Benchmarks hold early gains; Capital Goods, Auto lead

The BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.04% and Small cap index was down by 0.14%

Indian benchmarks- Sensex, Nifty recovered over 0.15% in the late morning session on fresh buying by funds and retail investors in select stocks. Sentiments got some support from a positive trend in the Asian region. On the global front, most of the Asian equity indices were trading in the green at this point of time after Chinese exports grew 25.0 percent in January from a year ago, the strongest showing since April 2011 and well ahead of market expectations for a 17 percent rise, while imports also beat forecasts, surging 28.8 percent on the year. Back home, the traders were seen piling up position in IT, Auto and Realty while selling was seen in Consumer Durables, Capital Goods and Metal sectors. In scrip specific development, Drug maker Sun Pharma advanced on reporting net profit rises by 32% in Q3 consolidated.

Utility vehicles major M&M gained ahead of reporting quarterly earnings. ACC dropped on reporting 46% fall in Q4 consolidated net profit. Drug maker Cipla extended losses after Q3 margins were weaker than expected. The NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were managing to hold their psychological 5900 and 19,600 levels respectively.


The market breadth on BSE was negative; advances: declines in the ratio of 970: 1025.


The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 19630.69 up by 50.37 points or 0.26% after trading in a range of 19640.84 and 19568.57. There were 18 stocks advancing against 12 declines on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.04% and Small cap index was down by 0.14%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Capital Goods up by 0.90%, Auto up by 0.72%, Consumer Durables up by 0.70%, Power up by 0.50% and TECk up by 0.39%. While, Oil & Gas down by 0.44%, Metal down by 0.21%, PSU down by 0.18% and Health Care down by 0.14% were the top losers on the index.

The top gainers on the Sensex were BHEL up by 1.38%, TCS up by 1.30%, Bajaj Auto up by 1.30%, Tata Motors up by 1.26%, and L&T up by 1.25%.

On the flip side, Cipla was down by 2.04%, Coal India was down by 1.76%, RIL was down by 0.64%, Tata Power was down by 0.46% and  ICICI Bank was down by 0.46% were the top losers on the Sensex.
Meanwhile, the new National Steel Policy draft has proposed the allocation of captive iron ore mines to producers through open bidding and putting some mines in a general category for all bidders. The draft has projected India's iron ore requirement to increase to 392 MT by 2025-26, from around 200 MT at present.
The new policy draft seeks to replace the existing one that was formulated in 2005 and suggest ways to create an environment conducive for the growth of the industry that is weighed down by the issues like land acquisition and raw material scarcity.

Recognizing lack of raw material security, as a major constraint in increasing steel capacity, the draft said 'lack of raw material security has been one of the major causes for tardy progress of steel capacity expansion. The government will consider to further strengthen the provisions of allocation of captive iron mines to steel producers in a transparent manner through a process of open bidding for all the well prospected mines'.

Further, to ensure the raw material security, it has recommended restricting the exports and has also warned that the country may have to import iron ore in large quantities in the future at the forecast rate of growth of the steel industry. Given the possibility of early exhaustion of iron ore, the government will constitute an inter-ministerial committee to draw a road map or phased reduction of iron ore exports to a moderate level, the draft said. 

The draft also added that while holding a general policy to discourage iron ore exports, the government will actively engage itself in granting iron ore mining concessions in an absolutely transparent manner to draw adequate investment into the area and to ensure that there is sufficient mining capacity to feed the growing demand for iron ore within the country

The S&P CNX Nifty is currently trading at 5,948.15 up by 9.35 points or 0.16% after trading in a range of 5,953.30 and 5,929.05. There were 27 stocks advancing against 23 declines on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were BHEL up by 1.58%, Tata Motors up by 1.33%, TCS up by 1.30%, L&T up by 1.29% and Bajaj-Auto up by 1.28%.

On the flip side, Ambuja Cements down by 2.78%, Cipla down by 2.02%, Coal India down by 1.86%, ACC down by 1.25% and BPCL down by 1.23%, were the major losers on the index.

Most of the Asian equity indices were trading in the green; Shanghai Composite rose 8.29 points or 0.34% to 2,426.82, Hang Seng increased 41.03 points or 0.18% to 23,218.03, KLSE Composite added 3.50points or 0.22% to 1,623.07, Straits Times jumped 10.97 points or 0.34% to 3,272.30 and KOSPI Composite was up by 21.09 points or 1.09% to 1,952.72.

On the flip side, Jakarta Composite slipped 3.69 points or 0.08% to 4,499.46 and Nikkei 225 was up by 150.75 points or 1.33% to 11,206.32.

Taiwan Weighted remained shut for the trade today.