Sensex, Nifty continue to trade in green

Indian equities added minor gains to continue firm trade in the late afternoon session on account of buying in front line counters. The sentiments were relieved on Reserve Bank of India’s assurance that it will take actions, including open market operations, to ensure adequate liquidity support in the system. Traders were seen piling positions in Metal, Health Care and Capital Goods stocks, while selling was witnessed in Consumer Durables, Realty and Oil & Gas sector stocks. In scrip specific development, Jet Airways was trading in green after the airline and UAE-based Etihad Airways submitted revised documents to the government in a bid to dispel concerns raised by the Foreign Investment Promotion Board over management control of their proposed venture saying their commercial agreement will not override powers vested with the company’s board. Wipro was trading in green ahead of its inclusion in Nifty from September 27. JSW Steel was trading in red after foreign brokerage firm BNP Paribas downgraded the stock to reduce from hold, citing expensive valuations. The market may remain volatile as traders may roll over positions in the futures & options (F&O) segment from the near month i.e. September 2013 series to next month i.e. October 2013 series. The September 2013 F&O contracts will expire today i.e. September 26, 2013.

On the global front, most of the Asian markets were trading in red while the European markets were too trading on pessimistic note. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading above their psychological 5,850 and 19,900 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was positive in the ratio of 1132:955 while 142 scrips remained unchanged. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 19923.35 up by 67.11 points or 0.34% after trading in a range of 19946.55 and 19826.99. There were only 18 stocks advancing against 12 declines on the index.

The broader indices were too trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.19%, while Small cap index up by 0.60%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 1.33%, Health Care up by 0.84%, Capital Goods up by 0.71%, Bankex up by 0.47% and PSU up by 0.35%. While Consumer Durables down by 0.77%, Realty down by 0.75% and Oil and Gas down by 0.74% remained the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were BHEL up by 3.57%, Coal India up by 3.08%, Tata Steel up by 2.56%, Sun Pharma up by 2.35% and Sesa Goa up by 2.23%. On the flip side, Jindal Steel down by 2.14%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.27%, Gail India down by 1.09%, RIL down by 1.04% and Hero MotoCorp down by 0.74% were the top losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, in a move to develop the country’s infrastructure sector, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved two highways projects under its flagship road building programme National Highways Development Project (NHDP), entailing a total expenditure of Rs 3,001 crore. These two highway projects include four laning of Solapur- Yedeshi (Maharashtra) section of NH 211 and 6/8 laning of JNPT Port road project of Mumbai and will expedite infrastructure improvement in the state.

It is reported that the cost of the 99 km long Solapur- Yedeshi project is around Rs 1,057.82 crore, while, Jawahar Lal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) Port road project cost is estimated to be around Rs 1943.37 crore including the cost of land acquisition, resettlement and rehabilitation and other pre-construction activities. The total length of  JNPT Port road project will be approximately 43.912 kms of which 20.95 km will be of 6-laning and 22.962 kms will be of 8-laning. Further, JNPT project corridor highway includes NH-4B and NH-348, which connects the JNPT with the proposed Navi Mumbai International Airport in Maharashtra.

The development of infrastructure is a most critical prerequisite to boost the economy’s growth. Therefore, the government has set the $1-trillion investment target for the infrastructure sector for the 12th Five Year Plan (2012-17).

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 5,893.70 up by 19.85 points or 0.34% after trading in a range of 5,900.30 and 5,864.10. There were 31 stocks advancing against 19 declines on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were Coal India up by 2.95%, Tata Steel up by 2.63%, BHEL up by 2.51%, Sun Pharma up by 2.23% and Sesa Goa up by 2.17%. On the flip side, Jindal Steel down by 2.24%, Power Grid down by 1.49%, HCL Tech down by 1.47%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.39% and Gail India down by 1.17% were the major losers on the index.

The Asian equity indices were trading mostly in red; Straits Times down by 0.45%, KLSE Composite down by 0.38%, Shanghai Composite down by 1.94%, Taiwan Weighted down by 1.20% and  Hang Seng down by 0.36%. On the other hand, Jakarta Composite up by 0.73%, Nikki 225 up by 1.22% and Seoul Composite up by 0.46%.

The European markets were trading in red; France’s CAC 40 was down 0.50%, Germany’s DAX lost 0.33% and UK’s FTSE 100 dropped 0.11%.