Benchmarks trade in fine fettle in early deals; Nifty reclaims 8,000 mark

Indian equity benchmarks have made a positive start and are trading in fine fettle in early deals on Tuesday with frontline gauges recapturing their crucial 8,000 (Nifty) and 26,800 (Sensex) bastions. Some support came in with a World Bank report saying that India’s GDP is likely to expand by 5.6 per cent this fiscal as reforms gain momentum and the growth is expected to accelerate as proposed measures such as GST will give a boost to manufacturing sector. World Bank has also said that implementation of the goods and service tax (GST) is the most critical reform needed for Indian manufacturing. On the global front, the US markets ended almost flat, trading directionless for much of the trading session. While there was some profit taking on the strong performance shown by the markets last week, the traders also remained cautious ahead of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement on Wednesday. The Asian markets were trading mostly in the red at this point of time tailing weak cues from the US markets where data from home sales to manufacturing fell short of estimates. Back home, sentiments got some support from report that foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net buyers to the tune of around Rs 49.14 crore on October 27, 2014. On the sectoral front, capital goods, banking and healthcare witnessed the maximum gain in trade, while infrastructure, oil and gas and power remained the top losers on the BSE sectoral space. The broader indices too were trading in-line with benchmarks, while the market breadth on the BSE was positive; there were 1114 shares on the gaining side against 661 shares on the losing side while 72 shares remain unchanged. The BSE Sensex opened at 26788.73; around 36 points higher as compared to its previous closing of 26752.90, and has touched a high and a low of 26865.11 and 26785.89 respectively. The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 26844.18, up by 91.28 points or 0.34%. There were 18 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index. The overall market breadth remained in the favour of advances with 60.31% stocks advancing against 35.79% declines. The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.40%, while Small cap index up by 0.52%. The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Capital Goods up by 0.82%, Bankex up by 0.77%, Healthcare up by 0.63%, Realty up by 0.43%, IT up by 0.34% while, Infrastructure down by 0.50%, Oil & Gas down by 0.40%, Power down by 0.40%, Metal down by 0.31% and Consumer Durables down by 0.19% were the losing indices on BSE. The top gainers on the Sensex were Sun Pharma up by 1.90%, SBI up by 1.77%, ICICI Bank up by 1.76%, GAIL India up by 1.60% and Wipro up by 1.51%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 2.80%, BHEL down by 1.53%, Hero MotoCorp down by 1.51%, Reliance Industries down by 0.91% and Coal India down by 0.89% were the top losers. Meanwhile, with the intent of restricting oil imports and protecting domestic farmers, the government is mulling over an issue of raising import duty on crude and refined edible oils, among other matters. In the wake of local prices of oil falling to historic lows due to cheaper imports from Malaysia and Indonesia, Industry body Solvent Extractors Association (SEA) has been demanding a duty hike in crude edible oils to 10% and on refined edible oils to 25%. Further, in the meeting held between the Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Friday, besides the import duty issue, problems faced by sugar mills in availing loans sanctioned through the Sugar Development Fund (SDF) along with the issue of additional budget allocation for FCI were discussed. Paswan, primarily, briefed Finance Minister about the current impasse between the UP sugar mills and the state government over cane price policy. The food minister was in the favour of relaxing certain norms so that sugar mills could avail loans easily from SDF, while seeking additional budget allocation for state-run Food Corporation of India (FCI) for giving food subsidies this fiscal. A budget allocation of Rs 92,000 crore has been made against the requirement of Rs 1,47,700 crore for this fiscal. The CNX Nifty opened at 8,002.40; around 11 points higher as compared to its previous closing of 7,991.70, and has touched a high and a low of 8,020.80 and 7,999.65 respectively. The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8018.60, up by 26.90 points or 0.34%. There were 32 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index. The top gainers on Nifty were Zee Entertainment up by 2.39%, Sun Pharma up by 1.89%, ICICI Bank up by 1.77%, SBI up by 1.70% and Wipro up by 1.52%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 3.26%, Lupin down by 2.05%, BHEL down by 1.78%, Jindal Steel & Power down by 1.61% and Hero MotoCorp down by 1.48% were the top losers. Asian markets were trading mostly in the red; Nikkei 225 tumbled by 110.42 points or 0.72% to 15,278.30, KOSPI Index declined by 5.16 points or 0.27% to 1,926.81, Straits Times dropped 13.70 points or 0.42% to 3,212.41, Jakarta Composite dipped 22.27 points or 0.44% to 5,002.02 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was down by 1.36  points or 0.07% to 1,821.79. On the flip side, Hang Seng soared 141.07 points or 0.61% to 23,284.30, Shanghai Composite spurted by 27.17 points or 1.19% to 2,317.61 and Taiwan Weighted was up by 126.69 points or 1.47% to 8,754.47.

Markets trade marginally higher ahead of Q4 GDP data

Indian equity benchmarks have made a positive start and are trading slightly in the green in early deals on Friday, tracking firm US cues. Though, gains remained capped as investors preferred to remain on sidelines ahead of Q4 GDP data, scheduled to be released later in the day and RBI policy review next week. Meanwhile, supporting RBI’s fight against inflation, Parliamentary Affairs Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu has said that containing inflation is a priority for the newly formed government. Earlier, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley too had vowed to check inflation. On the global front, the S&P 500 index posted its third record closing high in four sessions, as investors shrugged off the first quarterly contraction of the US economy in three years and focused on signs of a strengthening labour market. The Asian counterparts were trading mixed at this point of time, though up-side remained capped as some cautiousness emerged after a report that Japanese industrial production missed forecasts. Back home, public sector oil marketing companies (OMCs) viz. BPCL, HPCL and IOC edged higher on indication that the monthly diesel price hikes of 40-50 paise a litre are likely to continue. On the sectoral front, realty, capital goods and oil and gas witnessed the maximum gain in trade, while banking, software and auto remained the top losers on the BSE. The broader indices, however, were outperforming benchmarks, while the market breadth on the BSE was positive; there were 1,126 shares on the gaining side against 645 shares on the losing side while 58 shares remain unchanged. The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 24252.38, up by 18.23 points or 0.08% after trading in a range of 24353.59 and 24167.94. There were 18 stocks advancing against 12 declines on the index. The broader indices were traded in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.54% and Small cap index up by 0.72%. The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were, Realty up by 1.47%, Capital Goods up by 1.26%, Oil & Gas up by 1.16%, Metal up by 1.09 and Health Care up by 0.87% while Consumer Durables down by 0.84%, Bankex down by 0.81%, Auto down by 0.39% and IT down by 0.28% were the top losers. The top gainers on the Sensex were NTPC up by 1.74%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.72%, Dr Reddys Lab up by 1.69%, Hindustan Unilever up by 1.66% and Gail India up by 1.65%. On the flip side, Tata Motors was down by  1.89%, Axis Bank was down by 1.61%, Wipro was down by 1.14% , SBI was down by 1.07%  and HDFC Bank was down by 0.94%  were the losers on the Sensex. Meanwhile, industry chamber Assocham’s has stated that delay in key central sector projects have led to steep cost over-runs during the previous fiscal year. Assocham, in its latest report, has noted that the cost over-runs, which had been worked out at Rs 94,800 crore in about 285 Central projects till March 2013 would easily exceed Rs 1 lakh crore by March 2014. According to Assocham's report, railways sector is estimated to be most affected with maximum escalation in costs which were up nearly three times to Rs 73,500 crore by March 2014 from the original estimates of Rs. 27,900 crore in March 2013. Among other sectors, petroleum, power, and steel have also witnessed steep rise in costs due to delays. The industry body further said that the new government should take immediate measures to monitor and revive investment cycle in these central sector projects, report added. The infrastructure development is a most critical prerequisite to boost the economic growth. To boost infrastructure development in the country, India's Government has proposed an investment of $1 trillion for the sector during the 12th Five Year Plan, with 50 percent of the funds coming from the private sector. At present, Indian infrastructure sector is under pressure and the factors like slow reforms, worse land acquisition procedure and delay in environment and forest clearance have been impeding the business sentiments in the country which in turn adversely impacting investments in the sector. The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7,240.20 up by 4.55 points or 0.06% after trading in a range of 7,272.50 and 7,118.45. There were 29 stocks advancing against 21 declines on the index. The top gainers of the Nifty were Jindal Steel up by 2.39%, HUL up by 2.04%, Bharti Airtel up by 2.03%, NTPC up by 1.87% and BPCL up by 1.81%. On the flip side, Tata Motors down by 2.17%, Kotak Bank down by 1.66%, AXIS Bank down by 1.59%, SBI down by 1.11% and Wipro down by 1.09% were the top losers on the index. Most of Asian markets were trading in red; Jakarta Composite declined 44.86 points or 0.90% to 4,940.72,  KLSE Composite slipped by 1.90 points or 0.10% to 1,874.72, Nikkei 225 tumbled by 50.58 points or 0.34% to 14,631.14, Straits Times decreased 8.76 points or 0.27% to 3,291.95, Seoul Composite shed by 7.46 points or 0.37% to 2,004.80 and Taiwan Weighted was down by 5.81 point or 0.06% to 9,103.19. On the flip side, Shanghai Composite was marginally in green by 0.04 points to 2,040.64 and Hang Seng was up by 52.11 points or 0.23% to 23,062.25.

