Firm trade prevails; Sensex holds 20400 mark

Indian equities continued firm trade in the late afternoon session on account of buying in frontline blue chip counters and taking cues from global counterparts. The sentiments were on positive note from early trades after US Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen suggested that there would be no major change in the central bank’s policy. Investors have now started eyeing the crucial December industrial production data scheduled late evening while they took note of CII report which stated that trade deficit has narrowed but export growth needs immediate booster. Traders were seen piling positions in Capital Goods, Oil & Gas and Bankex stocks, while selling was witnessed in Metal, FMCG and Realty sector. Hectic activity was witnessed in railway stocks after Railway Minister Mallikarjun Kharge presented UPA II’s last Rail Budget in Parliament, which did not provide any impetus. In scrip specific development, OnMobile Global was trading firm on its fund raising plans. The mobile value-added solutions provider is planning to raise Rs 47.6 crore through an open offer by diluting 10.03% stake.

On the global front, the Asian markets were trading in green, while the European markets were too trading on optimistic note. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading above their psychological 6,050 and 20,400 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was neutral in the ratio of 1198:1196 while 154 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 20457.82, up by 94.45 points or 0.46% after trading in a range of 20516.60 and 20429.83.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.17%, while Small cap index gained 0.19%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Capital Goods up by 1.40%, Oil & Gas up by 1.29%, Bankex up by 0.99%, PSU up by 0.53% and IT up by 0.53%. While, Metal down by 1.45%, FMCG down by 0.69%, Realty down 0.31%, HealthCare down 0.28% and Power down by 0.19% were the only losing indices on the BSE.   

The top gainers on the Sensex were ICICI Bank up by 2.67%, ONGC up by 2.47%, Gail India up by 2.08%, RIL up by 1.68% and L&T up by 1.58%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 3.72%, Dr. Reddy’s Lab down by 1.90%, SSLT down by 1.53%, Tata Power down by 1.19% and Hindalco Industries down by 1.19%.

Meanwhile, a Parliamentary panel, headed by senior BJP leader and former finance minister Yashwant Sinha has rejected the bill on micro finance institutions, which sought to empower the Reserve Bank as the regulator, by giving it the authority to fix interest rates ceiling on loans to be provided by MFIs.

The committee, which was not in favour of the draft legislation to regulate MFIs, will soon submit its report on the bill to the Parliament. The bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha in May, 2012 and was later referred to the committee for perusal.

The bill, which was drafted against the backdrop of problems faced by borrowers of MFIs in Andhra Pradesh and other states, provides for compulsory registration of MFIs with the RBI and is most likely to be lapse with dissolution of House.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 6,085.70, up by 23.00 points or 0.38% after trading in a range of 6,106.60 and 6,080.35. There were 28 stocks advancing against 22 declining ones on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were ICICI Bank up by 2.67%, ONGC up by 2.48%, Gail India up by 1.98%, Reliance Industries up by 1.76% and HCL Tech up by 1.35%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 3.68%, Cairn India down by 2.91%, Dr. Reddy’s Lab down by 2.01%, Asian Paint down by 1.69% and Ranbaxy down by 1.55% were the major losers on the index.

The Asian equity indices were trading in green; Shanghai Composite up 0.84%, Hang Seng spurted 1.47%, KLSE Composite added 0.44%, Jakarta Composite gained 0.44%, Nikkei 225 increased by 1.77%, Straits Times strengthened by 0.39%, Seoul Composite rose 0.46% and Taiwan Weighted was up 0.46%.

The European markets were trading in green; France’s CAC 40 was up 0.27%, Germany’s DAX added 0.49% and UK’s FTSE 100 gained 0.13%.