Benchmarks climb near day’s high; European markets’ opening eyed

Within reach of record highs, Indian equity markets adding more ground are now trading near day’s high level, with both Sensex and Nifty comfortably cruising past the crucial 21,900 and 6,500 levels respectively, with gains of close to half a percent. Meanwhile, broader indices too following suite are up in the range of 0.30%-0.50%. Surprisingly, the gains of local equity markets are especially ahead of release of key economic data, viz IIP and CPI, later in the evening. On the macro-front, while retail inflation is expected to ease further to a 25-month low of 8.35 percent in February from 8.79 percent in January on moderating vegetable prices, industrial output is expected to post a fourth straight fall in January, in a longest phase of contraction that Indian factories have suffered in more than five years.

However, somber opening of European markets could pressurize the sentiment at home front. On the global front, Asian stocks fell on Wednesday as economic uncertainty in China and the United States combined with political tensions in Ukraine to keep investors cautious and commodities under a dark cloud.

Closer home, bargain-buying in counters which have been beaten blue in previous few sessions, namely Metal,  is mainly aiding the sentiment at Dalal Street. Additionally, defensive buying in FMCG, Healthcare counters is adding to bourses’ gains. On the flip side, Capital Goods, PSU and Power sector are the major pockets of weakness.  Power counter which gained momentum in previous session after Delhi's electricity regulator laid out a plan to pay the utilities for some of the money owed to them by consumers in the Indian capital, were down on profit-booking. In stock specific activities, shares of SpiceJet were flying off the shelf as it announced another sale slashing airfare, The overall market breadth on BSE was in favour of advances which piped declines in the ratio of 1018:784; while 41 shares remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 21919.85, up by 93.43 points or 0.43% after trading in a range of 21,965.95 and 21768.14. There were 19 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices too gained additional ground; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.48%, while Small cap index up by 0.33%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 2.05%, FMCG up by 1.64%, Healthcare up by 1.53%, Metal up by 0.85% and IT up by 0.32%. While, Capital Goods down by 0.82%, PSU down by 0.55%, Power down by 0.31%, Oil & Gas down by 0.25% and Auto down by 0.08%.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Sun Pharma up by 3.67%, ITC up by 2.62%, Hero Motocorp up by 1.83%, ICICI Bank up by 1.34% and Maruti Suzuki up by 1.26%. On the flip side, BHEL down by 1.93%, L&T down by 1.24%, Bajaj Auto down by 1.12%, Tata Motors down by 1.11% and Bharti Airtel down by 1.09% were the top losers on the index.

Meanwhile, in a bid to enhance the investment in green energy sector in India, Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia expressed the need for lifting of restrictions on renewable energy. Highlighting financing a biggest problem for industry, Ahluwalia during a conference on 'Financing Renewable and Energy Efficient Technologies emphasized that firms need to get a revenue model that can be financed.

Referring to need of subsidy for financing energy efficient technologies, Ahluwalia asserted that revenue model should be explicit which can lead the government to pay the subsidy. Regulatory restrictions and other restrictions that affect financing should be more favourable towards green energy related factors. The Secretary of US Department of Energy, Ernest Moniz in the conference, emphasized that rising global warming calls for prudent actions towards clean energy and expressed the need to take prudent actions to pursue the clean energy agenda. The US secretary further acknowledged that there has been tremendous progress in the collaborations of India and US in the field of renewable energy and should be further strengthened.

Currently, it has become imperative for countries like India to invest more in green energy to restrain release of carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels amid concerns over rising temperatures and some extreme weather events. Renewable energy resources like wind, water, solar energy are some of the clean alternatives that will help address the problems of temperature rise.  Meanwhile, the Government has recognized the need to increase the use of renewable energy sources for sustainable energy development and set aggressive renewable energy targets and energy efficiency policies. During the last few years, renewable energy sector growth in India has been significant.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 6,531.75, up by 19.85 points or 0.30% after trading in a range of 6,546.15 and 6,487.30. There were 27 stocks advancing against 23 declining on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were Sun Pharma up by 3.73%, ITC up by 2.53%, Asian Paints up by 2.16%, NMDC up by 1.84% and Hero Motocorp up by 1.76%. On the flip side, BHEL down by 2.14%, IDFC down by 2.12%, Bank of Baroda down by 2.08%, Ultratech Cement down by 1.64% and PNB down by 1.54% were the major losers on the index.

Asian equity indices were trading in red; Nikkei 225 plunged by 2.59%, Hang Seng plummeted 1.60%, Straits Times declined by 0.70%, Shanghai Composite descended by 0.72% , Jakarta Composite lost 0.30% and Taiwan Weighted declined by 0.20%.