Firm trade prevails; Metal, Bankex leads

Indian equities added minor gains hovering near the highest point of the day in the late afternoon session on account of buying in front line counters. The sentiments were on upbeat mood despite Asian Development Bank (ADB) cut Indian economic forecast to 4.7 percent for the current fiscal from 6 percent projected earlier, amid rising concerns over the existing economic slowdown. Traders were seen piling positions in Metal, Bankex and IT stocks, while selling was witnessed in FMCG sector stocks. In scrip specific development, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) was trading in green continuing it’s up move for the second consecutive session after foreign brokerage firm Goldman Sachs upgraded the stock to buy from neutral and raised the target price. Jet Airways was trading firm as the Etihad deal is gathering steam and the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) is likely to take up the Jet-Etihad deal later today. Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M) was trading in green after reporting strong growth in tractor business. Besides, JP Morgan has reiterated its overweight rating on the stock.

On the global front, most of the Asian markets were trading in green while the European markets were trading on mixed 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 1361:842 while 146 scrips remained unchanged. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 19834.64, up by 317.49 points or 1.63% after trading in a range of 19846.44 and 19,583.97. There were only 27 stocks advancing against 3 declines on the index.

The broader indices were too trading in green; the BSE Mid and Small cap indices were trading up by 1.41% and 0.77% respectively.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 4.14%, Bankex up by 2.55%, IT up by 2.37%, Capital Goods up by 2.31% and TECK up by 2.25% while, FMCG down by 0.73% remained the only losing index on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Sesa Goa up by 8.63%, Tata Steel up by 4.64%, TCS up by 4.08%, Hindalco Industries up by 3.84% and Tata Power up 3.65%. On the flip side, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.52%, ITC down by 1.28% and NTPC down by 0.07% were the only losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, concerned over the declining share of Indian Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) in the global market, the MSME ministry has suggested such enterprises, especially start ups, to adopt innovative technologies in production in order to make them globally competitive.

MSME Secretary Madhav Lal, said that there is need to work within certain frameworks and policies as the MSME sector has been witnessing a slow growth phase with its share of exports falling from 40 percent to 36 percent now. On the other hand, countries such as China have been increasing their share consistently on the back of their superior global competitiveness. By adding further, Madhav Lal said that MSME is of the view that global competitiveness in MSME firms can be achieved only through well thought frameworks, therefore the ministry is presently working on those mechanisms to tackle the issues of innovation in these firms.

The MSME sector contributes around 8% of the country's GDP, 45% of the manufactured output and provides employment to over 8 crore persons engaged in over 3.6 crore units. Meanwhile, the government has been taking steps to boost the sector’s growth. In the 12th Five-Year Plan, the government has increased Budget allocation for the sector to Rs 24,000 crore from Rs 11,000 crore in the previous five-plan period. Further, it has also set up a six-member inter-ministerial panel, which will suggest measures to boost the MSME exports.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 5,889.45, up by 109.40 points or 1.89% after trading in a range of 5,893.25 and 5,802.70. There were 47 stocks advancing against 2 declines while 1 stock remained unchanged on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were Sesa Goa up by 8.53%, JP Associate up by 6.15%, Axis Bank up by 6.05%, Ambuja Cement up by 5.17% and UltraTech Cement up by 4.86%. On the flip side, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.49% and ITC down by 1.44% remained the only losers on the index.

Most of the Asian equity indices were trading in green; Jakarta Composite up by 0.46%, Taiwan Weighted up by 1.73%, Hang Seng up by 1.00% and KLSE Composite up by 0.10%, while Nikki 225 down by 0.09% and Straits Times down by 0.23% were the only losers.

Shanghai Stock Market will remain close from October 1 on account of National Day and will open for trading on October 8. Seoul Composite was closed on account of National Foundation Day.

The European markets were trading on a mixed note; France’s CAC 40 was down 0.23%, Germany’s DAX added 0.01% and UK’s FTSE 100 jumped 0.26%.