Markets start F&O expiry session on a cautious note

Extending their southward journey, Indian equity benchmarks have made a choppy start ahead of the expiry of May F&O contracts later today. The markets are likely to remain volatile with traders adjusting positions in the futures & options segment. Sentiment was also affected adversely by data showing foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 286.54 crore on May 28, 2014, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges. Global cues too remained sluggish with the US markets ending modestly lower overnight, consolidating and ending a four-day winning streak. Although there were good economic reports but traders opted to book profit after recent gains. The Asian markets too were trading cautiously with some of the indices trading in red in early deals led by the Japanese markets after a report of a worse-than-estimated drop in nation’s retail sales. Japan’s retail sales fell 13.7 percent in April from March, the most in at least 14 years. Back home, on the sectoral front, consumer durables, auto and banking witnessed the maximum gain in trade, while software, technology and realty remained the top losers on the BSE sectoral space. The broader indices, however, were outperforming benchmarks, while the market breadth on the BSE was positive; there were 1,049 shares on the gaining side against 766 shares on the losing side while 43 shares remain unchanged. The market breadth on the BSE was positive; there were 1035 shares on the gaining side against 749 shares on the losing side while 48 shares remain unchanged. The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 24485.25, down by 70.84 points or 0.29% after trading in a range of 24528.20 and 24434.74. There were 15 stocks advancing against 14 declines on the index. The broader indices were traded on mixed note; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.29% and Small cap index up by 0.42%. The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were, Capital Goods up by 0.49%, Auto up by 0.44%, Bankex up by 0.35%, PSU up by 0.17% and Health Care up by 0.13% while IT down by 2.61%, TECK down by 1.78%, Realty down by 0.63%, Metal down by 0.25%, and Capital Goods up by 0.15% were the top losers. The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel up by 2.03%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.28%, Tata Power up by 1.12%,HDFC up by 0.90% and Tata Motors up by 0.72%. On the flip side, Infosys was down by  6.06%, BHEL was down by 1.85%, Hero MotoCorp  was down by 1.38% , Wipro was down by 1.00%  and SSLT was down by 0.65%  were the losers on the Sensex. Meanwhile, with a view to provide importers with greater flexibility in hedging facility, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has decided to allow domestic importers to book forward contracts up to 50 percent of the eligible limit under the past performance route. As per the present guidelines relating to hedging of currency risk of probable exposures based on past performance, Indian importers are allowed to book contracts up to 25 percent of the eligible limit. The RBI further notified that importers who have already booked contracts up to previous limit of 25 percent in the current financial year, will be eligible for difference arising out of the enhanced limits. The eligible limit is determined on the basis of average of the previous three financial years' import turnover or the previous year's actual import turnover, whichever is higher. The RBI’s latest move is likely to provide some relief to importers as the depreciation in rupee value increases the imports costs. During the FY14, India’s overall imports declined by 8.11% to $450.95 billion as against $490.74 billion reported in the same period of previous fiscal year. Contraction in domestic imports during FY14 was mainly driven by weak domestic demand and lower gold imports. The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7,317.35 down by 12.30 points or 0.17% after trading in a range of 7,325.40 and 7,302.50. There were 31 stocks advancing against 19 declines on the index. The top gainers of the Nifty were Ultra Cement up by 3.22%, Grasim up by 1.83%, Bank Baroda up by 1.79%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.74% and Kotak Bank up by 1.33%. On the flip side, BHEL down by 1.89%, Infosys down by 1.54%, Hero Moto Company down by 1.40%, HCL Tech down by 1.06% and Coal India down by 1.03% were the top losers on the index. Most of Asian markets were trading in green; Shanghai Composite improved 0.31 points or 0.02% points or 2,050.54, Hang Seng gained 92.30 points or 0.40% to 23,172.33, Jakarta Composite surged 21.65 points or 0.44% to 4,985.58, KLSE Composite strengthened by 5.52 points or 0.29% to 1,877.18, Nikkei 225 spurted by 8.85 points or 0.06% to 14,679.80 and Straits Times was up by 30.07 points or 0.92% to 3,301.91. On the flip side, Seoul Composite declined 5.78 points or 0.29% to 2,011.28 and Taiwan Weighted was down by 8.37 points or 0.09% to 9,113.34.

Benchmarks trade near intra-day low level in late morning

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade near intra-day low level on account of Profit booking in frontline blue chip stocks after a recent rally. Sentiment weakened further as foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 84.13 crore on May 26, 2014. Traders were seen piling positions in IT, Teck and Healthcare stocks while selling was witnessed in Realty, Power and PSU sector stocks. In scrip specific development, Gail India was trading lower by 6% after reporting a lower than expected net profit at Rs 972 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2014. Moreover, Jaypee Infratech has slipped by 10% after net profit slumped 91.12% to Rs 13.19 crore in Q4 March 2014 over Q4 March 2013. However, Sonata Software has rallied 13% after reporting over three-fold jump in consolidated net profit at Rs 23.57 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2014.  On the global front, the Asian markets were trading mostly lower as tensions flared between China and Vietnam though hopes for further monetary easing in Europe helped push Japan's benchmark to its highest level in six weeks. However, European shares had ended higher as investors reacted to the results of European parliament elections and presidential elections in Ukraine. Back home, Indian rupee was trading lower against the US dollar at Rs 58.96 tracking weakness in equities. Moreover, Bharat Forge, Bombay Dyeing, Dish TV India, Jindal Hotels and JSW Steel will be in focus on account of March quarter earnings announcement. The market breadth on BSE was negative, out of 2271 stocks traded, 745 stocks advanced, while 1450 stocks declined on the BSE. The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 24513.61 down by 203.27 points or 0.82% after trading in a range of 24777.31 and 24505.07. There were 9 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index. The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 1.57%, while Small cap index down by 1.52%. The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were, IT up by 1.32%, Teck up by 0.78%, Healthcare up by 0.41% and FMCG up by 0.07%, while Realty down by 3.60%, Power down by 3.11%, PSU down by 3.08%, Oil & Gas down by 2.55% and Metal down by 2.09% were the top losers on the sectoral index. The top gainers on the Sensex were Wipro up by 2.10%, Infosys up by 1.70%, Dr Reddys Lab up by 0.49%, TCS up by 0.43% and Hero MotoCorp up by 0.42%. On the flip side, Gail India was down by 6.87%,  BHEL was down by 4.61%, SSLT was down by 4.37%, ONGC was down by 3.15% and NTPC was down by 3.07% were the top losers on the Sensex. Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has tightened merger rules for non-banking finance companies, requiring them to obtain the RBI’s written permission to acquire or merge with any similar entity, in order to ensure their fit and proper management. Previously, only deposit-taking non-bank finance companies required approval for a takeover or merger. But, this directive, to be known as 'Non-Banking Financial Companies (Approval of Acquisition or Transfer of Control) Directions, 2014, would be applicable to every non-banking financial company, i.e. deposit taking or a non-deposit taking NBFC. According to the RBI, any merger or amalgamation of an NBFC with another entity or an entity with an NBFC that would give the acquirer or another entity control of the NBFC will need its written approval, before the permissions of court or tribunal for mergers or amalgamations with other companies or NBFCs. However, RBI clarified that its prior approval would not be required in case where NBFC is acquiring less than 10% of another entity. Further, it also brought to the notice of the prospective acquirers of NBFCs that acquisition of shares/ takeover of an NBFC without its prior approval shall result in adverse regulatory action by the Reserve Bank, including, cancellation of Certificate of Registration of the concerned NBFC. The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7,300.30 down by 58.75 points or 0.80% after trading in a range of 7,372.95 and 7,298.45. There were 18 stocks advancing against 32 declining on the index. The top gainers of the Nifty were HCL Tech up by 2.51%, Wipro up by 1.78%, Infosys up by 1.69 %, UltraTech Cement up by 1.61% and Tech Mahindra up by 1.58%. On the flip side, Gail down by 7.01%, BHEL down by 4.94%, SSLT down by 4.64%, IDFC down by 4.10% and ONGC down by 3.52% were the top losers on the index. Most of the Asian equity indices were trading in red; Shanghai Composite slipped 0.25%, Hang Seng dropped by 0.20%, Jakarta Composite tumbled 0.18%, Straits Times shed by 0.17% and Straits Composite was down by 0.17%. On the flip side, KLSE Composite gained 0.16%, Nikkei 225 spurted by 0.79% and Taiwan Weighted was up by 0.16%.

