Benchmarks make decent start on the back of easing political concerns

The Indian equity markets have made a decent start tracking positive cues from across the globe and easing political concerns. The US markets closed higher overnight as crude cooled off a bit. The Asian markets were trading mostly in the positive terrain at this point of time, indicating strong investors' sentiments. Back home, markets were trading in the positive terrain on the back of easing political concerns after the DMK and Congress agreed on a seat-sharing formula for the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections which buoyed the trading sentiment. On the sectoral front, consumer durables, banking and auto stocks were witnessing maximum gains in the trade, while healthcare, software and technology were the top losers on the BSE sectoral space. The broader indices outperformed the benchmark. Moreover, PSU oil marketing companies viz., Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) and Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) were trading with a gain in the range of 0.50%-1% as crude cooled off. The market breadth on the BSE was positive; there were 1,196 shares on the gaining side against 383 shares on the losing side while 48 shares remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex opened at 18,522.80; about 83 points higher compared to its previous closing of 18,439.65, and has touched a high and a low of 18,583.30 and 18,486.37, respectively.

The index is currently trading at 18,488.47, up by 48.82 points or 0.26%. There were 23 stocks advancing against 7 declines on the index.

The overall market breadth has made a positive start with 73.51% stocks advancing against 23.54% declines. The broader indices were outperforming benchmarks; the BSE Mid cap and Small cap indices were up 0.61% and 0.82% respectively. 

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were, Realty up by 0.97%, CD up by 0.96%, Bankex up by 0.76%, Auto up by 0.70% and FMCG was up by 0.57%. While, HC down by 0.13%, IT down by 0.12% and TECk down by 0.09% were the only losers on the index.

The top gainers on the Sensex were DLF up by 1.60%, Bajaj Auto up by 1.39%, Hindalco up by 1.23%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.05% and ICICI Bank up by 1.00%.

Bharti Airtel down by 0.51%, Sterlite Industries down by 0.50%, Cipla down by 0.44%, Infosys down by 0.26% and Reliance Industries down by 0.24%, were the top losers on the index.

Meanwhile, in order to ensure that goods, services and technology are made available to consumers at affordable prices and at acceptable standards of quality, the government has proposed to formulate a national consumer policy (NCP). The department of Consumer Affairs has sought comments from all stakeholders regarding the policy and it has uploaded a draft NCP on the department's website.

The Minister of State for Consumer Affairs Arun Yadav said in a written reply to Lok Sabha that "The Draft National Consumer policy (NCP) proposes to lay down a national policy that will ensure that goods, services and technology are available to consumers at reasonable prices and at acceptable standards of quality."

The National Consumer Policy seeks to provide guidelines to different branches of the Government and agencies at all levels in maintaining the appropriate consumer dimension while taking any step or decision which will have an impact on consumers' interests. As such, policy is not only about legislation governing consumer interest nor restricted to redressal of consumer complaints. It is a document which will guide the government in maintaining the appropriate consumer dimension while taking any step or decision which will affect the consumers.

Meanwhile, the implementation strategies for the same would be encouraging the establishment of internal dispute resolution mechanisms for all manufacturers and service providers, using legislation for enforcement of the rights of consumers, use of Essential Commodities Act for non market interventions and ensuring harmonization of standards at both national and international levels to promote better choices.

The ultimate deliverables would be that consumers should be empowered to make real choices, enhancement of consumer welfare through promotion of competition, consumers are informed and educated about the products and services they are purchasing.

The S&P CNX Nifty opened at 5,542.40; about 22 points higher compared to its previous closing of 5,520.80, and has touched a high and a low of 5,563.30 and 5,533.25 respectively.

The index is currently trading at 5,535.80, up by 15 points or 0.27%. There were 37 stocks advancing against 13 declines on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were Kotak Bank up by 2.36%, SAIL up by 1.82%, IDFC up by 1.57%, DLF up by 1.44% and Hindalco up by 1.23%.

The top losers of the index were Cairn down by 1.62%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.82%, Dr Reddy down by 0.78%, Sun Pharma down by 0.68% and Sterlite Industries was down by 0.65%.

Asian markets were trading mostly in the green; Hang Seng was up 144.15 points or 0.61% to 23,855.85, Jakarta Composite was up 7.54 points or 0.21% to 3,587.86, KLSE Composite was up 6.14 points or 0.40% to 1,523.80, Nikkei 225 was up 82.21 points or 0.78% to 10,607.40, Seoul Composite was up 5.59 points or 0.28% to 2,001.91 and Taiwan Weighted was up by 23.80 points or 0.27% to 8,771.55.

On the flip side, Shanghai Composite was down 4.21 points or 0.14% to 2,995.73 and Straits Times was down by 8.84 points or 0.28% to 3,095.00.

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