Market stabilizes after budget jitters; trade in tight range

Markets seems to have digested the announcements made in the interim budget and after the knee-jerk reaction that took the benchmarks in the red terrain momentarily, the markets have once again stabilized trading in a tight range. However, there was some cautiousness related to the receipts of the government and the targets put, that were keeping the market’s upside in check. The sectors that have got some sops in the budget are showing upmove otherwise there is not much reaction in the markets to the budget. The broader markets too have lost their strength and are trading in red. Though, the regional peers have fared quiet well, the marketmen seems to be waiting for European markets for further direction. Sectorally, Power, auto, healthcare, IT and FMCG stocks were keeping the markets in green, while metal, oil & gas and consumer durables were exerting maximum pressure. On scrip specific movement, Tata Power has gained momentum as President’s Rule was imposed in Delhi after Arvind Kejriwal resigned from the chief minister’s post.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 20431.97, up by 65.15 points or 0.32% after trading in a range of 20481.76 and 20338.95. There were 18 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.38%, while Small cap index was lower by 0.15%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were, Power up by 0.58%, Bankex up by 0.49%, Healthcare up by 0.47%, Auto up by 0.31% and IT was up by 0.25%. While, Metal down by 1.32%, Oil & Gas down by 0.92%, Realty down by 0.84%, Consumer Durables down by 0.84% and Capital Goods down by 0.18% were the top losing indices on BSE.   

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Power up by 4.81%, Dr Reddy’s up by 2.08%, Hero MotoCorp up by 1.79%, HDFC up by 1.67% and HDFC Bank was up by 1.44%. On the flip side,Hindalco down by 1.45%, RIL down by 1.40%, Coal India down by 1.36%, BHEL down by 0.74% and Tata Steel down by 0.53% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, thwarting hopes of any early easing in restrictions to the gold imports, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has barred nominated banks and agencies from importing the precious metal in excess of their entitlements in first or second lot under the 80:20 schemes. As per RBI’s latest notification, import of gold in the third lot onwards should be lesser of the two-five times the export for which proof has been submitted or quantity of gold permitted to a nominated agency in the first or second lot.

Previously, the government under the 80:20 scheme in August 14, 2013, allowed nominated agencies to import gold, provided that 20 per cent of the inward shipment will be exported and the permission to import the next lot was granted only on the fulfillment of these export obligations.

However, in case of advance authorization (AA) and duty free authorization (DFIA) for gold import issued before August 14, 2013, RBI underscored that the 80:20 rule was not applicable for units in Special Economic Zones (SEZs), Export Oriented Units (EoUs), Premier and Star Trading Houses.

Earlier, the government in order to contain rising gold import, had hiked import duty on gold thrice in 2013 to a total of 10%. While, the RBI rolled out certain restrictions, including the 80:20 scheme for imports.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 6,058.80, up by 10.45 points or 0.17% after trading in a range of 6,079.35 and 6,038.30. There were 20 stocks advancing against 27 declining ones, while 3 remained unchanged on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were Tata Power up by 4.81%, Dr reddy up by 2.22%, HDFc up by 1.69%, Hero MotoCorp up by 1.61% and HDFC Bank was up by 1.22%. On the flip side, NMDC down by 4.43%, JP Associates down by 1.92%, Coal India down by 1.84%, PNB down by 1.81% and Hindalco down by 1.70% were the major losers on the index.

All the Asian equity indices were trading in green; Shanghai Composite added 0.92%, Hang Seng increased by 0.92%, Jakarta Composite surged 1.06, KLSE Composite gained 0.45%, Nikkei 225 gained 0.56%, Straits Times was up by 1.03%. Seoul Composite rose 0.31% and Taiwan Weighted was up by 0.07%.