Markets trade jubilantly in early deals on firm global cues

Extending their previous session jubilation, Indian equity benchmarks have made a gap-up opening and are trading jubilantly in early deals with frontline gauges surpassing their crucial 22,600 (Sensex) and 7,300 (Nifty) levels on the back of buoyant global cues. The US markets extended their gains for yet another day and the Nasdaq managed to reach its best closing level in a month, after the release of a report from the National Association of Realtors showing that existing home sales rose for the first time this year in April. The Asian markets were trading mostly in the green at this point of time and Japanese market was riding high, as yen declined near a one-week low. Back home, markets continue to maintain the steady trend on hopes that a Modi-led disposition would mark a paradigm shift in governance and herald a new era in economic reforms. Meanwhile, industry body Assocham in its action plan for the new government has pitched for liberalisation of ECB norms, GST implementation, incentives for investments and easing of processes for companies planning to set up manufacturing units. Select gold related stocks were continued their bull run for second day in a row after RBI permitted exporters, long-term export advance up to a maximum period of 10 years on a satisfactory track record and eased gold import norms. On the sectoral front, realty, capital goods and power witnessed the maximum gain in trade, while consumer durables remained the lone loser on the BSE sectoral space. The broader indices too were trading in-line with benchmarks, while the market breadth on the BSE was positive; there were 1636 shares on the gaining side against 371 shares on the losing side while 51 shares remain unchanged. The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 24611.40, up by 237.00 points or 0.97% after trading in a range of 24692.09 and 24470.78. There were 27 stocks advancing against 3 declines on the index. The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 1.25% and Small cap index gained 1.84%. The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were, Realty up by 3.15%, Capital Goods up by 2.31%, Power up by 1.91%, Auto up by 1.28% and TECK up by 1.16%, while Consumer Durables down by 0.42% was  the top loser. The top gainers on the Sensex were BHEL up by 5.57%, NTPC up by 3.35%, SSLT up by 3.32%, Bharti Airtel up by 2.57% and L&T up by 2.32%. On the flip side, Hindalco Inds was down by  0.90%, HDFC Bank was down by 0.26% and Bajaj Auto was down by 0.26%  were the losers on the Sensex. Meanwhile, In order to enhance Indian exports, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has eased norms for loans to exporters. The RBI, in its notification, stated that the domestic exporters can now get long-term loans from banks for up to 10 years to service export contracts. Earlier the exporters were allowed to get loans up to one year. Further, the central bank notified that banks can make such payments to exporters with a satisfactory track record of three years and adjust these payments against future exports. However, banks cannot charge interest rates exceeding 200 basis points above LIBOR. Furthermore, exporters who receive loans of $100 million or above need to report the transaction immediately to the central bank, the notification added. During the financial year 2014, Indian exports shipments touched $312.35 billion, registering 3.98% growth over the previous fiscal year but remained below the set export target at $325 billion. India’s export has been hovering near $300 billion over the last three fiscal years and it has become imperative to boost country’s exports and enhance its contribution in the world trade. In India, Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) governs all exports and imports related activities and mainly aims at enhancing the country's exports. The five-year FTP (2009-14) ended on March 31 and the new government formed after the general elections will introduce new FTP for the period 2014-19 in June 2014. Meanwhile, new FTP is likely to promote exports of specific products in specific geographies and would also abolish conventional method of exports by focusing more on areas like branding of products in the global markets, exports of services and hi-tech products and new strategy for marketing. The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7,345.45 up by 69.05 points or 0.95% after trading in a range of 7,363.45 and 7,293.90. There were 38 stocks advancing against 12 declines on the index. The top gainers of the Nifty were BHEL up by 4.44%, DLF up by 4.03%, SSLT up by 3.49%, IDFC up by 3.38% and NTPC up by 3.02%. On the flip side, Power Grid down by 1.52%, Hindalco down by 0.84%, ACC down by 0.75%, Grasim down by 0.50% and Bajaj-Auto down by 0.28% were the top losers on the index. Asian markets were traded in mixed; Jakarta Composite increased 4.47 points or 0.09% to 4,974.35, Nikkei 225 surged by 152.34 points or 1.06% to 14,490.13, Straits Times rose by 7.18 points or 0.22% to 3,272.84 and Taiwan Weighted was up by 24.52 points or 0.27% to 8,994.15. On the flip side, Shanghai Composite declined 0.67 points or 0.03% to 2,020.62, Hang Seng tumbled by 15.85 points or 0.07% to 22,937.91, KLSE Composite decreased 1.90 points or 0.10% to 1,873.22 and Seoul Composite was down by 0.64 points or 0.03% to 2,014.95.

