Firm trade prevails; Metal, Realty push higher

Indian equities continued their firm trade in the late afternoon session on account of buying in frontline counters and taking cues from European counterparts. Investors took note of the RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan statement that the central bank has not yet moved to an inflation target, and was still exploring the suggestions on the subject drafted by a panel with the government. Also, the continuing downturn that has led to a mere 1.5% growth in foreign direct investment (FDI) in January too added some pressure on the bourses. India’s FDI inflow was $2.18 billion whereas it was $2.15 billion in the same period last year. Traders were seen piling positions in Metal, Realty and Consumer Durables stocks, while selling was witnessed in Oil & Gas and FMCG sector stocks. In scrip specific development, IL&FS Engineering and Construction Company was trading firm after the company received a contract for construction of elevated depot com workshop for the Rapid Metro Rail Gurgaon (phase II).

On the global front, the Asian markets were trading mostly in green, while the European markets were too trading on an optimistic note. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading above their psychological 6,450 and 21,700 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was positive in the ratio of 1446:1186 while 150 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 21767.21 up by 27.12 points or 0.12% after trading in a range of 21870.11 and 21729.90. There were 18 stocks advancing against 12 declines on the index.

The broader indices were once again outperforming the benchmarks; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.77%, while the Small cap index has gained 0.78%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on BSE were, Metal up by 2.38%, Realty up by 2.01%, Consumer Durables up by 0.95%, IT up by 0.94% and Power up by 0.91%. On the other hand Oil & Gas down by 1.22% and FMCG down by 0.02% were the only losers on the sectoral front.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Steel up by 3.81%, Wipro up by 3.31%, SSLT up by 3.03%, Axis Bank up by 2.71% and Hindalco Industries up by 2.51%. On the flip side, RIL down by 1.89%, Sun Pharma down by 1.19%, ONGC down by 1.13%, Hero MotoCorp down by 1.06% and NTPC down by 0.69% were the top losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, with strong investor response to the current CPSE-Exchange Traded Fund (ETF), the government is likely to achieve the revised disinvestment target of Rs 16,000 crore for the current fiscal. Buoyed by strong demand from retail and institutional investors, CPSE- ETF, involving the equity shares of ten PSUs, has garnered cumulative bids of over Rs 2,400 crore at the end of third day on March 20. The government aims to garner Rs 3,000 crore from this ETF with the closure of the new fund offer by March 21.

The CPSE-ETF, which will get listed on the stock exchanges on April 11 and can be traded like any stock, consists of a basket of 10 blue-chip public sector enterprises, including Coal India, ONGC, Oil India and IOCL and among other. CPSE-Exchange Traded Fund, which opened for anchor investors. State Bank of India and insurance companies, have already put in Rs 835 crore into this ETF.

The Government had originally planned to raise Rs 30,000 crore through disinvestments during current fiscal, but after stake sale plan with regard to some of the PSUs did not go as planned, it pruned the target to Rs 16,000 crore. Now the government is tapping the ETF route for achieving disinvestment target. The government has so far undertaken two follow-on public offers (FPOs), six offers for sale (OFS) and one buy-back offer besides the present ETF to achieve the disinvestment targets during the current year.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 6,498.60, up by 15.50 points or 0.24% after trading in a range of 6,522.90 and 6,485.70. There were 33 stocks advancing against 17 declines on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were Tata Steel up by 3.80%, SSLT up by 3.30%, Wipro up by 3.09%, Jindal Steel up by 3.00% and DLF up by 2.93%. On the flip side, Reliance Industries down by 1.88%, Asian Paints down by 1.56%, ONGC down by 1.38%, Sun Pharma down by 1.14% and Hero MotoCorp down by 0.96% were the top losers on the index.

Most of the Asian equity indices were trading in green; Shanghai Composite surged by 2.72%, Hang Seng gained by 1.20%, KLSE Composite was up by 0.02%, Straits Times was up by 0.71% and Seoul Composite added 0.80%

On the flip side, Jakarta Composite declined by 0.11% and Taiwan Weighted was down by 0.23%. Japan’s Nikkei 225 was closed for trading on account of ‘Vernal Equinox Day’ holiday.

The European markets were trading in green; France’s CAC 40 was up 0.21%, Germany’s DAX added 0.13% and UK’s FTSE 100 gained 0.09%.