NEGATIVE TERRAIN

The Indian equity markets are trading in a negative terrain after making a flat start tracking weak cues from Asian counterparts. All the Asian peers were trading in the red at this point of time on worries over rise in commodity prices. Back home, sustained selling in almost all the key heavyweights kept the momentum on the negative side. BSE's Sensex and NSE's Nifty were trading below their crucial 19,500 and 5,850 level, respectively. On the sectoral front, oil and gas remained the only gainer in trade; on the other hand software, metal and auto were the major losers on the BSE sectoral space. The broader indices were trading on a flat note. Meanwhile, PSU oil companies like Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) and Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) were trading with a gain of more than one to two percent as international crude prices declined on Monday, after dollar recouped its losses and traders looked to lock in profits. The market breadth on the BSE was positive; there were 561shares on the gaining side against 492 shares on the losing side while 62 shares remained unchanged. Trade may remain volatile this week, being the expiry week for the April F&O series.

The BSE Sensex opened at 19,596.32; about 12 points lower compared to its previous closing of 19,584.31, and has touched a high and a low of 19,600.79 and 19,477.36, respectively. The index is currently trading at 19,477.36, down by 106.95 points or 0.55%. There were 28 stocks declining against just 2 advances on the index.

The overall market breadth started in the positive terrain, with 50.31% stocks advancing against 44.13% declines. The broader indices were trading on a flat note; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.03% while, Small cap index was down by 0.03%.

Oil and Gas up by 0.02% was the lone gainer on the BSE sectoral indices while, IT down by 0.65%, Metal down by 0.55%, Auto down by 0.54%, CD down by 0.51% and Bankex down by 0.49%, were the major losers on the index.

The only gainers on the Sensex were ONGC up by 0.61% and Bharti Airtel was up by 0.52%.

Sterlite Industries down by 1.88%, HDFC down by 1.31%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.25%, Jaiprakash Associates down by 1.04% and HDFC Bank down by 0.99% were the top losers on the index.

Meanwhile, as the country is grappling with the problem of inflation, rising interest rates and high fiscal deficit, foreign direct investment (FDI) too has shown a negative trend. The overall FDI inflows into the country dropped significantly. According to the statistics released by India's Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the country has received only $18.35 billion in FDI in the first 11 months (April-February) down by 25% against $24.62 billion in the year ago period. Country-wise, the highest FDI of $6.63 came from Mauritius contributing about 36 percent of the total FDI, followed by Singapore ($1.64 billion), Japan ($1.52 billion), Netherlands ($1.13 billion) and the US ($1.12 billion). Mauritius is preferred for directing FDI into India mainly because most of the investors want to take advantage of the double taxation avoidance agreement between Mauritius and India and Mauritius-based investors do not have to pay capital gains tax in India.

FDI in the services sector (financial and non-financial services) declined by about 22% to $3.27 billion (Rs 14,958 crore) during April-February 2010-11 compared with $4.18 billion (Rs 20,015 crore) during April-February, 2009-10.  However, the services sector topped the chart in attracting maximum investment. Telecommunications segment, including radio paging and cellular mobile, was the second best sector attracting investments at $1.41 billion, followed by automobile ($1.32 billion), power ($1.23 billion), housing and real estate ($1.10 billion) and metallurgical industries ($1 billion) during the period.

Though, the government is making a lot of efforts towards attracting more FDI by doing away with the requirement for a foreign partner to seek no-objection certificate from its Indian partner before starting a new business in the same field and involving stakeholders in policy formation, to make the investment regime more attractive and investor friendly. The main reason behind this decline is slow recovery in European nation from the recession which is making the players cautious of making overseas investments. However, the government has said that trend will be reversed as it has received a few proposals for FDI but the present scenario surely poses a reason to worry for.

The S&P CNX Nifty opened at 5,876.85; flat compared to its previous closing of 5,887.45, and has touched a high and a low of 5,878.25 and 5,821.95, respectively.  The index is currently trading at 5,830.15, down by 44.35 points or 0.75%. There were 9 stocks advancing against 41 declines on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were BPCL up by 1.71%, RCom up by 1.19%, Grasim up by 0.74%, Jindal Steel up by 0.40% and Ambuja Cement up by 0.26%.

The top losers of the index were Kotak Bank down by 2.20%, SAIL down by 2.12%, Jaiprakash Associates down by 1.84%, HUL down by 1.78% and Sterlite Industries was down by 1.77%.