Benchmarks extend gains; trade near intra-day high levels

Indian bourses added gains to continue firm trade in the late afternoon session hovering near the highest point of the day on the back of strong buying witnessed in consumer durables, realty and metals stocks. The firm global cues coupled with the expectations that the new government will usher in strong pro-reform policies and kick-start the investment cycle has enthused the markets to extend their gains. Almost all sectoral indices were trading in green while a mild weakness in the defensive IT and Teck sectors was visible. Sentiments also got a boost as the UN report highlighted that Indian economy is likely to grow at 5 percent in 2014 and record a slightly higher expansion of 5.5 percent next year on the back of stronger consumption and investment. Apart from blue chips, broader indices too equally participated in the rally with both mid and small cap indices were trading up by over 2.00%. Consumer durable was the top gaining index on BSE up by around 6.38% followed by realty index trading up by around 4.33%. Jewellery stocks were also on the buying radar after the Reserve Bank had yesterday eased gold import norms. Coal India was trading up by around 7% to Rs 397 on reports that Prime Minister-elect Narendra Modi is exploring the possibility of splitting up the state-owned company and opening the sector to foreign investment to boost output and cut imports. Bajaj Auto was up nearly 3% to Rs 2,010 after the Egypt government lifted the ban on three-wheeler imports which was in effect since February. Kalindee Rail Nirman (Engineers) is locked at the lower circuit of 10% at Rs 122 after the company said its board approved the merger with Texmaco Rail & Engineering. On global front, major Asian equity indices were trading in green with Straits Times up by 0.04% and Nikkei 225 up by 2.16% as global investors sentiments got a boost after the US Federal Reserve's last meeting reassured investors that policy makers will continue to support the world's biggest economy. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading above their psychological 7,250 and 24,400 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was positive, out of 2,649 stocks traded, 2,046 stocks advanced, while 517 stocks declined on the BSE. The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 24,458.17 up by 160.15 points or 0.66% after trading in a range of 24,493.47 and 24,347.78. 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 2.20%, while Small cap index up by 2.33%. The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 6.38%, Realtly up by 4.38%, Metal up by 2.77%, Power up by 1.97% and Auto up by 1.64%. On the flip side, Teck down by 0.33% and IT down by 0.23% were the losing indices on BSE.    The top gainers on the Sensex were Coal India up by 6.72%, Maruti Suzuki up by 4.54%, NTPC up by 3.67%, SSLT up by 3.39% and Bajaj Auto up by 2.60%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 1.81%, Hindalco Inds down by 1.32%, HDFC Bank down by 1.31%, Infosys down by 1.30% and Wipro down by 1.12%. Meanwhile, in order to enhance Indian exports, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has eased norms for loans to exporters. The RBI, in its notification, stated that the domestic exporters can now get long-term loans from banks for up to 10 years to service export contracts. Earlier the exporters were allowed to get loans up to one year. Further, the central bank notified that banks can make such payments to exporters with a satisfactory track record of three years and adjust these payments against future exports. However, banks cannot charge interest rates exceeding 200 basis points above LIBOR. Furthermore, exporters who receive loans of $100 million or above need to report the transaction immediately to the central bank, the notification added. During the financial year 2014, Indian exports shipments touched $312.35 billion, registering 3.98% growth over the previous fiscal year but remained below the set export target at $325 billion. India’s export has been hovering near $300 billion over the last three fiscal years and it has become imperative to boost country’s exports and enhance its contribution in the world trade. In India, Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) governs all exports and imports related activities and mainly aims at enhancing the country's exports. The five-year FTP (2009-14) ended on March 31 and the new government formed after the general elections will introduce new FTP for the period 2014-19 in June 2014. Meanwhile, new FTP is likely to promote exports of specific products in specific geographies and would also abolish conventional method of exports by focusing more on areas like branding of products in the global markets, exports of services and hi-tech products and new strategy for marketing. The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7,295.05 up by 42.15 points or 0.58% after trading in a range of 7,306.50 and 7,258.15. There were 32 stocks advancing against 18 declining on the index. The top gainers of the Nifty were Coal India up by 7.04%, DLF up by 6.64%, Maruti Suzuki up by 4.28%, NTPC up by 3.71% and SSLT up by 3.51%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 1.51%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.47%, Hindalco Inds down by 1.35%, Wipro down by 1.33% and HDFC Bank down by 1.31% were the major losers on the index. Asian equity indices were trading in green; Straits Times up by 0.04% to 3,263.05, Nikkei 225 up by 2.16% to 14,345.72, Jakarta Index up by 1.05% to 4,961.74, Taiwan Weighted up by 1.21% to 8,969.63, Hang Seng up by 0.63% to 22,980.14 and Shanghai Composite up by 0.15% to 2,027.93

Benchmarks continue firm trade in late morning session

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade firm in late morning session on fresh buying by funds and retail investors amid positive global cues. Sentiments remained bullish on hopes that the new government led by Narendra Modi will unleash reforms and take tough decisions to mend India's economy. Some support also came in from currency front as rupee firmed up against the US dollar tracking gains in equities. Further, Jewellery stocks were back in demand after the Reserve Bank of India eased gold import rules by allowing select trading houses, in addition to already permitted banks, to procure the precious metal to boost exports. In scrip specific development, Bajaj Auto was up nearly 3% after the Egypt government lifted the ban on three-wheeler imports which was in effect since February. Further, shares of UCO Bank were trading firm after reporting a five-fold jump in net profit at Rs 108.25 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31 2014. While, Infosys and Wipro were trading lower. The market is likely to remain range bound in the near term with positive bias and await the cabinet formation at the centre. On the global front, Asian shares rose after an upbeat reading on China's factory sector blunted some of the more pessimistic views on the world's second-biggest economy. Moreover, US stocks surge on Wednesday, rebounding from the previous day's broad selloff, after minutes of the Federal Reserve's last meeting showed central bankers have discussed the eventual tightening of monetary policy but made no decisions on which tools to use. Back home, traders were seen piling positions in Consumer Durables, Metal and Realty stocks while selling was witnessed in IT and Teck sector stocks. The market breadth on BSE was positive, out of 2405 stocks traded, 1888 stocks advanced, while 442 stocks declined on the BSE. The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 24457.72 up by 159.70 points or 0.66% after trading in a range of 24475.78 and 24347.78. There were 19 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index. The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 2.08%, while Small cap index up by 2.34%. The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 7.12%, Metal up by 3.20%, Realty up by 2.74%, PSU up by 2.34% and power up by 1.82%. While, IT down by 0.34% and Teck down by 0.30% were the only losing indices on BSE.   The top gainers on the Sensex were Coal India up by 6.84%, Maruti Suzuki up by 4.85%, SSLT up by 3.79%, Bajaj Auto up by 2.89% and NTPC up by 2.85%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 1.52%, HDFC Bank down by 1.16%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.04%, Hindalco down by 1.00% and Wipro down by 0.81%. Meanwhile, in a move that will bring down prices of gold in the domestic market, especially in peak wedding season, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has eased gold import norms by allowing seven more private agencies for shipping precious metal, in addition to those already permitted banks. With this, gold imports by India, the world's No. 2 bullion consumer after China, could quickly rise from current levels as more than twenty entities, including state-run banks, private banks and agencies will now be allowed to import yellow metal. In order to control burgeoning Current Account Deficit (CAD) and sliding rupee, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in July, 2013 had imposed severe restrictions on gold imports. The central bank had tied imports with exports and prescribed a 20:80 formula and the facility was only available to select banks. However, with recent development, Star Trading Houses/Premier Trading Houses (STH/PTH), which are registered as nominated agencies by the Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), may now import gold under 20:80 scheme, which would imply that an importer has to ensure that at least one-fifth, or 20%, of every lot of imported gold is exclusively made available for the purpose of exports and the balance for domestic use. In a separate development, RBI also allowed banks to grant gold loans to domestic jewellery makers, a practice that was stopped last year. In absence of gold loans, jewellers had been forced to take credit to fund purchases, which substantially added to their cost and pressurized their profit margins. The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7,299.70 up by 46.80 points or 0.65% after trading in a range of 7,300.05 and 7,258.15. There were 32 stocks advancing against 18 declining on the index. The top gainers of the Nifty were Coal India up by 7.23%, Maruti Suzuki up by 4.61%, SSLT up by 4.23%, IDFC up by 3.52% and DLF up by 3.50%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 1.81%, UltraTech Cement down by 1.38%, HCL Tech down by 1.26%, HDFC Bank down by 1.18% and Hindalco down by 1.06% were the major losers on the index. Most of Asian markets were trading in green; Hang Seng up by 0.77%, Jakarta Composite up by 1.05%, Nikkei 225 increased by 2.26%, Straits Times surged 1.05%, KLSE Composite up by 0.08%. Shanghai Composite was up by 0.57%, and Taiwan Weighted was up by 1.02%. On the flip side, Seoul Composite dipped by 0.10%.

