Benchmarks add minor gains; Nifty above 5,850 mark

Indian equities added minor gains to continue firm trade in the late afternoon session on account of buying in front line counters and taking cues from global counterparts. The trading was however lackadaisical as investors prefered being on the sidelines ahead of conclusion of the two-day US Federal Reserve meeting later in the day, which is expected to result in the start of a rollback of its stimulus. Traders were seen piling positions in Realty, Bankex and FMCG stocks, while selling was witnessed in Metal and Auto sector stocks. In scrip specific development, hectic activity was noticed in shares of jewellery companies like Tribhovandas Bhimji Zaveri, Titan Industries, PC Jeweller, Shree Ganesh Jewellery and Gitanjali Gems after government increased import duty on gold jewellery from 10 to 15 percent. DLF was trading in green after foreign brokerage firm Bank of America Merrill Lynch initiated a buy rating on the stock. Den Networks was trading firm after the ministry of information and broadcasting approved $110 million investment of Goldman Sachs in the company.

On the global front, most of the Asian markets were trading in red, while the European markets were trading on optimistic note. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading above their psychological 5,850 and 19,800 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was positive in the ratio of 1085:1070, while 134 scrips remained unchanged. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 19883.61, up by 79.58 points or 0.40% after trading in a range of 19900.68 and 19775.29. There were 20 stocks advancing against 10 declines on the index.

The broader indices were too trading in green; the BSE Mid cap and Small cap indices were trading higher by 0.30% and 0.17% respectively.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were, Realty up by 1.87%, Bankex up by 0.92%, Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) up by 0.83%, Oil & Gas up by 0.60% and Consumer Durables up by 0.59% while, Metal down by 0.21% and Auto down by 0.14% were the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were, Tata Power up by 3.11%, NTPC up by 2.81%, Dr. Reddy’s Lab up by 1.95%, SBI up by 1.84% and Hindustan Unilever up by 1.39%. On the flip side, BHEL down by 3.48%, Hero MotoCorp down by 1.96%, Sesa Goa down by 1.69%, HDFC down by 1.40% and Mahindra and Mahindra down by 0.84% were the top only losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into India increased by 12.9 percent on y-o-y basis to $1.66 billion in July from $1.47 billion recorded in the same month of previous fiscal, highest in the previous three months. During April to July period of current fiscal, FDI inflows were up by 20 per cent to $7.05 billion over the same period of previous fiscal.

The sectors that received large inflows during the first four months of FY14 include services ($1.02 billion), pharmaceuticals ($1 billion), automobile industry ($637 million) and construction ($359 million). Country wise, maximum FDI during the period came from Singapore ($2.21 billion), followed by Mauritius ($1.85 billion), the Netherlands ($520 million), Germany ($518 million), and the US ($371 million).   

FDI is considered crucial for economic development of a country and to attract maximum FDI into the country, the government has been liberalizing the foreign investment policy. Recently, the government has relaxed FDI norms in around 12 sectors which include telecom, tea, pension and petroleum and natural gas. Meanwhile, India would require around $1 trillion in the 12th five year plan (2012-2017), to overhaul its infrastructure sector such as ports, airports and highways to boost growth. Further, a rise in FDI will help support the rupee, which recently depreciated to record low of over 68.50 against the US dollar.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 5,871.30, up by 21.10 points or 0.36% after trading in a range of 5,877.90 and 5,840.20. There were 32 stocks advancing against 18 declines on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were DLF up by 3.48%, Tata Power up by 3.44%, NTPC up by 3.14%, IDFC up by 2.76% and Axis Bank up by 2.01%. On the flip side, BHEL down by 3.63%, Hero MotoCorp down by 2.08%, Power Grid down by 1.97%, NMDC down by 1.94% and Sesa Goa down by 1.86% were the major losers on the index.

The Asian equity indices were trading mostly in red; Taiwan Weighted down by 0.49%, Hang Seng down by 0.27%, Jakarta Composite down by 1.34% and KLSE Composite down by 0.20%, while Shanghai Composite up by 0.29%, Nikkei 225 was up by 1.35% and Straits Times up by 0.52%.

South Korean markets will be closed from today i.e. September 18 for the rest of the week for the Chuseok holidays. Trade will resume on September 23.

The European markets were trading in green; France’s CAC 40 was up 0.21%, Germany’s DAX added 0.24% and UK’s FTSE 100 gained 0.12%.