Markets remain in upbeat mood near all time highs

Indian markets are trading firm near their fresh all time highs, both the major indices are up by over a percent, though some profit booking too has appeared and some metal stocks are witnessing selling pressure after a weak Chinese data. A preliminary purchasing managers’ index of China for March from HSBC Holdings Plc and Markit Economics dropped lower than the estimates to 48.1. However, on the domestic front the traders are resorting to covering shorts with the start of the F&O expiry week. The rate sensitives’s continue to hog the lime light with the report of decline in retail inflation for farm workers and rural labourers. After the drop in CPI and WPI inflation, this may prompt the RBI to keep the rates unchanged if not lowering in its April 1 policy review. RBI will presumably take many variables into account in its April policy, including the direction of food prices, which has been responsible for driving up WPI and CPI in past. Back on street, there was good institutional buying being witnessed in banks, power, oil & gas and realty stocks on the back of supportive cues from global peers. Only, the defensive healthcare along with consumer durables and IT was showing some weakness. The strength in rupee has weighed down the sentiments of the IT stocks.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 22010.64, up by 255.32 points or 1.17% after trading in a range of 22046.58 and 21827.50. There were 25 stocks advancing against 5 declining ones on the index.

The broader indices too were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.23%, while the Small cap index has gained 0.25%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on BSE were, Bankex up by 2.59%, Oil& Gas up by 2.12%, Realty up by 1.21%, Metal was up by 1.12% and Auto was up by 0.87%. On the other hand Healthcare down by 0.38%, Consumer durables down by 0.21% and IT down by 0.19% were the losers on the sectoral front.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ICICI Bank up by 3.66%, ONGC up by 3.64%, Gail India up by 3.58%, Coal India up by 3.09% and HDFC Bank up by 2.12%. On the flip side, NTPC down by 1.22%, Dr Reddy’s down by 0.77%, Infosys down by 0.65%, Sun Pharma down by 0.47% and Wipro down by 0.33% were the top losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, the inflation based on consumer price index (CPI) for agriculture and rural workers eased to 8.14 percent and 8.27 percent in February on y-o-y basis from 9.08 percent and 9.21 percent in January mainly driven by the decrease in prices of food items. Food inflation index of Consumer Price Index-Agriculture Labourers (CPI-AL) and Consumer Price Index-Rural Labourers (CPI-RL) were eased to 6.85 percent and 6.99 percent during the reported month.

India CPI-AL and CPI-RL for February, 2014 remained stationary at 757 points and 759 points respectively. The rise and fall in index varied from State to State. In case of Agricultural Labourers, the retail inflation index recorded an increase between 2 to 9 points in 11 States and a decrease between 1 to 9 points in 8 States. The index however, remained stationary in 1 State. Haryana with 843 points topped the index table whereas Himachal Pradesh with the index level of 623 points stood at the bottom. In case of Rural Labourers, it recorded an increase between 1 to 7 points in 12 States, and a decrease between 1 to 8 points in 8 States. Haryana with 836 points topped the index table whereas Himachal Pradesh State with the index level of 656 points stood at the bottom.

The inflation index for Agricultural and Rural workers in Rajasthan State registered the maximum increase of 9 points and 7 points respectively mainly due to increase in the prices of wheat, bajra, pulses, gingely oil, milk, ghee among others. On the other hand, Andhra Pradesh State registered the maximum decrease of 9 points and 8 points in inflation index for Agricultural and Rural Labourers driven by lower prices of rice, jowar, ragi, groundnut oil and onion among others.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 6,573.40, up by 78.50 points or 1.21%, after trading in a range of 6,580.90 and 6,510.50. There were 41 stocks advancing against 9 declines on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were IndusInd Bank up by 4.19%, GAIL up by 3.85%, ICICI Bank up by 3.73%, ONGC up by 3.65% and NMDC was up by 3.46%. On the flip side, NTPC down by 1.27%, HCL Tech down by 0.96%, Infy down by 0.73%, Dr Reddy down by 0.55% and Sun Pharma down by 0.51% were the top losers on the index.

All the major Asian indices were trading in green; Shanghai Composite was up by 0.79%, Hang Seng gained 1.65%, Jakarta Composite was up by 0.25%, KLSE Composite added 0.61%, Nikkei 225 was up by 1.77%, Straits Times was gained 1.34%, Seoul Composite was up by 0.55% and Taiwan Weighted gained 0.33%.