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

Markets trade in green in afternoon session

Indian bourses have stabilized and are once again moving higher in afternoon session on the back of fresh buying by funds and retail investors amid weak Asian cues. Gains in rate sensitive stocks such as metal, realty and banks has provided support to the major indices. However, the sharp selling witnessed in defensive sector stocks has restrained the markets’ gains. Sentiments remained optimistic amid expectations that the new government will usher in strong pro-reform policies and kick-start the investment cycle. Metal index was the top gainer on BSE up by around 4.86% on hopes that the new government's likely clearance for stalled infrastructure projects would lead to a pick-up in demand going forward. Buying was broad based and shares of both the S&P BSE mid-cap and small-cap indices rallied 2-3%. However, IT, teck and Pharma were under pressure amid concerns the rupee will continue to appreciate in near future which in turn will impact the margins of domestic IT and pharma players. Stock specific front, shares of SpiceJet were down 1.3% at around Rs 14.75 after the low-cost airline's net loss widened to Rs 321 crore in Q4 FY13 from Rs 186 crore in the corresponding period last year due to expensive jet fuel, a falling rupee and slow passenger growth. On global front, major Asian equity indices were trading in red with Hang Seng down by 0.50% and Straits Times down by 0.08%. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading above their psychological 7,200 and 24,000 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was negative, out of 2,420 stocks traded, 1,595 stocks advanced, while 730 stocks declined on the BSE. The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 24,200.20 up by 78.46 points or 0.33% after trading in a range of 24,427.10 and 24,107.99. There were 19 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index. The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 2.20%, while Small cap index up by 3.25%. The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 4.86%, Power up by 4.86%, Capital Goods up by 4.46%, Realty up by 4.20%, Oil and Gas up by 3.27% and Bankex up by 2.30%. On the flip side, IT down by 4.98%, Healthcare down by 3.94%, Teck down by 3.56% and FMCG down by 3.22% were the losing indices on BSE.    The top gainers on the Sensex were Coal India up by 9.13%, Tata Power up by 6.68%, SSLT up by 6.30%, Hindalco Inds up by 5.49% and ONGC up by 5.13%. On the flip side, Sun Pharma down by 5.83%, TCS down by 5.49%, Infosys down by 5.00%, Dr Reddy’s Lab down by 4.99% and Wipro down by 4.75%. Meanwhile, Coal Ministry has extended the deadline to June 25 for companies submitting applications to participate in the competitive bidding for three mines in the region of Jharkhand and West Bengal. These three mines have an estimated 500 million tonnes of reserves, for captive use of steel, cement and sponge iron firms. Till now, the government has received 36 applications from various companies include Tata Steel and Jindal Steel in response to the tender for allotment of mines. With an aim to enhance the domestic coal production, the government has recently set up a nine-member panel, which will identify more blocks in addition to already selected 54 mines, for sale through competitive bidding.  Presently, Coal India (CIL) is the only producer of domestic coal accounting for around 80 percent of the domestic production. CIL is also struggling to meet domestic coal requirements and its production fell 4.21 percent short of its production target at 462.53 million tonnes in FY14 amid some mining concerns.  Indian domestic coal demand is around 35 percent higher than domestic supply, resulting into a high deficit of which a huge part is being met by costly imports from Indonesia, South Africa and Australia. Meanwhile, in order to meet India’s growing coal demand, the government has planned to allot coal mines directly to private players under public-private partnership (PPP) mode, which would also end the monopoly of public sector unit Coal India. The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7,228.70 up by 25.70 points or 0.36% after trading in a range of 7,290.35 and 7,193.55. There were 32 stocks advancing against 18 declining on the index. The top gainers of the Nifty were Coal India up by 9.35%, PNB up by 8.07%, SSLT up by 6.68%, Tata Power up by 6.22% and BPCL up by 5.69%. On the flip side, HCL Tech down by 6.90%, Sun Pharma down by 5.86%, TCS down by 5.72%, Infosys down by 4.98% and Wipro down by 4.79% were the major losers on the index. Asian equity indices were trading in red; Hang Seng down by 0.50% to 22,598.59, Straits Times down by 0.08% to 3,260.43, Shanghai Composite down by 1.40% to 1,997.15 and Nikkei 225 down by 0.51% to 14,024.89. While, Jakarta Index up by 0.05% to 5,033.99 and Taiwan Weighted up by 0.13% to 8,899.45

Bulls continue to party despite bouts of profit-booking

With politics taking the centre stage, markets largely ignoring somber global cues continued to trade with hefty gains of over 3.5% on counting trend showing landslide victory of Modi’s led party in general election, which is not only seen as positive development for the country men, but also foreign investors. Although continuing to trade off day’s high on profit-booking, both Sensex and Nifty were in vicinity of life-time high level, which was above the crucial 24,800 and 7,400 levels. Meanwhile, broader indices also participating aggressively into  the rally were trading higher with gains in the range of 1.25%-2.50%. The broad based rally witnessed at Dalal Street, was in absence of participation of defensive Information Technology (IT) and Healthcare stock. On the flip side, massive gains were witnessed in Banking, Realty and Metal counters among the rest. Meanwhile, in the high volume session, trade of over Rs 2.7 lakh crore was done so far. The overall market breadth on BSE was in the favour of advances which thumped declines in the ratio of 1327:518; while 14 shares remained unchanged. The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 24823.43, up by 917.83 points or 3.84% after trading in a range of 25375.63 and 24271.54. There were 25 stocks advancing against 5 stocks declining on the index. The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 2.42%, while Small cap index up by 1.26%. The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Bankex up by 7.33%, Realty up by 7.12%, Metal up by 6.02%, Oil and Gas up by 5.11% and Power up by 4.71%. On the flip side, IT down by 0.42%, Healthcare down by 0.18% were the losing indices on BSE.    The top gainers on the Sensex were SSLT up by 11.66%, ICICI Bank up by 7.82%, Axis Bank up by 7.17%, SBI up by 7.16% and Coal India up by 6.38%. On the flip side, Dr Reddy’s Lab down by 2.50%, Infosys down by 1.07%, Wipro down by 0.86%, HUL down by 0.71% and Cipla down by 0.52%. Meanwhile, buoyed by declining inflation, Finance Secretary Arvind Mayaram has raised optimism in the downhill trajectory of the inflation figures, but has warned government of remaining cautious over the impact of possible deficiency in monsoon due to the El Nino effect. Mayaram exuded hopes of inflation moderating further in the current financial year, after Wholesale Price Index (WPI) in April slowed to two month low at 5.2% from 5.7% in the previous month, mainly due to easing food and fuel prices. Although, the finance Secretary warned of the impact of possible deficiency in monsoon, at the same time pointed at the adequate stocks of food-grains that the country had to meet any eventuality and therefore underscored of little power that sluggish monsoon had to disrupt supply chain. On the retail inflation which shot up to 3-month high in April, Mayaram said that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) generally inches up during the elections and hence dismissed the case of the factor being worrisome, especially because of it being the latest data print ahead of RBI’s monetary policy review on June 3. Meanwhile, on the fiscal deficit front, Mayaram said it would be 4.6% of the GDP in the last fiscal. The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7,402.70, up by 279.55 points or 3.92% after trading in a range of 7,563.50 and 7,264.40. There were 43 stocks advancing against 7 declining on the index. The top gainers of the Nifty were SSLT up by 12.24%, PNB up by 10.21%, DLF up by 8.85%, IndusInd Bank up by 8.57% and Kotak Bank up by 8.54%. On the flip side, Dr Reddy’s Lab down by 2.52%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.66%, Infosys down by 0.88%, Wipro down by 0.75% and HUL down by 0.64% were the major losers on the index. Asian equity indices were trading in red; Hang Seng down by 0.30%, Straits Times down by 0.24%, and Nikkei 225 plunged 1.41%. While, Jakarta Index up by 0.39% and Shanghai Composite up by 0.02% were the only gainers amongst Asian pack. European markets got off to mixed start; with France’s CAC gaining by 0.09%, United Kingdom’s FTSE 100 adding 0.07%. On the flip side, Germany’s DAX was trading lower by 0.07%

