The main Indian stock indices have flared up in early morning trade, buoyed by a strong undercurrent across other Asian markets and overnight rally in the US markets. The European markets also ended higher on Wednesday. All the sectoral indices are trading with a positive bias, led by Metals, Capital Goods, Power and Realty indices. The Auto index is the only sectoral play trading in the negative territory as Maruti shares have tanked following overnight violence at its Manesar plant.
At 9:17am (IST), the BSE Sensex was at 17,305, up 120 points over the previous close.It had earlier touched a day’s high of 17,317 and aday’s low of 17,288. It opened at 17,288.
NSE Nifty was quoting at 5,249 up 32 points over the previous close. It had earlier touched a day’s high of 5257 and aday’s low of 5248.It opened at 5249.
Infosys, Wipro, BHEL, Tata Motors,SBI, Tata Power,ICICI Bank, L&T, Dr Reddys Lab, Sterlite are among the gainers in Sensex and Nifty.
Bharti Airtel, Maruti Suzuki, Tata Communication, Bajaj Auto are among the losers in Sensex and Nifty.
The BSE Small-Cap index and BSE Mid-Cap index was trading up 1%.
Market breadth is positive as the broader indices too have joined the party. The INDIA VIX is down ~3%.
Bajaj Auto is also in the red after surging by ~5% on Wednesday post the company's first-quarter results. Hero MotoCorp is nervous ahead of its earnings today.
Kotak Mahindra Bank and Dr. Reddy's are marginally higher before their Q1 FY13 results later today.
A little better morning was in store after the main Indian stock indices snapped a five-day losing streak on Wednesday. Global cues are pretty good and this could bring some gains at least early on in today’s session.
Asian markets are mostly higher this morning. US equity benchmarks closed up as well, spurred by encouraging technology results and positive data on the housing sector. US housing starts jumped in June to the highest level in four years.
Fed chairman Ben Bernanke reiterated the central bank’s resolve to breathe more life into the US economy if things get worse. Bernanke doesn’t expect a double-dip recession in the US. However, the Fed Beige Book survey says the US economy slowed in June and early July. Overall US growth remains 'modest to moderate’. The bad news for India is that Brent crude is hovering around US$105 a barrel.
Pranab Mukherjee is all set to win the race to the Rashtrapati Bhavan today, as the UPA has the right numbers on its side. Markets are more interested in what the Government would do on the policy front after the Presidential polls.
As far as domestic economic data is concerned, the consumer prices remained elevated and sticky in June. What's worse, food prices could spike in the wake of a weak monsoon. Fuel prices, particularly the regulated ones, might rise after the Presidential election.
Maruti is under pressure after one employee died and several others got injured at its Manesar plant following a fresh labour turmoil late on Wednesday. Hero MotoCorp, Dr. Reddy’s and Kotak Mahindra Bank will announce their results today along with few others.
The IT pack could be in the spotlight after IBM raised its annual earnings estimate.
Germany’s parliament is scheduled to vote on the rescue package for troubled Spanish banks on Thursday.
The trading action on Wednesday was a bit volatile, with a late rally leading to a formation of ‘Hammer’ pattern on the candlestick charts. The Nifty has extended the trading range to 5160-5360 levels, but in the short-term a move above 5230 could provide temporary relief.
Main Results Today: Ajanta Pharma, Autoline Industries, BOC India, DB Corp., Dish TV, Dr. Reddy's, Hero MotoCorp, Hindustan Media, Infomedia 18, Kirloskar Oil Engines, Kotak Mahindra Bank, L&T Finance, NIIT Tech, Persistent Systems, Tata Sponge, Timken India and Zee News.
Trend in FII flows: The FIIs were net buyers of Rs 2.76bn in the cash segment on Wednesday while the domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net sellers of Rs 1.65bn, as per the provisional figures released by the NSE.
The FIIs were net sellers at Rs 5.28bn in the F&O segment on Wednesday, according to the provisional NSE data.
The foreign funds were net buyers of Rs 5.70bn in the cash segment on Tuesday while the Mutual Funds were net sellers at Rs 916mn, according to the SEBI figures.
Global Data Watch: National Australia Bank's Business Confidence, Japan Leading Economic Index (May), Switzerland Trade Balance (June), Eurozone Current Account s.a (May), Italy Industrial Orders n.s.a (YoY) (May), UK Retail Sales (YoY) (June), ECB mid-month meeting, US Initial Jobless Claims (July 14), US Existing Home Sales Change (June) and Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Survey (July).