Benchmarks trim gains; trade continues in green

Indian equities trimmed minor gains but continued to trade in green in the late afternoon session on account of profit booking in frontline counters. The market took note of Economic Affairs Secretary Arvind Mayaram statement that the government is taking measures to give momentum to the growth process, which was affected by the global financial crisis in 2008. Traders were seen piling positions in Capital Goods, Bankex and FMCG stocks. In scrip specific development, Amara Raja Batteries was trading in green after touching 52-week high on the back of strong quarterly results. The company's adjusted net profit for the quarter ended September 2013 surged to Rs 94.6 crore, up 24% as compared to a net profit of Rs 76.6 crore in the corresponding quarter last fiscal. Natco Pharma continued its rally for another trading session after reporting strong second quarter numbers and winning of patent battle against Teva last week. Hanung Toys and Textiles was locked at lower circuit limit after the company reported dismal performance in second quarter.

On the global front, all the Asian markets were trading in green barring Nikkei 225 while the European markets were trading on pessimistic note. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading above their psychological 6,100 and 20,700 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was positive in the ratio of 1324:999 while 114 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 20709.84, up by 310.42 points or 1.52% after trading in a range of 20757.21 and 20570.59. There were 24 stocks advancing against 6 declining stocks on the index.

The broader indices continue to hold their early gains; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.93% while Small cap index gained 0.73%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Capital Goods up by 2.38%, Bankex up by 1.95%, FMCG up by 1.82%, Oil & Gas up by 1.63% and Realty up by 1.43% while there were no losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were L&T up by 2.96%, ITC up by 2.78%, HDFC Bank up by 2.74%, ONGC up by 2.48% and Tata Steel up 1.92%. On the flip side, SSLT down by 0.99%, Dr. Reddy’s Lab down by 0.86%, Tata Power down by 0.83%, Coal India down by 0.77% and Cipla down by 0.52% were the major losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, in a move to improve the quality of information to shareholders by removing large-scale discrepancies found in the mandatory financial and other corporate disclosures made by listed companies, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) is likely to issue guidelines soon on corporate disclosure requirements, which require timely disclosure of corporate governance reports such as shareholding data and other financial information.

A majority of the firms have been found to be non- compliant on multiple fronts with around 1,150 listed companies found to be violating model regulations for disclosing key details such as quarterly and annual financial results, while over 1,000 companies failed to comply with disclosure rules related to shareholding pattern.

Meanwhile, SEBI is taking a lot of measures to develop Indian financial markets. SEBI is planning to issue new set of guidelines soon to amend the present stock exchange listing agreement, following the recent changes made to the Companies Act. It will also soon notify new regulations for listing of start-ups and small and medium enterprises (SME) on stock exchanges without making an initial public offer (IPO) to develop fund-raising capabilities of such companies by providing better visibility, wider investor base and easier exit options for entities such as Angel Investors, Venture Capital Funds and Private Equities. Furthermore, the market regulator has also relaxed the norms for primary issuance of debt securities by companies.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 6,143.15, up by 87.00 points or 1.44% after trading in a range of 6,158.35 and 6,110.40. There were 36 stocks advancing against 12 declining on the index, while 2 shares remained unchanged.

The top gainers of the Nifty were JP Associates up 3.41%, L&T up by 3.18%, ITC up by 2.73%, HDFC Bank up by 2.71% and ONGC up by 2.48%. On the flip side, Dr. Reddy’s Lab down by 1.12%, NMDC down by 1.06%, Coal India down by 0.98%, SSLT down by 0.97% and Grasim Industries down by 0.73% were the major losers on the index.

Most of the Asian equity indices were trading in green; Shanghai Composite up by 2.87%, Taiwan Weighted up by 0.18%, Seoul Composite up by 0.26%, KLSE Composite up by 0.20%, Straits Times up by 0.16%, Hang Seng up by 2.73%, and Jakarta Composite up by 0.91%. While, Nikkei 225 down by 0.01% was the lone loser.

The European markets were trading in red; France’s CAC 40 was down 0.22%, Germany’s DAX lost 0.16% and UK’s FTSE 100 dropped 0.01%.