Markets continue to trade firm despite some profit booking

Indian bourses after showing outperformance in early deals consolidated in noon trades, holding on to their morning gains despite some profit booking by funds and retail investors. Profit booking emerged at higher levels and marginally corrected the benchmarks, however most of the sectoral indices managed to remain in green supported by gains in rate sensitive stocks such as banking, realty and auto. Selling was witnessed in defensive sectors such as IT, tech and healthcare putting some pressure on the major indices. Sentiment got a boost as early trends pointed to a comprehensive victory for the business friendly BJP-led NDA. The Indian rupee gained sharply against the US dollar amid hefty gains in domestic equity markets and high inflows from foreign institutional investors. Banking was top gaining index on BSE, up by around 6.82% followed by realty and oil and gas indices both up by around 4.40%. Apart from blue chips, broader indices too equally participated in the rally with both mid and small cap indices were trading up by around 1.85% and 0.73%. Among index heavyweights, SSLT, SBI and ICICI bank were the top gainers on BSE trading gaining over 6.5%. Among other stocks, Arvind Limited was up around 1% as the company posted 11.49 per cent growth in its standalone net profit to Rs 94.89 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2014. On the other hand, Zydus Wellness was down by around 3% at Rs 505 after the healthcare firm posted 41.83% decline in consolidated net profit at Rs 21.76 crore for Q4FY14. On global front, Asian equity indices were trading in red with Hang Seng down by 0.65% and Straits Times down by 0.22%. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading above their psychological 7,300 and 24,000 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was negative, out of 2,448 stocks traded, 1,155 stocks advanced, while 1,183 stocks declined on the BSE. The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 24,678.05 up by 772.45 points or 3.23% after trading in a range of 23,375.63 and 24,271.54. There were 25 stocks advancing against 5 stocks declining on the index. The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 1.85%, while Small cap index gained 0.73%. The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Bankex up by 6.82%, Realty up by 4.45%, Oil and Gas up by 4.34%, Auto up by 3.53% and Power up by 3.49%. On the flip side, IT down by 1.10%, Consumer Durables down by 0.69%, Teck down by 0.39% and Healthcare down by 0.23% were the losing indices on BSE.    The top gainers on the Sensex were SSLT up by 7.88%, ICICI Bank up by 7.08%, Axis Bank up by 7.01%, SBI up by 6.61% and HDFC Bank up by 6.48%. On the flip side, Dr Reddy’s Lab down by 1.99%, Infosys down by 1.72%, Wipro down by 1.40%, Cipla down by 0.79% and TCS down by 0.27%. Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) Governor Raghuram Rajan has pointed that a subdued growth, the fiscal and current account deficits and sticky inflation are the four biggest macro-economic challenges. Presently, Indian economy is struggling with slowdown and the factors like high interest rates, low investments and slow execution of infrastructure projects have been impacting economy’s growth. Indian economy’s growth slowed down to 4.6 percent during the first three quarter of FY14 and is likely to remain at sub-5% level in FY14. On inflation front, the Governor has said that despite some improvement in price rise over the past few months, WPI inflation still remained above the Reserve Bank of India's comfort level of 5 percent. Rajan further stated that Interest rate is the best tool available with the central bank to control price rise, whereas the Government too has tools like increasing agricultural production and improving supply to check inflation. Raghuram Rajan added that the new government and the central bank need to work together to check high inflation, which has been eroding the business sentiments in the country. Rajan exuded confidence that retail inflation would come down to 6% by March 2016. The WPI inflation eased to 5.20% in April as against 5.70% in March, while, retail inflation rose to three-month high at 8.59% in April. The country is also witnessing improvement on fiscal as well as current account deficit front. During the April-December FY’14, CAD stood at $31.1 billion (2.3% of GDP) versus $69.8 billion (5.2% of GDP) reported in the same period of previous fiscal year. In the FY14, the CAD is likely to improve to around 2% of GDP level mainly on the back of improved trade deficit figure. Further, the country’s fiscal deficit is expected to contain at 4.5% of GDP in FY14 as compared to the 4.89% of GDP in the previous fiscal year. The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7,357 up by 233.85 points or 3.28% after trading in a range of 7,576.50 and 7,264.40. There were 44 stocks advancing against 6 declining on the index. The top gainers of the Nifty were Grasim up by 8.43%, PNB up by 8.20%, SSLT up by 8.11%, Indusind Bank up by 7.81% and Kotak Bank up by 7.58%. On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 2.32%, Infosys down by 2.14%, Dr Reddy’s Lab down by 2.10%, Wipro down by 1.25% and Cipla down by 0.79% were the major losers on the index. Asian equity indices were trading in red; Hang Seng down by 0.65% to 22,582.88, Straits Times down by 0.22% to 3,265.84, Shanghai Composite down by 0.22% to 3,266.53 and Nikkei 225 down by 1.38% to 14,101.09. While, Jakarta Index up by 0.39% to 5,011.33 and Taiwan Weighted up by 0.09% to 8,888.45

Markets pare early gains; hold their neck in green

Indian equity markets have pared some of their early gains on prevailing caution ahead of the election outcome on Friday. Nevertheless, the momentum still remains on positive side as select buyers continue to add risky equities in their portfolio amidst hopes of stable government, which would help revive the sluggish growth of the economy. Holding their neck in green, while Sensex was trading below the psychological 23, 900 level, Nifty was holding the fort above crucial 7100 bastion. Markets sentiment remained strong on continued capital inflows and widespread buying by retail investors ahead of the outcome of the Lok Sabha elections. Besides, encouraging quarterly earnings by some more companies, including Tata Steel, also triggered buying activity.  On the BSE sectoral front, maximum positions were built in Consumer Durables, followed by Power and Realty stocks, while selling was witnessed in Metal, Teck and IT counters. In scrip specific development, shares of Bajaj Finserv fall as much as 2% after its consolidated net profit dropped more than expected in the January-March quarter. While, shares of Tech Mahindra was trading firm as the company reported a strong growth in revenues, driven by its core telecom business. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed with shares in Japan witnessing profit taking and gains in the yen weighing on investor sentiment. Moreover, US markets fell on Wednesday as investors resumed selling in small-cap and Internet shares. Back home, Adani Ports, Bajaj Auto, Bajaj Holdings, Bank of India, EID Parry, Karnataka Bank and Essar Ports will be in focus on account of March quarter earnings announcement. The market breadth on BSE was negative, out of 2164 stocks traded, 900 stocks advanced, while 1147 stocks declined on the BSE. The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 23859.31 up by 44.19 points or 0.19% after trading in a range of 23971.78 and 23803.71. There were 20 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index. The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.08%, while Small cap index down by 0.25%. The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 1.74%, Power up by 0.77%, Realty up by 0.65%, Healthcare up by 0.47% and Oil & Gas up by 0.21%. While, Metal down by 0.75%, Teck down by 0.26%, IT down by 0.23%, PSU down by 0.16% and Capital Goods down by 0.12% were the losing indices on BSE.    The top gainers on the Sensex were NTPC up by 2.43%, Gail India up by 2.18%, Sun Pharma up by 2.02%, Tata Power up by 1.95% and Hindustan Unilever up by 1.15%. On the flip side, Coal India was down by 1.75%, ICICI Bank was down by 0.80%, ONGC was down by 0.77%, TCS was down by 0.68% and Hindalco down by 0.64% were the top losers on the Sensex. Meanwhile, with an aim to enhance the domestic coal production, the government has set up a nine-member panel, which will identify more blocks in addition to already selected 54 mines, for sale through competitive bidding. The panel’s members have been drawn from the Coal Ministry, Coal India and its subsidiaries and office of the Coal Controller. The panel will select coal blocks from areas explored after 2008. The panel will also examine the present status of Coal India (CIL) in the development of already allotted blocks to it and find out scope of re-allocation of blocks to CIL. Besides, the panel will also examine the status of CBM (coal-bed methane) blocks, areas relinquished by operators and also identify de-allocated blocks having no legal dispute. The Government has already offered three coal blocks for auction in the region of Jharkhand and West Bengal for the captive use for steel, cement and sponge iron companies.Presently, Coal India (CIL) is the only producer of domestic coal accounting for around 80 percent of the domestic production. CIL is also struggling to meet domestic coal requirements and its production fell 4.21 percent short of its production target at 462.53 million tonnes in FY14 amid some mining concerns. India, despite being world's fifth largest in terms of reserves and the third-largest producer of coal, has failed to keep pace with increasing domestic demand. Indian domestic coal demand is around 35 percent higher than domestic supply, resulting into a high deficit of which a huge part is being met by costly imports from Indonesia, South Africa and Australia. Acute coal shortages in the country have become primary reason for power deficit as coal-fired plants account for 68% of India's installed electricity capacity. Meanwhile, newly constituted panel would expedite the coal auction process and soon invite bids from private players to start coal mining in a public-private partnership (PPP) mode in the country, which will also end the monopoly of public sector unit Coal India The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7,117.85 up by 9.10 points or 0.13% after trading in a range of 7,152.55 and 7,106.00. There were 27 stocks advancing against 23 declining on the index. The top gainers of the Nifty were NTPC up by 2.55%, Tata Power up by 2.01%, Sun Pharma up by 1.90%, Gail up by 1.86% and DLF up by 1.34%. On the flip side, Asian Paint down by 3.58%, Bank Baroda down by 2.59%, NMDC down by 2.10%, Coal India down by 1.92% and BPCL down by 1.31% were the top losers on the index. Asian equity indices were trading mixed; Shanghai Composite declined by 0.87%, KLSE Composite slipped by 0.05%, Nikkei 225 tumbled by 1.01% and Taiwan Weighted was down by 0.13%. On the flip side, Hang Seng added 0.26%, Seoul Composite up by 0.12%, Jakarta Composite soared 1.43% and Straits Times was up by 0.16%.

