Benchmarks pare minor gains; trade continues in green

Benchmarks pare minor gains but continued to trade in green in the late afternoon session on account of profit booking at higher levels. The sentiments were on optimistic note from the early trades after data showed that Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) made substantial purchases of Indian stocks on Tuesday i.e. March 25, 2014. Investors however took note of International Monetary Fund (IMF) report which stated that the slump in infrastructure and corporate investment has been the single largest contributor to India’s recent growth slowdown. Traders were seen piling positions in Metal, Oil & Gas and Capital Goods, while selling was witnessed in HealthCare, FMCG and IT sector stocks. In scrip specific development, Wheels India was trading in green after the management commented that post the rights issue it will bring down debt/equity ratio to 1:1. The markets may remain volatile in the near future as traders may roll over positions in the Futures & Options (F&O) segment from the near-month i.e. March 2014 series to next month i.e. April 2014 series. The near-month March 2014 F&O contracts expire tomorrow i.e. March 27, 2014.

On the global front, the Asian markets barring Shanghai Composite were trading in green, while the European markets were trading on optimistic note. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading above their psychological 6,600 and 22,100 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was negative in the ratio of 1288:1407 while 153 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 22122.09, up by 66.88 points or 0.30% after trading in a range of 22172.10 and 22099.20. There were 19 stocks advancing against 11 declining ones on the index.

The broader indices were outperforming the benchmarks; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.46%, while the Small cap index gained 0.44%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on BSE were, Metal up by 2.25%, Oil & Gas up by 1.58%, Capital Goods up by 1.46%, PSU up by 1.25% and Auto up by 1.24%. On the other hand, HealthCare was down by 1.38%, FMCG was down by 0.94%, IT was down by 0.67%, TECK down by 0.48% and Consumer Durables down by 0.43% were the losers on the sectoral front.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Hindalco up by 3.27%, Tata Motors up by 2.89%, SSLT up by 2.57%, Maruti Suzuki up by 2.29% and Gail India was up by 2.28%. On the flip side, Sun Pharma down by 2.47%, Dr. Reddy’s Lab down by 1.89%, TCS down by 1.78%, ITC down by 1.61% and Cipla down by 0.95% were the top losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, in order to revive the investment climate in the country, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has expressed the need for the new government formed after the general elections to focus on implementing policies rather than coming out with new ones. CII Northern Region Chairman Zubin Irani has asserted that there is no need to bring more policies or reforms as the country has already a lot of policies which need quick implementation.

Referring to declining investment level in India, Zubin Irani has stated that investment level as percentage of GDP fell to 31% from 36% earlier, though it is sufficient to achieve 7-8% economic growth if the prevailing policies are effectively implemented. He added that CII would continue to work aggressively with the government on both states & centre level for speedy implementation of infrastructure projects to get growth back. 

Sharing views over the CII's roadmap for next fiscal for northern states, CII Northern Region Chairman stated that main focus of CII would be to accelerate growth and create more employment opportunities. In order to enhance the MSMEs competitiveness, CII will launch four clusters in northern region at - Jaipur, Jalandhar, Baddi and Mandi Gobindgarh, which will guide MSMEs to focus on adoption of automation and latest technologies. The move will help to bring down their factor costs while enhancing productivity and quality. Further, Irani emphasized that financing and availability of credit are the key concern area of MSMEs and CII has worked out an agreement with Canara Bank to provide credit facilities on certain concessional rates to these enterprises.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 6,611.80, up by 22.05 points or 0.33%, after trading in a range of 6,627.45 and 6,604.85. There were 34 stocks advancing against 16 declines on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were Hindalco up by 3.44%, Jindal Steel up by 3.11%, Tata Motors up by 2.98%, IDFC up by 2.73% and SSLT up by 2.71%. On the flip side, Sun Pharma down by 2.43%, Dr. Reddy’s Lab down by 1.98%, TCS down by 1.94%, ITC down by 1.64% and Lupin down by 1.60% were the top losers on the index.

Most of the Asian indices were trading in green; Hang Seng gained 0.72%, Jakarta Composite was up by 0.81%, Nikkei 225 was gained 0.37%, Straits Times was higher by 1.34%, Seoul Composite surged by 1.19%, KLSE Composite inched up 0.05% and Taiwan Weighted gained 0.55%. On the other hand, Shanghai Composite was down by 0.18%.

The European markets were trading in green; France’s CAC 40 was up 0.44%, Germany’s DAX added 0.60% and UK’s FTSE 100 gained 0.16%.