Benchmarks add minor gains; Metal, FMCG push higher

Indian equities added minor gains to continue their firm trade in green in the late afternoon session on account of buying in frontline counters. The sentiments were on upbeat mood after Standard & Poor's Ratings Services stated that Indian companies are improving their credit profiles by selling equity and assets, or using free operating cash flows to reduce debt. Traders were seen piling positions in Metal, FMCG and Bankex stocks, while selling was witnessed in IT, TECK and PSU sector stocks. In scrip specific development, hectic activity was witnessed in IT sector stocks after TCS honchos turned cautious about the company’s prospects in Q4 of the current fiscal. Orchid Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals continued its firm trade after the Corporate Debt Restructuring Empowered Group approved the debt restructuring package of the company. Polaris Financial Technology was locked at upper circuit limit, in addition to up move in previous session after the company announced demerger of its products business into an independent entity.

On the global front, the Asian markets were trading mostly 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 21,800 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was positive in the ratio of 1378:1224 while 159 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 21,857.94 up by 25.33 points or 0.12% after trading in a range of 21895.83 and 21795.94. There were 19 stocks advancing against 11 declines on the index.

The broader indices were outperforming the benchmarks; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.48% and Small cap index gained 0.51%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on BSE were, Metal up by 2.35%, FMCG up by 0.77%, Bankex up by 0.75%, Power up by 0.62% and HealthCare up by 0.59%, while IT down by 1.78%, TECK down by 1.21%, PSU down by 0.44%, Auto down by 0.22% and Oil & Gas down by 0.12% were the top losers on the sectoral index.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Hindalco Industries up by 4.22%, Tata Steel up by 4.17%, SSLT up by 2.87%, Axis Bank up by 1.99% and Bharti Airtel up by 1.73%. On the flip side, TCS down by 3.61%, ONGC down by 2.45%, M&M down by 2.00%, Infosys down by 1.65% and Coal India down by 1.61% were the top losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, concerned over the increasing legal expenses as many of its orders getting challenged in tribunal and courts, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) will soon consider a proposal to recover legal expenses incurred in such litigations from penalties imposed by it on defaulters before crediting the amount to the government's coffers. Over the past three financial years, capital markets regulator has incurred average litigation expenditure in the range of Rs 4-5 crore per annum, however, such expenses are expected to be much higher in the current fiscal year.

Further, SEBI may also consider charging 'processing fees' for various service requests from market intermediaries, companies and stock exchanges as most of the services are being provided free by SEBI in spite of bearing significant cost of such matters. However, fees are not proposed on investor complaints, in accordance with the processing time, cost and procedures involved. 

The proposal, which is based on recommendations made by a Committee on Rationalisation of Financial Resources (CRFR) is likely to be considered by SEBI board later this week. The proposal has been made to enhance SEBI's financial resources to help it meet expenses for its various regulatory and investor-centric activities.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 6,530.35 up by 13.70 points or 0.21% after trading in a range of 6,541.20 and 6,506.00. There were 35 stocks advancing against 15 declines on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were Tata Steel up by 4.31%, Hindalco Industries up by 4.18%, SSLT up by 2.78%, Ambuja Cement up by 2.39% and ACC was up by 2.13%. On the flip side, TCS down by 3.62%, ONGC down by 2.54%, M&M down by 1.94%, Coal India down by 1.70% and Infosys down by 1.66% were the top losers on the index.

The Asian equity indices were trading mostly in red; Shanghai Composite was down by 0.17%, Hang Seng down by 0.07%, KLSE Composite was lower by 0.19%, Straits Times lost 0.56%, Seoul Composite declined by 0.13% and Taiwan Weighted was down by 0.49%. On the other hand Jakarta Composite gained 0.37% and Nikkei 225 was up by 0.36%.

The European markets were trading on a mixed note; France’s CAC 40 was down 0.33%, Germany’s DAX added 0.04% and UK’s FTSE 100 slipped 0.24%.