Benchmarks trade higher in early deals on Thursday

Resuming the northward journey, Indian equity benchmarks have made a positive start and are trading in fine fettle in early deals on Thursday. Some support came in from currency front, where the rupee firmed up against the dollar and was quoting at Rs 59.56 compared to Tuesday’s close of Rs 59.68. However, up-side remained capped as investors opted to remain on sidelines ahead of final results of elections on May 16 and markets seem to have more or less priced in the exit poll prediction of a majority for the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the Lok Sabha. On the global front, the US markets ended considerably lower as selling picked up after the troubling inflation data, however it was mainly profit taking that dragged the major averages firmly into negative territory. Asian markets were trading mixed at this point of time with shares in Japan witnessing profit taking and gains in the yen weighing on investor sentiment. Back home, on the sectoral front, consumer durables, power and realty witnessed the maximum gain in trade, while metal, technology and software remained the top losers on the BSE sectoral space. The broader indices too were trading in line with benchmarks, while the market breadth on the BSE was positive; there were 961 shares on the gaining side against 681 shares on the losing side while 92 shares remain unchanged. The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 23887.97, up by 72.85 points or 0.31% after trading in a range of 23971.78 and 23803.71. There were 23 stocks advancing against 7 declines on the index. The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.31% and Small cap index gained 0.32%. The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were, Consumer Durables up by 1.55%, Realty up by 1.03%, Power up by 0.86%, Health Care up by 0.82% and FMCG up by 0.47%, while Metal down by 0.27%, TECK down by 0.10% and IT down by 0.06% were the top losers. The top gainers on the Sensex were Gail India up by 2.43%, NTPC up by 2.07%, Sun Pharma up by 1.83%, Tata Power up by 1.71% and BHEL up by 1.43%. On the flip side, Coal India was down by 1.22%,ICICI Bank was down by 1.06%, TCS was down by 0.42%, Wipro was down by 0.11% and Bharti Airtel down by 0.06% were the top losers on the Sensex. Meanwhile, India is likely to overtake Japan to become the world's third largest oil consumer behind the US and China by 2025, according to the report of the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). The US EIA, in its Annual Energy Outlook report highlighted that India's oil consumption is expected to rise from 3.68 million barrels per day (173.5 million tonnes) in 2012 to 5.19 million bpd in 2025, overtaking Japan's 4.38 million bpd consumption.  The report further added that during the period 2012-2040, India's oil consumption growth rate will be highest in the world with around 3 percent compounded annual growth rate to 8.33 million bpd in 2040. On global front, the US EIA report highlighted that China's oil consumption is projected to rise from 10.36 million barrels per day in 2012 to 15.70 million bpd in 2025 and 20.48 million bpd in 2040, posting a compounded annual growth rate of 2.5 percent during 2012-2040. The US will continue to be the world's biggest oil consumer but with almost no demand growth. The US consumed 18.21 million bpd of oil in 2012 which is projected to increase 18.97 million bpd in 2025 and to 18.42 million bpd in 2040. Japan consumed 4.75 million bpd of oil in 2012. India currently is the fourth largest oil consumer in the world behind the US, China and Japan, and imports around 80 percent of its oil needs. In the previous year 2013, India had overtaken Japan as the world's third-biggest crude oil importer. It imported 3.86 million bpd of crude oil in 2013, nearly 6 percent higher than Japan's customs-cleared imports of 3,648,372 bpd. The US EIA report estimates that India will become the world's largest oil importer by 2020. Meanwhile, the Government of India (GoI) has formulated a roadmap for cutting India's dependence on imports to meet its oil needs. The Government wants country’s oil imports dependence to be cut to 50 percent by 2020 and by 25 percent in 2025 through intensive exploration and exploitation of untapped reserves. Presently, only 0.93 million sq km area in India is held under exploration and production in 19 basins as compared to total estimated sedimentary area of 3.14 million square kilometres, comprising 26 sedimentary basins. The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7,124.75 up by 16.00 points or 0.23% after trading in a range of 7,152.55 and 7,109.30. There were 35 stocks advancing against 13 declines while 2 stocks remains unchanged on the index. The top gainers of the Nifty were GAIL up by 2.45%, NTPC up by 2.35%, DLF up by 2.24%, Sun Pharma up by 1.77% and Tata Power up by 1.59%. On the flip side, Asian Paint down by 3.08%, Bank Baroda down by 1.52%, Coal India down by 1.41%, ICICI Bank down by 1.06% and NMDC down by 0.85% were the top losers on the index. Most of Asian equity indices were trading in red; Shanghai Composite declined 15.12 points or 0.74% to 2,032.79, KLSE Composite slipped by 1.03 points or 0.05% to 1,878.17, Nikkei 225 tumbled by 114.91 points or 0.80% to 14,290.85, Seoul Composite dipped 2.80 points or 0.14% to 2,008.03 and Taiwan Weighted was down by 18.25 points or 0.21% to 8,856.91. On the flip side, Hang Seng added 55.75 points or 0.25% to 22,638.52, Jakarta Composite soared 70.24 points or 1.43% to 4,991.64 and Straits Times was up by 6.78 points or 0.21% to 3,265.87.

