Markets enter the green zone supported by value buying in blue-chips

Markets have entered the green zone, breaking past their sluggishness that has been persisting since morning on weak global cues. There were some sector specific actions along with value buying in the blue chips that led the market in green and the markets were trading at the high points of the day. Though, metal sector was still reeling under pressure due to the temporary mining ban by the Goa state government but defensive health care and oil & gas sector has adequately supported the markets. There is buzz in the market ahead of the CCPA meeting that government may take decision to hike petrol, diesel, cooking gas and kerosene prices simultaneously in its scheduled meeting later in the day after the market hours. Aviation sector too is flying high on hopes of finding some solution to its financial woes. Despite its limited success on taking allies on board on key policy issues, the government is hopeful of a political consensus on allowing foreign carriers pick up 49% stake in domestic airlines. Meanwhile, Minister for Civil Aviation Ajit Singh has written to the Oil Ministry on declaring aviation turbine fuel (ATF) as a notified product.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 17,816.79 up by 50.01 points or 0.28% after touching a high and low of  17,820.55 and 17,677.38 respectively. There were 16 stocks advancing against 14 declines on the index.

The broader indices too have added gains; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.26% and Small cap index was up by 0.53%.

The top gainers on the BSE sectoral space were, Oil & Gas up by 0.55%, HC up by 0.51%, Realty up by 0.48%, Bankex up by 0.41% and PSU was up by 0.38%. On the other hand Metal down by 1.29% and Auto down by 0.13%, were the only losers on the sectoral space.

The top gainers of the Sensex were Gail India up by 1.62%, HDFC up by 1.30%, BHEL up by 1.14%, NTPC up by 1.11% and Sun Pharma was up by 1.08%. On the flip side, Sterlite Industries down by 4.02%, Jindal Steel down by 2.80%, Hero Moto Corp down by 1.68%, Wipro down by 0.60% and Tata Steel down by 0.57% were the top losers on the Sensex.  

Mean while, in an attempt to climb out of the sluggish situation, the industry lobby group Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SAIM) has demanded a trim in excise duty and resumption of government purchases. It has sought a stimulus package similar to the one given during the 2008-09 down-turn, stating that the sales have been deteriorating in various segments of auto industry and thus a handholding is inevitable from the government side to boost the sales volumes and lift customer sentiments.

The request has been made by the association following the decline of car sales by 18.56% in August this year, marking the biggest drop in 10-months. The overall vehicle sales in the country also registered a drop of about 3.9% to 13,54,436 units in August this year, the biggest decline in more than three and half years, while the exports also registered the highest decline in more than 11 years, falling 26.83%  during the month.

The excise duties were raised by 2% for small cars to 12% in the Budget announcements last March. For large cars (above 4 meter length), excise went up by 5% to 27% adding concerns to the ailing industry. SAIM also expressed concerns that despite the festive mood, the car sales in August stood at 118,142 units compared to 145,066 units in the same month previous year, down 18.56 per cent, sharpest decline since October 2011.

The S&P CNX Nifty is currently trading at 5,376.35, up by 12.90 points or 0.24% after trading in a range of 5,377.85 and 5,332.10. There were 32 stocks advancing against 18 declines on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were BPCL up by 2.79%, ACC up by 1.81%, Bank of Baroda up by 1.70%, GAIL up by 1.47% and IDFC up by 1.21%. On the other hand, Sesa Goa down by 5.30%, Sterlite Industries down by 4.21%, Jindal Steel down by 2.83%, Hero MotoCorp down by 1.72% and Reliance Infra down by 1.27% were the top losers on the index.

Most of the Asian indices were trading in red; Shanghai Composite was down by 0.67%, Jakarta Composite was down by 0.44%, KLSE Composite lost 0.76%, Nikkei 225 was down by 0.70% and Kospi Composite Index declined by 0.24%.

On the other hand Hang Seng was up by 0.25%, Straits Times gained 0.29% and Taiwan Weighted was marginally up by 0.03%.

The European markets have made a soft start with major indices trading lower by quarter to half a percent ahead of a ruling by Germany's constitutional court on Wednesday. CAC 40 was down by 0.38%, DAX was down by 0.09% and FTSE 100 has lost 0.19%.