Khaleej Times - Equity indices trade higher, pharma and auto stocks gain in India

Equity benchmark indices advanced by 0.8 per cent during early hours on Monday with pharma, auto and financial stocks in the lead.

At 10:15 am, the BSE S&P Sensex was up by 300 points or 0.79 per cent at 38,341 while the Nifty 50 gained by 92 points or 0.82 per cent at 11,306.

Except for Nifty metal which slipped marginally, all sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were in the green with Nifty pharma gaining by 3.3 per cent, financial service by 1.3 per cent and auto by 0.8 per cent.

Among stocks, Cipla was up by 5.3 per cent to Rs 767.50 per share while Sun Pharma ticked up by 1.6 per cent to Rs 534.20.

Mahindra & Mahindra gained by 4.3 per cent, Tata Motors by 1.8 per cent, Larsen & Toubro by 3.6 per cent, State Bank of India by 2.2 per cent and Kotak Mahindra Bank by 2 per cent.

However, Maruti Suzuki slipped by 1.1 per cent, Hindalco by 0.8 per cent and Nestle India by 0.3 per cent.

Following the mixed global market cues Indian market is trading higher boosted by quarter1 earnings.

"Nifty50 and BSE Sensex both are up by 0.70 per cent. In Nifty50 gain is led by Cipla which is up by 8 per cent, M&M is up by 6.10 per cent and LT is up by 4.82 per cent. Cipla hit 52 weeks high after reporting 26.6 per cent increase in profit y/y basis in June quarter," said Vijay Valecha, chief investment officer of Century Financial.

Among the sectoral indices, pharma is up by 5.15 per cent, auto is up by 1.59 per cent, Bank is up by 1.11 per cent and IT is up by 0.68 per cent.

"Market will remain volatile amid US-China tension and further negotiation on US Stimulus package," added Valecha.

Asian stocks were in tight ranges as worries over flaring tensions between the United States and China weighed on market sentiment.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan see-sawed between red and green as trading was expected to be light with Japanese and Singaporean markets closed for public holidays.

Chinese shares started lower with the blue-chip CSI300 down a shade and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index falling 0.2 per cent.

While deteriorating US-China relations hung heavy on sentiment, data showing a slowing in China's factory deflation boosted hopes of economic recovery in the world's second-biggest economy.

Meanwhile, the Indian rupee is trading with marginal gains at 74.90 per US dollar, to quote at Dh20.40 amid buying seen in the domestic equity market. It opened flat at 74.95 per dollar against Friday's close of 74.93.

Abhishek Goenka Founder, and CEO, IFA Global, said: "Axis and HDFC Bank QIP related inflows are likely to hit the markets this week. This would cap upside in USDINR. 75.50 is likely to act as a strong resistance. We expect the RBI to continue absorbing inflows through nationalized banks and continue with its strategy of Reserve accumulation. 74.50 continue to act as solid support. Break of 74.50 could trigger stop losses and lead to a swift move lower. Until then, 74.50-75.50 continues to remain the range for USDINR."

Sentiment in the bond market has taken a hit after RBI left the policy rates unchanged. The RBI board is to meet on 14th August to decide on the surplus transfer to the government. Bond markets would take further cues from the dividend number that is announced.

"Among Asian currencies, Indonesian Rupiah and Korean Won are trading weaker against the USD. The rupee is likely to open around 75.00 and trade 74.85-75.15 range intraday," said Goenka.

India foreign exchange reserve increased to $534.6 billion from $522.6 billion for the week of 31 July. For the day 74.52 & 75.30 could work as support and resistance.

Source: Khaleej Times