Indian markets make positive start for sixth straight day

Extending their northward journey, Indian equity benchmarks have made a positive start for sixth straight day on Tuesday. Sentiments remained up-beat on report that foreign investors pumped in over Rs 3,000 crore in the past week mainly on hopes of a strong mandate for the government to be elected in polls starting next month. Rally in auto stocks too aided sentiments as  car sales grew marginally by 1.39% in February after witnessing a fall in sales since September last year. Excise cut in the interim budget of February 17, especially in small cars, two wheelers, commercial vehicles, seems to have shown its impact on the sales. Stocks related to infra sector too traded jubilantly in early deals on report that the Centre is planning to build nearly 200 low-cost airports in the next 20 years to expand connectivity to Tier-II and Tier-III cities.

On the global front, the US markets ended marginally lower overnight, though major indices regained some ground over the course of the session in a relatively light day in terms of US economic news. All the Asian markets were trading higher with investors awaiting the conclusion of the Bank of Japan’s policy meeting, though gains remained capped as investors weighed data showing China’s credit growth trailed estimates in February.

Back home, domestic bourses have been scaling fresh lifetime high levels with each passing session after announcement of Lok Sabha polling dates, amidst hopes that business friendly Narendra Modi led government would emerge victorious at General Election 2014. However, gains on the up-side remained capped as investors remained little cautious ahead of industrial output and inflation data, slated to be announced on Wednesday. On the sectoral front software, capital goods and power witnessed the maximum gains in trade, while metal, fast moving consumer goods and oil and gas remained the top losers on the BSE sectoral space. The broader indices too were trading in-line with benchmarks, while the market breadth on the BSE was positive; there were 937 shares on the gaining side against 703 shares on the losing side while 100 shares remain unchanged.

The BSE Sensex opened at 21918.83; about 16 points lower compared to its previous closing of 21934.83, and touched a high and a low of 22012.03 and 21899.38 respectively. The index is currently trading at 21980.52, up by 45.69 points or 0.21%. There were 17 stocks advancing against 13 declines on the index.

The overall market breadth has made a strong start with 53.85% stocks advancing against 40.40% declines. The broader indices too were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index up was by 0.33% and Small cap gained 0.40%. 

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were, IT up by 0.95%, Capital Goods up by 0.83%, Power up by 0.79%, Teck up by 0.63% and Bankex up by 0.59%, while Metal down by 2.06%, FMCG down by 0.46%, Oil & Gas down by 0.29%, Realty down by 0.14% and Healthcare down by 0.08% were the top losers on the sectoral index.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Power up by 3.17%, ICICI Bank up by 2.10%, BHEL up by 1.54%, Wipro up by 1.49% and TCS up by 1.36%. On the flip side, Tata Steel was down by 3.02%, SSLT was down by 2.5083%, Hindalco was down by 1.89%, Mahindra & Mahindra was down by 1.62% and Sun Pharma was down by 1.09% were the top losers on the Sensex.

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 opened at 6,537.35; higher by 0.10 points as compared to its previous closing of 6,537.25, and has touched a high and a low of 6,562.85 and 6,524.45 respectively. The index is currently trading at 6,546.40, up by 9.15 points or 0.14%. There were 25 stocks advancing against 25 declines on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were Tata Power up by 2.59%, ICICI Bank up by 1.99%, IDFC up by 1.74%, TCS up by 1.41% and Wipro up by 1.35%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 3.42%, SSLT down by 2.45%, Hindalco down by 2.38%, NMDC down by 2.06% and Sun Pharma down by 1.73% were the top losers on the index.

The Asian equity indices were trading in green; Shanghai Composite surged by 6.24 points or 0.31% to 2,005.31, Hang Seng increased 48.16 points or 0.22% to 22,313.09, Jakarta Composite jumped by 13.35 points or 0.29% to 4,690.59, KLSE Composite climbed 5.53 points or 0.30% to 1,827.59, Nikkei 225 soared 90.87 points or 0.60% to 15,211.01, Straits Times gained by 14.05 points or 0.45% to 3,140.68, KOSPI Composite strengthened by 2.79 points or 0.14% to 1,957.21 and Taiwan Weighted was up by 23.34 points or 0.27% to 8,688.58.