Benchmarks cool from day’s high point on profit-booking

Local bourses, after soaring to day’s high point, have pared some of its early gains on account of some profit-booking at higher levels. However, the overall sentiment continues to remain positive despite a negative start, due to rally of blue chip stocks, viz, ITC, TCs, Wipro, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank, among others. Shrugging aside negative Asian peers, local equities although made good its losses in early deals, its strong momentum now could fade away in absence of any significant positive triggers. In the high volume session of trade, Sensex and Nifty are trading above the crucial 21,100 and 6,250 levels respectively, with gains of over quarter of a percent. So far, trade of over Rs 1 lac crore has been transacted. Meanwhile, broader indices too following larger peers have trimmed some of their gains.

On the global front, Asian stock markets were lackluster Monday with Wall Street closed for a long weekend and  China's economic growth slowing. China's economy grew 7.7 per cent in the quarter through December, down from 7.8 per cent the previous quarter. For the full year, the economy expanded 7.7 per cent, tying 2012 for the weakest performance since the 1990s

Closer home, stocks from Information Technology, Auto and banking counters were witnessing strong demand, while those from Oil & Gas, Metal and Realty counters were the top laggards of the session. In stock-specific action, while Wipro extended initial gains and hit 52-week high on good Q3 result, Reliance Industries shares fall 1.1% after the company's October-December quarter profit, out on Friday, when adjusted for other income, was seen lagging expectations. The overall market breadth on BSE is in the favour of advances which have thumped declines in the ratio of 1224:1046; while 144 shares remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 21137.07, up by 73.45 points or 0.35% after trading in a range of 21,209.57 and 21,001.13. There were 16 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices too pared some early gains; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.47%, while Small cap index up by 0.51%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 1.74%, Teck up by 1.49%, Auto up by 0.91%, FMCG up by 0.48% and Bankex up by 0.35%. While, Oil and Gas down by 0.93%, Metal down by 0.57%, Realty down by 0.28%, Capital Goods down by 0.27% and PSU down by 0.23% were the  top losing indices on BSE.  

The top gainers on the Sensex were Wipro up by 4.01%, TCS up by 3.34%, M&M up by 1.27%, Tata Motors up by 1.18%, and Hindalco Inds up by 1.17%. On the flip side, RIL down by 1.70%, Tata Steel down by 1.30%, Tata Power down by 1.21%, SSLT down by 1.10% and Hindustan Unilever Bank down by 0.72%.

Meanwhile, the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) has proposed allowing subscribers of National Pension System (NPS) to withdraw up to 25 per cent of accumulated funds. The PFRDA has now sought public comments on draft guidelines till February 15.

As per the proposal guidelines, the withdrawal amount will be treated as partial withdrawal and will use for meeting medical treatment expenses, higher education of children, marriage of daughters and house purchase. However, partial withdrawal is allowed only after 10 years of contribution by the subscriber. Furthermore, the subscriber cannot withdraw more than 25 per cent of the contribution made by them. Presently, partial withdrawals are not permitted and NPS subscriber had to completely exit the scheme for withdrawal before maturity. Referring to frequency of withdrawal, the proposal noted that the subscriber will be allowed to withdraw for maximum 3 times and there should be a gap of at least 5 years between two withdrawals.

The National Pension System (NPS) is a defined contribution based pension system launched by Government of India (GoI) with effect from 1 January 2004. The scheme is a long-term, retirement savings product that accumulates and generates maximum pension wealth. NPS is mandatory for all government employees who joined services after April, 2004 and is also open to private sector.   

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 6,283.80, up by 22.15 points or 0.35% after trading in a range of 6,304.95 and 6,243.35. There were 27 stocks advancing against 23 declining on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were Wipro up by 3.92%, TCS up by 3.51%, HCL Tech up by 2.48%, Hindalco up by 1.44% and ITC up by 1.28%. On the flip side, NMDC down by 1.79%, Reliance down by 1.68%, Tata Steel down by 1.51%, Asian Paints down by 1.25% and Grasim  down by 1.22% were the major losers on the index.

Most of the Asian equity indices were trading in red; Seoul Composite up by 0. 48%, Taiwan Weighted up by 0.30%, Jakarta Composite up by 0.09%. While, Shanghai Composite down by 0.64%, KLSE Composite down by 0.34%, Nikkei 225 down by 0.59%, Straits Times down by 0.52% and Hang Seng down by 0.83%.