Benchmark indices gain further ground; food inflation data eyed

Local equity markets have gained further ground in the last one hour of trade on strong earnings' expectations from heavyweights TCS and Reliance Industries. On the global front, key Asian markets are mostly trading in the green and US index futures too are showing an up-tick in screen trade at this point of time. Back home, all the sectoral indices on the BSE were trading in the green with metal sector taking the lead today. Information technology, banking, oil & gas and capital goods stocks too are trading firm since morning. The broader indices are following the same trend and the BSE Mid cap and Small cap indices have gained 0.47% and 0.56%, respectively. Meanwhile, investor's sentiments are upbeat on the reports of bumper crop and good monsoon forecast which is expected to help curbing inflation in the next few months. The market breadth on the BSE was in favour of advances in the ratio of 1576:988 while 111 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex zoomed 167.29 points or 0.86% at 19,638.27. The index has touched a high of 19,695.98 and a low of 19,561.51 respectively.

The BSE Mid cap and Small cap indices were up by 0.47% and 0.56%, respectively. 

All the sectoral indices on the BSE were trading in the green. Metal up 1.25%, Information Technology (IT) up 0.99%, Bankex up 0.73%, Oil & Gas up 0.71% and Capital Goods (CG) up 0.64% were the top gainers.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Hero Honda up 2.47%, HDFC up 2.31%, ONGC up 2.03%, Maruti Suzuki up 1.90% and Jindal Steel up 1.67%.

On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down 1.70%, Tata Motors down 0.70%, Bajaj Auto down 0.61% and NTPC down 0.08% were the only losers on the index.

In a move that can generate massive boost for the information technology and electronics sectors in the country, the Indian government is finally getting ready to set up semiconductor wafer fabrication (Fab) units. It has set up of an empowered committee for the purpose that will identify technology and investors for setting up two Fab units in the country.

The committee includes Adviser to Prime Minister on Public Information, Infrastructure and Innovation; Chairman, National Manufacturing Competitiveness Council (NMCC); Secretary, Department of Expenditure; Member (Industry), Planning Commission; Former CMD of Semiconductor Complex M J Zarabi. The committee may also co-opt any other experts as and when it feels necessary, said a press release by the government on Wednesday.

Electronics hardware sector is very capital intensive in nature and is facing several disabilities and barriers including technological and financial. The government expects that the initiative taken by it will have significant impact in resolving these issues and help Indian electronics hardware industry to develop localized content/ value addition. According to government estimates, the investment for the two Fabs will be around Rs 25,000 crore. It will finalize exact level of government support towards this end, including cash and kind subsidies by way of negotiations with interested parties.

The move will have immense benefit for the Indian electronics hardware industry in particular and overall economy in general. The Semiconductor Fabs will have catalytic impact on development of downstream and upstream products, including ancillaries. It would have sizable impact on the development of IT/ITES sector particularly in Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI) design software, solutions and services. It will also bootstrap innovation and R&D, especially in the area of semiconductor chips, said the government release.

The S&P CNX Nifty jumped 48.75 points or 0.83% at 5900.40.  The index has touched a high and a low of 5912.90 and 5870.25 respectively.

The top gainers of the Nifty were Hero Honda up 2.80%, Maruti Suzuki up 2.33%, HDFC up 2.27%, ONGC up 2.22% and Sesa Goa up 2.20%.

On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down 1.68%, Dr Reddy's down 0.80%, BPCL down 0.80%, IDFC down 0.79% and Tata Motors down 0.50% were the major losers on the index.

Other key Asian markets are mostly trading in the green at this point of time. Shanghai Composite added 0.59%, Hang Seng jumped 0.96%, Nikkei 225 zoomed 0.80%, Straits Times advanced 0.09%, Seoul Composites gained 1.34% and Taiwan Weighted rose 1.64%; while Jakarta Composite declined 0.09% and KLSE Composite dipped 0.06% 

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