Benchmarks continue to trade near neutral line

Indian equity benchmarks paired all gains and were trading near the neutral line with negative bias in afternoon session owing to profit booking by funds and retail investors amid weak Asian cues. Though, most of the sectoral indices were trading in green, sharp selling witnessed in oil & gas, banking and capital goods stocks dragged the market lower. However, markets losses remain capped as investors were piling positions in defensive sectors' stocks such as IT, teck and healthcare stocks. Sentiments got support after credit rating agency Moody’s highlighted that the BJP-led NDA’s victory in polls is credit positive for India as a stable Central Government is expected to address economic woes. Realty index was top gainer on BSE up by 3.97% amid expectations of change in policy environment. The broader markets were outperforming the benchmarks with quiet a margin and both mid and small cap indices were trading up by around 1.40% and 1.87%. Whirlpool of India has surged around 5.4% to Rs 273 after reporting 44% yoy increase in net profit at Rs 35.55 crore for Q4FY14 on account of higher other income. Wipro has jumped by 1.8% at around Rs 492 after the company announced a strategic partnership with Takeda Pharmaceutical Company, the largest pharmaceutical company in Japan. On the other hand, Jubilant FoodWorks was trading lower by 1.6% at Rs 1,171 after reporting a 23.7% yoy decline in net profit at Rs 24.95 crore for Q4FY14 due to higher raw material and employee cost. On global front, major Asian equity indices were trading in green with Hang Seng up by 0.62% and Straits Times up by 0.07%. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading above their psychological 7,200 and 24,300 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was negative, out of 2,663 stocks traded, 1,897 stocks advanced, while 759 stocks declined on the BSE. The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 24,353.70 down by 9.35 points or 0.04% after trading in a range of 24,587.16 and 24,299.53. There were 17 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index. The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 1.40%, while Small cap index up by 1.87%. The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 3.97%, Consumer Durables up by 2.56%, IT up by 1.69%, Teck up by 1.63% and Healthcare up by 1.07%. On the flip side, Oil and Gas down by 2.43%, Bankex down by 0.49%, Capital Goods down by 0.30% and Auto down by 0.23% were the losing indices on BSE.    The top gainers on the Sensex were SSLT up by 3.21%, Tata Steel up by 3.06%, HDFC up by 2.25%, Infosys up by 2.24% and Wipro up by 2.18%. On the flip side, Coal India down by 5.04%, ONGC down by 2.90%, RIL down by 2.89%, Hero Motocorp down by 2.87% and SBI down by 1.74%. Meanwhile, industry body FICCI has highlighted low inflation and a positive business environment as the top supportive factors for India to get back to high growth path. The FICCI‘s president Sidharth Birla has said that country needs to create investor confidence by revitalizing domestic investors and strengthening governance, policy certainty and capital friendliness. Sidharth Birla further asserted that India also needs to implement GST by 2015 and revisit subsidies and revamp the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA). Industry body also recommended measures to improve the tax environment in the country include resolve retrospective/ capital raising tax-related issues and rebate income tax for small start-up businesses. Regarding the land acquisition issue, the FICCI highlighted the need for a comprehensive review of the Land Acquisition Act urgently. At present, Indian economy is struggling with slowdown and its growth slowed down to a decade low at 4.5 percent in FY13 and 4.6 percent during the first three quarter of FY14. High inflation, unfavorable tax environment and land procurement and environment clearances issues have been impacting the business sentiments in the country. Prevailing high inflation has impacted the purchasing power of consumer, whereas land and environment clearance issues have stalled the development of big infrastructure projects. The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7,261.35 down by 2.20 points or 0.03% after trading in a range of 7,353.65 and 7,247.70. There were 27 stocks advancing against 23 declining on the index. The top gainers of the Nifty were Tata Steel up by 3.34%, SSLT up by 3.01%, Lupin up by 2.82%, NMDC up by 2.66% and Infosys up by 2.66%. On the flip side, Coal India down by 5.19%, Hero Motocorp down by 3.24%, ONGC down by 3.05%, PNB down by 2.95% and Reliance down by 2.91% were the major losers on the index. Asian equity indices were trading in green; Hang Seng up by 0.62% to 22,853.42, Straits Times up by 0.07% to 3,264.43, Shanghai Composite up by 0.20% to 2,009.15 and Nikkei 225 up by 0.63% to 14,093.14. While, Jakarta Index down by 2.21% to 4,904.15 and Taiwan Weighted down by 0.14% to 8,887.79