Benchmarks add gains; Sensex hovering near 22000 mark

Indian equities added gains to continue their trade in green in the late afternoon session on account of buying in frontline blue chip counters. The sentiments were in positive mood on reports that Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) are building up long positions in NSE futures across indexes, which is an indication they could be betting on a sustained record-setting gain. The gains were however capped as surprisingly weak Chinese trade data rattled investors already on edge over the crisis in Ukraine. Traders were seen piling positions in Capital Goods, Realty and Oil & Gas stocks while selling was witnessed in IT, TECK and HealthCare sector stocks. In scrip specific development, Hotel Leelaventure was trading in green after Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Company, the renowned buyout firm widen its money-lending activity in India, by possibly lending as much as Rs 2,000 crore to the company against two prime properties. Ranbaxy Laboratories was trading in red after the drug maker recalled the generic version of Lipitor. The company withdrew 64,626 bottles of atorvastatin calcium from the US market after a product complaint was received by a pharmacist.

On the global front, the Asian markets were trading in red, while the European markets were trading on a mixed note. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading above their psychological 6,500 and 21,900 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was positive in the ratio of 1319:1304 while 168 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 21944.97, up by 25.18 points or 0.11% after trading in a range of 22,005.54 and 21805.22. 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 0.41%, while Small cap index gained 0.64%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Capital Goods up by 2.66%, Realty up by 2.38%, Oil & Gas up by 2.01%, Bankex up by 1.46% and PSU up by 1.00%. While, IT down by 2.40%, TECK down by 1.60%, HealthCare down by 1.39%, Metal down by 0.89%  and Consumer Durables down by 0.60% were the losing indices on BSE.   

The top gainers on the Sensex were Maruti Suzuki up by 3.81%, BHEL up by 3.62%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.84%, L&T up by 2.71% and RIL up by 2.70%. On the flip side, Tata Motors down by 3.18%, TCS down by 3.15%, Infosys down by 2.55%, Hindalco Industries down by 2.17% and Sun Pharma down by 2.10%.

Meanwhile, amid rising expectation of a coalition government post the general elections, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) President S Gopalakrishnan has asserted that a consensus across political parties on key issues such as policy implementation and job creation would remain pivotal for economic growth in future. Expressing the need for stable government, CII President stressed that irrespective of the political party that comes to power, stability for at least a five-year term would help in economic development and job creation in the country.

CII President S Gopalakrishnan further added that immediate priorities for the new government would include creation of such an economic condition that drives job creation, formulation of the right policy and implementation of these policies.

The CII, in its recently released survey on economic growth, had highlighted political uncertainty as the biggest concern for growth and expects Indian economy’s growth to be in the range of 4.5 to 5 percent during the second half of the current fiscal year. CII survey noted that although domestic economy may have already bottomed out in the previous quarter, the recovery process is on sluggish mode and the factors like growth uncertainty, high food inflation, and rising borrowing costs have been impeding consumer demand in the country. The CII had also suggested the government to take necessary steps to improve investment climate in the country and boost domestic demand.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 6,532.45, up by 5.80 points or 0.09% after trading in a range of 6,548.75 and 6,487.35. There were 28 stocks advancing against 22 declining ones on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were IDFC up by 6.14%, IndusInd Bank up by 5.61%, Maruti up by 3.92%, Kotak Bank up by 3.58% and BHEL up by 3.49%. On the flip side, Tata Motors down by 3.19%, TCS down by 3.18%, HCL TECH down by 3.01%, Infosys down by 2.52% and NMDC down by 2.31% were the major losers on the index.

Asian equity indices were trading in red; Nikkei 225 down by 1.01%, Hang Seng plunged by 1.75%, Straits Times dropped by 0.44%, Shanghai Composite plummeted 2.86%, Jakarta Composite slid 0.29%, KLSE Composite lost by 0.49%, KOSPI Composite Index was down 1.03% and Taiwan Weighted was down by 0.56%.

The European markets were trading on a mixed note; France’s CAC 40 was up 0.45%, Germany’s DAX lost 0.31% and UK’s FTSE 100 gained 0.10%.