Benchmarks add gains; Nifty above 6200 mark

Indian equities added gains to continue firm trade in the late afternoon session on account of buying in front line counters. The sentiments were on positive mood despite UN’s report that lowered the growth forecast for 2014 to 5.3 percent from 6.5 percent earlier and project 5.7 percent economic growth by 2015. It has trimmed Indian economy's growth forecast to 4.8 percent for 2013. The sentiments got a boost on news that foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought Rs 2,264 crores ($364.4 million) worth of Indian shares on Thursday, confounding fears of foreign selling after the US Federal Reserve decided to modestly trim its bond-buying stimulus. Traders were seen piling positions in Realty, Oil & Gas and Auto stocks while selling was witnessed in Capital Goods sector stocks. In scrip specific development, Reliance Industries was trading in green after CCEA allowed the company to sell KG-D6 block gas at a higher price with effect from April 2014.

On the global front, the Asian markets were trading on a mixed note, while the European markets were too trading mixed.  Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading above their psychological 6,200 and 20,900 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was positive in the ratio of 1401:915 while 138 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 20907.22, up by 198.60 points or 0.96% after trading in a range of 20953.08 and 20745.94. There were 25 stocks advancing against only 5 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were too trading in green; with BSE Mid cap and Small cap indices trading up by 1.39% and 0.94% respectively.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 2.18%, Oil & Gas up by 2.10%, Auto up by 1.76%, PSU up by 1.37% and Information Technology up by 1.19%. While, Capital Goods down by 0.08% was the sole loser on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ONGC up by 2.70%, Wipro up by 2.37%, RIL up by 2.16%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.06% and Hindustan Unilever up by 1.79%. On the flip side, SSLT down by 0.95%, Sun Pharma down by 0.91%, Jindal Steel down by 0.71%, L&T down by 0.60% and Bharti Airtel down by 0.46% were the top losers on the index.

Meanwhile, in a move to enhance the capital inflows into the country, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has allowed the overseas entities to use complex multi-fund structures such as multi-class share vehicle (MCV) or protected cell companies (PCCs) in order to invest in India. SEBI has noted that overseas entities can use complex multi-fund structures, if they want such models owing to the regulations in their home country and are ready to provide details of actual beneficiary of funds.

The market regulator has taken the initiative to relax the rules after representations made by the investors that necessary safeguards can be put in place against any abuse of such structures. SEBI in its circular highlighted that an FII seeking registration in India with MCV and PCCs structures would not be considered to have an 'opaque' structure if it is required by its regulator. This would be subject to certain conditions, including entities being regulated by their home jurisdiction, each fund/sub-fund of the entity satisfying broad based criteria and the entity should provide information regarding its beneficial owners as and when sought by SEBI.

Amid rising fears over the possible round-tripping or money laundering activities, SEBI, in 2010, had prohibited foreign entities using complex structures like PCCs and MTV. PCCs designed entities might comprise of various cells, having funds of various investors, in such a manner that there is legal segregation and protection of assets and liabilities for each cell.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 6,225.05, up by 58.40 points or 0.95% after trading in a range of 6,237.40 and 6,170.35. There were 41 stocks advancing against 9 declining on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were Cairn India up by 2.80%, ONGC up by 2.69%, Wipro up by 2.52%, DLF up by 2.24% and Reliance Industries up by 2.21%. On the flip side, SSLT down by 1.05%, Sun Pharma down by 0.86%, L&T down by 0.69%, Grasim Industries down by 0.66% and Bharti Airtel down by 0.51% were the major losers on the index.

The Asian equity indices were trading mixed; Nikkei 225 up by 0.07%,Seoul Composite up by 0.39%, Taiwan Weighted up by 0.01% and Straits Times up by 0.72%. While, Hang Seng down by 0.33%, Jakarta Composite down by 1.03%, KLSE Composite down by 0.44% and Shanghai Composite down by 2.02%.

The European markets were trading on a mixed note; France’s CAC 40 was down 0.01%, Germany’s DAX added 0.23% and UK’s FTSE 100 lost 0.07%.