Benchmarks continue firm trade in late afternoon session

Indian equities continued firm trade in the late afternoon session on account of buying in frontline counters. Traders were seen piling positions in IT, TECK and FMCG stocks while selling was witnessed in Oil & Gas, Metal and PSU sector stocks. In scrip specific development, Wipro was trading firm touching fresh 52-week high after India’s third-largest software services provider reported a 27% rise in net profit for the quarter ended December 31. Power Grid Corporation of India was trading in green as Goldman Sachs initiated coverage on Indian power companies with a buy rating on the stock, saying the sector could benefit from recent reforms, although the magnitude of power tariff hikes could be the biggest risk. On the global front, the Asian markets were trading mostly in red, while the European markets were too trading on pessimistic note. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading below their psychological 6,300 and 21,200 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was negative in the ratio of 1218:1242 while 153 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 21131.34, up by 67.72 points or 0.32% after trading in a range of 21,209.57 and 21,001.13. There were 14 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were too trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.48%, while Small cap index up by 0.49%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 2.26%, TECK up by 1.93%, FMCG up by 0.61%, Auto up by 0.56% and Bankex up by 0.30%. While, Oil and Gas down by 1.21%, Metal down by 0.79%, PSU down by 0.31%, Capital Goods down by 0.30% and Realty down by 0.12% were the top losing indices on BSE.  

The top gainers on the Sensex were TCS up by 4.55%, Wipro up by 3.50%, ITC up by 1.25%, M&M up by 1.21% and BHEL up by 1.08%. On the flip side, RIL down by 1.84%, Tata Steel down by 1.71%, Coal India down by 1.23%, Tata Power down by 1.08% and Sun Pharma down by 1.04%.

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 24 stocks advancing against 25 declining ones while 1 stock remained unchanged on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were TCS up by 4.71%, HCL Tech up by 3.49%, Wipro up by 3.42%, IndusInd Bank up by 1.42% and ITC up by 1.26%. On the flip side, NMDC down by 2.20%, Reliance Industries down by 1.83%, Tata Steel down by 1.77%, Bank of Baroda down by 1.33% and Tata Power down by 1.15% were the major losers on the index.

Most of the Asian equity indices were trading in red; Shanghai Composite down by 0.68%, KLSE Composite down by 0.21%, Nikkei 225 down by 0.59%, Straits Times down by 0.57% and Hang Seng down by 0.88%. While, Seoul Composite was up 0.48%, Taiwan Weighted up by 0.30% and Jakarta Composite up by 0.45%.

The European markets were trading in red; France’s CAC 40 was down 0.09%, Germany’s DAX lost 0.49% and UK’s FTSE 100 dropped 0.09%.