31 stocks advancing against 19 declines on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were BHEL up by 8.84%, HCL Tech up by 4.67%, Tata Power up by 4.22% , Jindal Steel up by 4.01% and Tata Motors up by 3.58%. On the flip side, DLF down by 3.34%, Ultra Cement down by 3.12%, Sesa Goa down by 2.05%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.77% and NTPC down by 1.64% were the major losers on the index.

Most of the Asian equity indices were trading in green; Nikkei 225 was up by 2.21%, Straits Times up by 0.15%, KLSE Composite up by 0.10%, Taiwan Weighted up by 0.75%, while Hang Seng down by 0.15%, Jakarta Composite down 0.19% and Shanghai Composite down by 0.47% were the losers amongst Asian pack.

The European markets were trading on mixed note; France’s CAC 40 was down 0.41%, Germany’s DAX added 0.05% and the United Kingdom’s FTSE 100 gained 0.23%.