Markets add some weight to their early gains

The domestic markets are managing to retain their early gains with bluechips dominating the trade in the mid morning session. The jubilation of sharp plunge in the crude prices was clearly visible on the oil sector and all the PSU companies were showing gains of around 2-3 percent. The pull back rally that started in previous session has strengthened today, supported by the gains in the regional peers and the positive local sentiments. A decision on raising fuel prices around noon is being awaited by the investors and that may give further direction to the markets. The EGoM on fuel will meet today and discuss on the oil ministry proposal for fuel price hike. The ministry has proposed that customs duty on crude oil be scrapped along with the excise duty on diesel. The ministry has sought a Rs 4 hike on diesel, Rs 150 hike in liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and Rs 9 hike in kerosene if duty stays. Meanwhile, barring the consumer durables, which is suffering profit booking after the sharp upmove in previous session, all other sector are trading in green with IT and technology stocks taking the lead.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 17,937.11, up by 209.62 points or 1.18%. The index has touched a high and low of 17,988.17 and 17,804.94 respectively. There were 27 stocks advancing against just 3 declines on the index.

The broader indices too are going neck-in-neck to the benchmarks; the BSE Mid cap and Small cap indices were up by 1.22% and 1.16% respectively. The market breadth was strong with 70.71% stocks advancing against 25.62% declines.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 1.96%, TECk up by 1.83%, Bankex up by 1.72%, PSU up by 1.60% and Auto was up by 1.54%, while Consumer Durables (CD) by 1.45% was the lone loser.

The top gainer on the Sensex were Hero Honda up by 3.56%, ONGC up by 2.93%, TCS up by 2.52%, SBI up by 2.48% and HDFC was up by 1.96%.

On the flip side, RIL down by 1.52%, Maruti Suzuki down by 0.52% and Tata Power down by 0.16% were the only losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, an empowered group of ministers (EGoM) has finally given a nod for additional 5 lakh tonne of sugar for exports under the open general license (OGL). It was sustained pressure from agriculture minister Sharad Pawar for allowing sugar exports after a bumper crop this season. Sugar production in the country is estimated at 24.2 million tonne in the 2010-11 season (October-September) against 18.8 million tonne in the previous season. Annual domestic demand for sugar is estimated around 22-22.5 million tonne.

Earlier in April, the government had allowed 5 lakh tonne of sugar exports under Open General Licences (OGL). Due to rising global demand, the world sugar prices are ruling high at a premium of Rs 500-600 per quintal in comparison to domestic sugar prices and that prompted the domestic sugar companies to ask for increasing the sugar export quota to enable the industry take advantage of rising international prices. The decision is aimed at offsetting losses for sugar manufacturers due to surplus stocks.

While, Agriculture Minister, Sharad Pawar has been advocating for increase in sugar export quota, Food and Consumer Affairs, Prof K.V. Thomas, has been saying to be cautious in view of the coming festival season and few days back said that government will not allow more sugar exports till Diwali as it does not want retail prices of the sweetener to rise during the festive season. The demand for sugar is generally higher during the October-November period, when festivals like Diwali are celebrated across the country.

The S&P CNX Nifty is currently trading at 5,384.40, up by 64.40 points or 1.21%. The index has touched a high and low of 5,395.75 and 5,343.40 respectively. There were 44 stocks advancing against 5 declines, while one stock remained unchanged on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty are Hero Honda up by 3.64%, ONGC up by 3.16%, Sesa Goa up by 2.47%, Kotak Bank was up by 2.41% and SBI was up by 2.40%.

On the other hand, Cairn down by 1.49%, Reliance Inds down by 1.48%, Sun Pharma down by 1.15%, Dr Reddy down by 0.09% and Tata Power down by 0.09% were the top losers.

All the Asian markets barring Taiwan Weighted are trading in the green; Shanghai Composite was up 0.55%, Hang Seng was up 1.42%, Jakarta Composite was up 0.28%, KLSE Composite was tad higher by 0.02%, Nikkei 225 was up 0.99%, Straits Times was up 0.28% to 3,053.27 and Seoul Composite has surged by 1.26%.

On the other hand, Taiwan Weighted was down by 0.38% .

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