Benchmarks turn positive after a flat-to-negative start

The Indian equity markets are trading in a positive terrain after making a flat-to-negative start. The US markets closed marginally lower overnight, while the Asian markets were trading mostly in the positive terrain at this point of time. Back home, sustain buying in key heavyweights and broader indices kept the momentum on the positive side and BSE's Sensex regained its crucial 18,000 level. On the sectoral front, banking, metal and capital goods were witnessing maximum gains in the trade, while auto, software and technology were the only losers on the BSE sectoral space. The broader indices were out performing benchmarks. Moreover, sugar stocks continued their upward journey for yet another session and stocks like Shree Renuka Sugar, Bajaj Hindustan and Balrampur Chini all were trading with a gain of over two percent after the government decided to allow sugar exports of up to five lakh tonnes. The market breadth on the BSE was positive; there were 991 shares on the gaining side against 518 shares on the losing side while 81 shares remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex opened at 17,972.04; about 16 points lower compared to its previous closing of 17,988.30, and has touched a high and a low of 18,047.12 and 17,950.17, respectively.

The index is currently trading at 18,038.03, up by 49.73 points or 0.28%. There were 22 stocks advancing against 8 declines on the index.

The overall market breadth has made a positive start with 62.33% stocks advancing against 32.58% declines. The broader indices were outperforming benchmarks; the BSE Mid cap and Small cap indices were up 0.49% and 0.43% respectively. 

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were, Bankex up by 0.82%, HC up by 0.71%, Metal up by 0.49%, CG up by 0.40% and Power up by 0.30%. While, Auto down by 0.35%, IT down by 0.10% and TECk down by 0.01%, were the only losers on the index.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ICICI Bank up by 1.73%, Hero Honda up by 1.26%, Jaiprakash Associates up by 1.18%, Cipla up by 1.16% and Sterlite Industries up by 1.05%.

Mahindra and Mahindra down by 0.98%, Maruti Suzuki down by 0.73%, TCS down by 0.65%, Tata Motors down by 0.33% and ITC down by 0.15%, were the top losers on the index.

Meanwhile, in a bid to provide further boost to the ambitious Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM), the Government of India (GoI) has announced that it will dole out around Rs 1500 crore over the next two years to banks and finance companies to lend money to solar energy projects at a generous 5% interest rate.

Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA), an arm of the renewable energy ministry will provide interest-free loans to lenders such as Sidbi, National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) and National Housing Bank etc. who will be helping those companies involved in small solar power projects. The agency, in addition, would also provide funds to state-run banks in urban areas at 2% interest rate.

The project for which these funding are being made come under Phase 1 of the national solar mission, which aims to add 20,000 MW of solar power by 2022. The Mission has set a target of 20,000 MW and stipulates implementation and achievement of the target in 3 phases (first phase upto 2012-13, second phase from 2013 to 2017 and the third phase from 2017 to 2022) for various components, including grid connected solar power. Public agencies such as IREDA) along with Power Finance Corporation (PFC) and Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) have been given the task of financing this mission by the government.

Meanwhile, the loans sanctioned by IREDA have increased from Rs 1,823 crore in 2009-10 to about Rs 2,300 crore this year. With disbursements growing at a robust 30%, the agency is likely to achieve Rs 1,150 crore in the current fiscal as against Rs 889 crore in the last fiscal. It is also likely to achieve a net profit of Rs 100 crore in the current financial year against Rs 73 crore in the last fiscal.

The S&P CNX Nifty opened at 5,411.40; about 2 points lower compared to its previous closing of 5,413.85, and has touched a high and a low of 5,453.70 and 5,401.95 respectively.

The index is currently trading at 5,429.95, up by 16.10 points or 0.30%. There were 36 stocks advancing against 14 declines on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were Kotak Bank up by 1.82%, ICICI Bank up by 1.61%, Ranbaxy up by 1.26%, Cipla up by 1.20% and Sesa Goa up by 1.16%.

The top losers of the index were M&M down by 1.51%, BPCL down by 1.02%, Maruti Suzuki down by 0.89%, TCS down by 0.84% and Reliance Capital was down by 0.61%.

Asian markets were trading mostly in the green; Shanghai Composite was up 22.73 points or 0.78% to 2,941.88, Jakarta Composite was up 23.31 points or 0.66% to 3,541.03, KLSE Composite was up 0.54 points or 0.04% to 1,509.64, Straits Times was up 14.21 points or 0.47% to 3,016.96, Seoul Composite was up 5.52 points or 0.27% to 2,019.18 and Taiwan Weighted was up by 35.40 points or 0.42% to 8,543.44.

On the flip side, Hang Seng was down 38.07 points or 0.17% to 22,819.83 and Nikkei 225 was down by 93.17 points or 0.97% to 9,515.15.

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