Strong trade continues in markets; Nifty breaches 7,100 mark

Indian equity markets remained well entrenched in positive territory in the late morning session on Tuesday amid strong and sustained buying in several blue chip stocks. The Sensex climbed 313 points, while Nifty breached 7,100 mark. Sustained capital inflows by foreign funds at the domestic bourses and widespread buying by retail investors after exit polls showing the BJP-led NDA forming the government lifted the key indices to new highs. The BJP-led NDA is projected to win between 249 and 340 seats, according to six exit polls. It needs 272 seats for a simple majority. Over the last two sessions, FIIs have bought shares worth around Rs 2,500 crore. Domestic institutional investors, who have been net sellers in markets so far, also turned buyers on Monday, although the quantum of buying was very small at Rs 90 crore. Moreover, firm global cues coupled with the appreciation in rupee value against the dollar too added to the optimistic sentiments. However, the sluggish economic fundamentals are likely to cap any major gains in the shares over the next few sessions. Late Monday, India reported a contraction in its industrial output in March while its inflation accelerated in April, the latest indications that Indian economy is still struggling with signs of stagflation. On the global front, Asian shares surged, with the regional benchmark index on course for its biggest increase in more than six weeks, as investors weighed earnings and after US equity indexes climbed to records. Back home, broader indices too were trading higher by one and half a percent. With extensive buying, all the sectoral indices were trading in green with impressive gains. Ashoka Buildcon, Castrol India, Dr Reddys Lab, Bank of Baroda, IIFL and Punjab National Bank will be in focus on account of March quarter earnings announcement. The market breadth on BSE was positive, out of 2,174 stocks traded, 1,343 stocks advanced, while 717 stocks declined on the BSE. The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 23,864.35 up by 313.35 points or 1.33 % after trading in a range of 23921.91 and 23729.25. There were 27 stocks advancing against 3 stocks declining on the index. The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 1.65%, while Small cap index was up by 1.70%. The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 3.95%, Power up by 3.65%, Realty up by 3.18%, PSU up by 3.14% and Capital Goods up by 2.58%, while there were no losers on the sectoral space. The top gainers on the Sensex were BHEL up by 8.77%, ONGC up by 4.51%, Gail India up by 4.19%, Tata Steel up by 3.99% and NTPC up by 3.87%. On the flip side, Dr Reddys Lab down by 1.44%, Bajaj Auto down by 0.43% and HDFC Bank down by 0.39%. Meanwhile, Driven by higher food prices, the provisional annual inflation rate based on all India general Consumer Price Index (CPI) (Combined) rose to three months high of 8.59% from 8.31% in March. According to the data, CPI numbers of March 2014 for Rural, Urban and Combined stood at 140.6, 137.2 and 139.1 respectively. The corresponding provisional inflation rates for rural and urban areas for April 2014 stood at 9.25% and 7.69% as compared to 8.89% and 7.51% respectively in the previous month. Food prices for consumers rose at 9.66% in last month from a year earlier, higher than March’s 9.10% rise.  The Provisional annual inflation rates of April 2014 for Rural and Urban in respect of ‘food and beverages’ stood at 10.45% and 8.24% for month under review compared to 9.95% and 7.47% respectively in March, 2014. Additionally, Provisional annual inflation rates (Combined) for Fuel and light; Clothing, bedding and footwear stood at 5.96% and 8.83% respectively for the month of April.  However, the core consumer price index (CPI) eased modestly to 7.80% in April from a year earlier and from a 7.82% in March. This is a bit of positive since core inflation for the past few months has remained below 8%, a level Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) chief Raghuram Rajan deems uncomfortably high. However, latest reading adds to woes of policy maker, which will review its monetary policy next on June 3, 2014. India has been battling a prolonged spell of high inflation and low growth. While economic growth has almost halved to below 5% for the past two years, the worst slowdown for the South Asian nation since the 1980s, inflation too is not showing any signs of receding. The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7,112.20 up by 97.95 points or 1.40% after trading in a range of 7,067.15 and 7,112.20. There were 47 stocks advancing against 3 declining on the index. The top gainers of the Nifty were BHEL up by 8.21%, DLF up by 4.96%, ONGC up by 4.59%, Gail up by 4.17% and Tata Steel up by 4.15%. On the flip side, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories down by 1.58%, Bajaj-Auto down by 0.51% and HDFC Bank down by 0.45% were the only losers on the index. Most  of Asian equity indices were trading in green; Hang Seng increased by 0.28%, Jakarta Composite rose by 0.27%, Nikkei 225 spurted by 2.12%,  Seoul Composite climbed 1.14% and  Taiwan Weighted was up by 0.04%. On the flip side, Shanghai Composite was down by 0.06%. Malaysia and Singapore markets remained shut for the trade today for Wesak Day holiday.

Benchmarks scale new highs in early deals as exit poll suggests NDA win

Extending their gaining streak for fourth straight session, Indian equity markets have made a gap-up opening and are trading jubilantly with a gain of over a percentage point, as exit polls unveiled on Monday evening predicted that the Modi-led NDA is set to cross the magic figure of 272 in the just-concluded elections. Sentiments also remained up-beat on report that overseas investors put in Rs 1,200 crore into equities, taking their two-day investment tally to nearly Rs 2,500 crore ($420 million) on Monday, as per provisional figures provided by the stock exchanges. On the global front, the Asian markets were trading mostly in the green with some gauges on course for their biggest increase in more than six weeks. Though, the Chinese market was trading slightly lower ahead of retail sales and industrial output data. The US markets surged and the major averages ended the day firmly in positive territory, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq posting a standout gain. Back home, traders overlooked the weak set of economic data announced after the market hours, as the Industrial production contracted for the second month running in March, while consumer inflation accelerated to a three-month high in April. IIP contacted 0.5% in March, compared with a 1.8% decline in February, while CPI inflation accelerated to 8.59% in April from 8.31% in March. Back on street, none of the sectoral indices were trading in the red, while power and realty witnessed the maximum gain in trade. Capital goods, oil and gas, consumer durables, metal, auto, Technology and software too were trading significantly. The broader indices too were trading in-line with benchmarks, while the market breadth on the BSE was positive; there were 1,168 shares on the gaining side against 548 shares on the losing side while 82 shares remain unchanged. The market breadth on BSE remains positive with advances to declines in the ratio of 1152:515. BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty were comfortably trading near their psychological 23,500 and 7,000 levels respectively. The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 23830.30, up by 279.30 points or 1.19% after trading in a range of 23921.91 and 23729.25. There were 26 stocks advancing against 4 declines on the index. The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 1.40% and Small cap index gained 1.25%. The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were, Power up by 3.54%, Realty up by 3.05%, PSU up by 2.87%, Oil & Gas up by 2.44% and Capital Goods up by 2.27%, while there was no loser. The top gainers on the Sensex were BHEL up by 7.79%, ONGC up by 4.20%, NTPC up by 3.87%, Tata Power up by 3.55% and Gail India up by 3.33%. On the flip side, Dr Reddys Lab was down by 0.86% and Bajaj Auto was down by 0.15% were the top losers on the Sensex. Meanwhile, driven by higher food prices, the provisional annual inflation rate based on all India general Consumer Price Index (CPI) (Combined) rose to three months high of 8.59% from 8.31% in March. According to the data, CPI numbers of March 2014 for Rural, Urban and Combined stood at 140.6, 137.2 and 139.1 respectively. The corresponding provisional inflation rates for rural and urban areas for April 2014 stood at 9.25% and 7.69% as compared to 8.89% and 7.51% respectively in the previous month. Food prices for consumers rose at 9.66% in last month from a year earlier, higher than March’s 9.10% rise.  The Provisional annual inflation rates of April 2014 for Rural and Urban in respect of ‘food and beverages’ stood at 10.45% and 8.24% for month under review compared to 9.95% and 7.47% respectively in March, 2014. Additionally, Provisional annual inflation rates (Combined) for Fuel and light; Clothing, bedding and footwear stood at 5.96% and 8.83% respectively for the month of April.  However, the core consumer price index (CPI) eased modestly to 7.80% in April from a year earlier and from a 7.82% in March. This is a bit of positive since core inflation for the past few months has remained below 8%, a level Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) chief Raghuram Rajan deems uncomfortably high. However, latest reading adds to woes of policy maker, which will review its monetary policy next on June 3, 2014. India has been battling a prolonged spell of high inflation and low growth. While economic growth has almost halved to below 5% for the past two years, the worst slowdown for the South Asian nation since the 1980s, inflation too is not showing any signs of receding. The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7,099.10 up by 84.85 points or 1.21% after trading in a range of 7,116.20 and 7,067.15. There were 44 stocks advancing against 6 declines on the index. The top gainers of the Nifty were BHEL up by 7.70%, DLF up by 5.13%, ONGC up by 4.14%, BPCL up by 4.09% and NTPC up by 4.05%. On the flip side, DR Reddy down by 1.10%, Bajaj-Auto down by 0.21%, Cipla down by 0.19%, Coal India down by 0.03% and Sun Pharma down by 0.02% were the top losers on the index. Most  of Asian equity indices were trading in green; Hang Seng increased by 55.22 points or 0.25% to 22,316.83, Jakarta Composite rose by 12.10 points or 0.25% to 4,925.10, Nikkei 225 spurted by 271.44 points or 1.92% to 14,420.96,  Seoul Composite climbed 21.33 points or 1.09% to 1,986.27 and  Taiwan Weighted was up by 15.32 points or 0.17% to 8,823.93. On the flip side, Shanghai Composite was down by 1.24 points or 0.06% to 2,051.64. Malaysia and Singapore markets remained shut for the trade today for Wesak Day holiday.