Benchmarks hover near day’s high; Nifty holds above 6,200 level

Benchmarks sustaining early gains continue to hover near day’s high level on account of across the board buying activities after IT bellwether Infosys formally began the earning season on optimistic note by reporting better than expected Q3FY14 earnings. The company posted better-than-expected net profit of Rs 2,875 crore on sales of Rs 13,026 crore for the October to December quarter. Nevertheless, much of interest was gathered in the stocks after India's second biggest outsourcer also upped its annual sales outlook, a sign that outsourcing demand is improving in key markets like the US and Europe. Besides, narrower trade deficit data for month of December also bolstered sentiment. On the macro-front, with exports registering growth of 3.49% to $26.35 billion for the month of December, India’s trade deficit narrowed to $10.14 billion in December from $17.59 billion a year earlier. Additionally, most of positive regional counterparts also added to the upside of the bourses. Both, Sensex and Nifty, rallying over 3/ 4 of a percent, were trading above the crucial 20,850 and 6,200 levels respectively. Meanwhile, broader indices too sustained early gains and were up in the range of 0.25-0.50%.

On the global front, Asian share markets were trading mostly higher ever after Chinese trade data proved to be a mixed bag. While China's exports grew a little less than expected at 4.3 per cent in December, from a year earlier, imports easily outpaced forecasts with an increase of 8.3 per cent.

Closer home, amidst across the board buying activities, stocks from Auto, Metal and Power counters were the losers. Meanwhile, strong buying interest was witnessed in stocks from Information Technology, Oil & Gas and Fast Moving Consumer Goods pivotals. Power sector edged lower despite reports suggesting the likelihood of Maharashtra government hiking industrial and commercial power tariffs. On the flip side, splendid gains of Infosys spurred optimistic across the pivotal. Additionally, massive gains of Reliance Industries lifted the oil & Gas sector higher. The overall market breadth on BSE is in the favour of advances which have thumped declines in the ratio of 1091: 698; while 54 shares remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 20861.65, up by 148.28 points or 0.72% after trading in a range of 20902.21 and 20625.17. There were 17 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices sustained their early gains; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.25%, while Small cap index up by 0.57%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 2.19%, Teck up by 1.90%, Oil & Gas up by 1.34%, FMCG up by 0.91% and Capital Goods up by 0.54%. While, Auto down by 0.69%, Metal down by 0.42% and Power down by 0.30% were the only losing indices on BSE.  

The top gainers on the Sensex were Infosys up by 2.89%, Wipro up by 2.08%, RIL up by 1.64%, TCS up by 1.43% and ONGC up by 1.41%. On the flip side, Coal India down by 1.50%, Hindalco Inds down by 1.42%, M&M down by 1.40%, Axis Bank down by 1.10% and Bajaj Auto down by 1.03%.

Meanwhile, with exports registering growth of 3.49% to $26.35 billion for the month of December, India’s trade deficit narrowed to $10.14 billion in December from $17.59 billion a year earlier. Additionally, Imports during the same month contracted by 15.25 percent over at $ 36.49 billion as compared to $43.05 billion in December, 2012.

Cumulatively, the trade deficit for April-December, 2013-14 was estimated at $110.04 billion was lower than the deficit of $146.82 billion during April-December, 2012-13. Meanwhile, cumulative exports for the period April-December 2013 -14 grew by 5.94 percent at $230.33 billion over the corresponding period a year ago. Additionally, cumulative imports shrunk by 6.55 per cent to $ 340.37 billion in the reporting period.

A sharp contraction in imports was witnessed during December on account of decline in non-oil imports, which was 22.9 percent lower at $22.59 billion. Meanwhile, Non-oil imports during April-December, 2013-14 were valued at $215.42 billion, which was 11.1 percent lower than the level of such imports valued at $242.41 billion in the corresponding period in previous year.

With this, Commerce Ministry is confident of meeting the export target of $325 billion this fiscal with most sectors, except some such as pharmaceuticals and gems & jewellery, doing well. Last fiscal, exports fell by 1.82 per cent to $300.4 billion due to a slowdown in global demand. With a recovery in the US and the EU, exports in April-November 2013 stood at $204 billion posting a growth of 6.4 per cent over the same period in the previous year. 

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 6,206.65, up by 38.30 points or 0.62% after trading in a range of 6,222.75 and 6,139.60. There were 28 stocks advancing against 21 declining on the index, while 1 stock remained unchanged.

The top gainers of the Nifty were Infosys up by 2.86%, HCL Technologies were up by 2.08%, Wipro up by 2.05% and Reliance Industries up by 1.76%. On the flip side, Power Grid down by 1.67%, M&M down by 1.60%, Coal India down by 1.42%, Hindalco Inds down by 1.29%, and Bajaj Auto down by 1.18% were the major losers on the index.

The Asian equity indices were trading mostly positive; Nikkei 225 up by 0.20%, Hang Seng up by 0.30%, Taiwan Weighted up by 0.17%, Straits Times inched up by 0.05%  and Jakarta Composite up by 0.68%. While, Shanghai Composite down by 0.69%, KLSE Composite down by 0.09%, and Seoul Composite down by 0.39%.