Markets remain aggressive; Sensex up 170 points

Indian equities continued to trade in fine fettle on back of strong buying in frontline counters in the late morning session. Most of the Asian equities were trading in the green terrain at this point of time with Japanese car makers extending gains as the dollar rose against the yen, countering losses for energy firms. Back home, traders were seen piling up position in Realty, Bankex and CG sector while selling was witnessed in IT, and HC sector. DLF, Unitech, HDIL, Oberoi Realty, India bulls Real Estate and Sobha Developers from Realty pack were seen trading in green edging the markets higher. ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, SBI, Axis Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Bank of Baroda and Indusind Bank from Bankex pack were seen trading firm in green. IT majors - Infosys, TCS, Wipro, HCL Tech and Tech Mahindra were capping the markets’ gains. Meanwhile, telecom stocks like Idea Cellular, Bharti Airtel and Reliance Communication all edged higher after the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) ratified department of telecommunications’ (DoT) decision on 100% foreign companies’ eligibility, now they can bid on their own without a partner.

In the scrip specific development, M&M gained on plan to launch high-end SUV SsangYong Rexton in India. Arvind rose on introducing exclusive brand outlet in Bangalore. Educomp Solutions edged higher on inking pact with CERT. Havells India soared on opening second ‘Galaxy’ showroom in Chennai.

The NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were managing to hold their psychological 5,750 and 19000 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was positive, in the ratio of 1504:746.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 19040.47 up by 170.78 points or 0.91% after trading in a range of 19087.60 and 18939.75. There were 24 stocks advancing against 6 declines on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.78% and Small cap index was up by 0.68%.

On the BSE sectoral space, Realty up by 2.73%, Bankex up by 1.84%, CG up by 1.38%, Power up by 1.26% and Oil & Gas up by 1.06% were the top gainers. While, IT down by 0.46% and HC down by 0.19% were the top losers.

The top gainers on the Sensex were BHEL up by 4.27%, ICICI Bank up by 2.93%, HDFC up by 2.07%, Tata Motors up by 1.94% and HDFC Bank up by 1.73%. On the other hand, Cipla down by 1.82%, Hero MotoCorp down by 1.45%, Coal India down by 0.81%, Infosys down by 0.44% and TCS down by 0.43% was only the loser on the Sensex.

 Meanwhile, Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) is expected to reflect a proposal today to restore the scheme to supply imported pulses at a highly subsidized rate for next 6 months to protect BPL (Below Poverty Line) families from price shocks due to supply limitation. CCEA is expected to approve a 12th Five Year Plan scheme that aims to strengthen PDS through digitizing ration cards with an expenditure of around Rs 900 crore for the current fiscal on a cost-sharing basis.

The scheme for supply of imported pulses at subsidized rate under PDS for BPL category was discontinued in June, 2012. At present, the centre is planning to restore the scheme considering an estimated fall in kharif production. In the new scheme, the Food Ministry has proposed the Centre would give a higher subsidy of Rs 20/kg from Rs 10/kg in the earlier scheme. Around 4 lakh tonnes of imported pulses would be supplied to BPL families under this scheme. The proposed scheme will be effective during this fiscal.

The Food Ministry has also proposed to extend a scheme for distribution of edible oil through the Public Distribution System (PDS) at a subsidy of Rs 15/kg to individual states for one year till October 30, 2013. Around 10 lakh tonnes of imported edible oil would be distributed under this scheme. The schemes for pulses and edible oil are aimed at protecting BPL consumers as retail prices of these two commodities are likely to be under difficulty in the wake of a probable fall in production.

The pulses production in the kharif (summer) season is likely to be lower at 5.26 million tonnes against 6.16 million tonnes , similarly, oilseeds output may stand decline to 18.7 million tonnes in the review period as per government estimation.

 The S&P CNX Nifty is currently trading at 5,783.85, up by 52.60 points or 0.92% after trading in a range of 5,798.60 and 5,751.35. There were 37 stocks advancing against 13 declines on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were BHEL up by 4.18%, DLF up by 3.39%, ICICI Bank up by 3.12%, BPCL up by 2.87% and AXIS Bank was up by 2.27%. While, Lupin down by 1.48%, Hero Moto Co down by 1.32%, Cipla down by 1.27%, Coal India down by 0.88% and Infosys down by 0.64% were the losers on the index.

Most of the Asian equity indices were trading in the green; Hang Seng was up by 0.13%, Jakarta Composite was up by 0.29% Straits Times was up by 0.01% KLSE Composite was up by 0.57%, Nikkei 225 was up by 0.90%. While, Kospi Composite was down by 0.18% and Taiwan Weighted was down by 0.16%. Markets in China remained closed today for holiday.