Benchmarks add gains; Nifty above 6250 mark

Indian equities added gains to continue firm trade in the late afternoon session on account of buying in frontline blue chip counters. Investors have however maintained caution ahead of release of April-January fiscal deficit figures and Oct-Dec quarter GDP data scheduled later in the session. Traders were seen piling positions in HealthCare, Capital Goods and Metal stocks, while selling was witnessed in Consumer Durables, Power and FMCG sector. In scrip specific development, Tech Mahindra and United Spirits were trading in green on inclusion in the benchmark NSE index Nifty effective from March 28. Jaiprakash Power Ventures was trading firm on expectations that it could soon strike a $2-billion deal to sell two power plants to a group led by Abu Dhabi National Energy Company. Maruti Suzuki India dropped on the bourses over investor concerns regarding its Gujarat plant.

On the global front, the Asian markets were trading mostly 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 6,250 and 21,000 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was negative in the ratio of 1217:1280 while 158 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 21062.95, up by 75.96 points or 0.36% after trading in a range of 21,120.25 and 20,989.66. There were 17 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were too trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.35%, while Small cap index up by 0.16%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were HealthCare up by 1.91%, Capital Goods up by 1.18%, Metal up by 0.92%, PSU up by 0.92% and IT up by 0.88%. While, Consumer Durables down by 0.72%, Power down by 0.31%, FMCG down by 0.26%, Oil & Gas down by 0.23% and Realty down by 0.23% were the only losing indices on BSE.   

The top gainers on the Sensex were Hindalco Industries up by 6.61%, Tata Motors up by 4.01%, TCS up by 3.56%, ONGC up by 2.84% and BHEL up by 2.31%. On the flip side, Maruti Suzuki down by 4.80%, NTPC down by 2.16%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.89%, RIL down by 1.85% and Wipro down by 1.80%.

Meanwhile, the agriculture dependent population in India grew by 50% during 1980-2011, highest for any country during this period, followed by China with 33 per cent, as per the latest report of the Worldwatch Institute. However, the share of agriculture sector in Indian economy has declined to around 14 percent in 2012-13 on account of structural changes due to a shift from a traditional agrarian economy to industry and service sectors.

On the other hand, the report highlighted that economically active agricultural population of the US declined by 37 percent on the back of improved crop varieties, fertilisers, pesticides, and federal subsidies, contributing significantly to economies of scale and consolidation in US agriculture. The global agricultural dependent population includes individuals dependent on agriculture, hunting, fishing, and forestry for their livelihood accounted for over 37 per cent of the world’s population. Meanwhile, there is a decrease of 12 percent from 1980, when world’s agricultural and non-agricultural populations were roughly in same size. However, the world’s population grew numerically from 2.2 billion to 2.6 billion people during this period, the report highlighted.

As per the Worldwatch Institute report, Africa's agricultural population between 1980 and 2011 grew by 63 percent, and its non-agricultural population grew by 221 percent. Asia's agricultural population grew by 20 percent, and its nonagricultural population grew by 134 percent, while, Oceania's agricultural population grew by 49 percent, and its nonagricultural population grew by 65 percent, it said. Agriculture dependent population in Europe and Americas has declined in the reported period due to factors like movement of people towards cities and agricultural consolidation.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 6,253.65, up by 14.85 points or 0.24% after trading in a range of 6,274.25 and 6,228.10. There were 27 stocks advancing against 23 declining on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were Hindalco up by 6.96%, JP Associates up by 3.83%, Tata Motors up by 3.81%, TCS up by 3.57% and ONGC up by 3.05%. On the flip side, Maruti Suzuki down by 5.01%, NTPC down by 2.30%, HUL down by 2.07% Ranbaxy down by 2.04%, and RIL down by 2.00% were the major losers on the index.

The Asian equity indices were trading mostly in green; Jakarta Composite up by 0.46%, KLSE Composite was up by 0.22%, Seoul Composite up by 0.08%, Shanghai Composite up by 0.44%, Straits Times up by 0.24% and Hang Seng up by 0.04%, while Nikkei 225 down by 0.55% was the only losers amongst Asian pack.

Taiwan Stock Exchange was closed for trade today on account of ‘Peace Memorial Day’ holiday.

The European markets were trading in green; France’s CAC 40 was up 0.15%, Germany’s DAX added 0.34% and UK’s FTSE 100 gained 0.03%.