All the Asian equity indices were trading in the red; Shanghai Composite was down 27.22 points or 0.92% to 2,937.73, Hang Seng was down 272.40 points or 1.13% to 23,865.91, Jakarta Composite was down 35.24 points or 0.93% to 3,753.30, KLSE Composite was down 1.20 points or 0.08% to 1,522.85, Nikkei 225 was down 125.37 points or 1.30% to 9,546.59, Straits Times was down 14.32 points or 0.45% to 3,173.40, Seoul Composite was down 9.83 points or 0.44% to 2,206.17 and Taiwan Weighted was down by 42.40 points or 0.47% to 8,908.35

MARGINAL LOSSES

The domestic indices showed a relatively resilient performance even as benchmarks failed to sustain the three session winning momentum for yet another day and snapped the initial day of F&O expiry week with moderate losses despite the freefall in heavyweights like RIL, Axis Bank, SAIL, DLF, ICICI Bank and ONGC. Markets refused to give in to the selling pressure as investors chose to deal only in stock specific activities and commended stocks purely on their merits. The session remained characterized by choppiness and indices appeared exhausted, gradually crawling in a narrow range, around the psychological 5,900 and 19,600 levels, only to consolidate the gains amassed in last three sessions. Sentiments got weighed down in the dying hours of trade as updates from the 2G case trial hit headlines prompting investors to book profits in scam linked shares like RCom, Unitech and DB Realty. However, the resurgent Sterlite, SBI, Maruti, Infosys and L&T balanced out the losses and prevented the bourses from sinking deeper into the red. Leads from across the globe remained lackluster as Asian indices settled mostly in the red terrain while the European peers remained absent from trade on account of Easter holiday. Back home, the NSE's 50-share broadly followed index Nifty, settled with marginal losses, above the crucial 5,850 support level while Bombay Stock Exchange's Sensitive Index, Sensex too ended with minor losses, around the psychological 19,600 mark. The broader markets failed to show any kind of fervor this Monday as the midcap index added 0.09% while the smallcap index rose by 0.24%. On the sectoral front, the Consumer Durables index, grabbed the top gainers position after climbing by 0.92% due to rally in stocks like Bajaj Electrical and Titian Industries which surged by 2%. While the IT counter too witnessed some buying and ended with gains of 0.83% because of 1.13% gains in bellwether Infosys and 5.73% gains in Oracle Fin Services. On the other hand, the Oil and Gas pocket languished at the bottom of the table with 1.75% losses on the back of the constant uptrend in international crude oil prices while the realty index got pounded in the session by 1.15% as majors like DLF and HDIL respectively shaved off 2.25% and 1.59%. From the result corner, individual stocks like Maruti Suzuki, Sterlite Industries and MM Forgings were commended by the investors and soared by 1.53%, 4.40% and 3.68% respectively while the one's that got punished were RIL, Axis Bank, Strides Arcolab.

On the global front, majority of Asian equity indices settled in red zone with Chinese benchmark being the leading laggard with one and half a percent of losses, on concerns that the Peoples' Bank of China may maintain tight monetary policies for longer than expected given the rising price of oil. On the other hand, the screen trading for US index futures too indicated that the Dow could open with gains of around a quarter percent point.

Earlier on Dalal Street, the benchmark got off to a quiet opening as cautious investors lacked conviction to pile up positions lacking significant leads. Below expectation figures from index heavy-weight Reliance Industries and Axis Bank during the weekend dragged the market in the red initially however; the bourses went ahead to test the 5,900 and 19,700 levels which once again proved as a stiff resistance for the indices as the market gave up some gains with a few blue-chip stocks retreating on profit taking. Thereafter the benchmarks see-sawed in a narrow range around the neutral line through session but some position squaring in the late hours eventually brought the indices marginally below Thursday's close. Markets registered volumes of over Rs 1.25 lakh crore while the turnover for NSE F&O segment remained lower compared to Thursday at over 1.12 lakh crore. Market breadth remained negative as there were 1340 shares on the gaining side against 1558 shares on the losing side while 103 shares remained unchanged.

Finally, the BSE Sensex declined by 17.92 points or 0.09% to settle at 19,584.31 while the S&P CNX Nifty lost 10.20 points or 0.17% to end at 5,857.00.

The BSE Sensex touched a high and a low of 19,697.49 and 19,531.34 respectively. The BSE Mid-cap and Small-cap indices gained 0.09% and 0.24%, respectively. 

Sterlite Industries up 4.40%, SBI up 2.06%, Maruti Suzuki up 1.53%, Infosys up 1.13% and L&T up 1.03% were the major gainers on the Sensex.

On the flip side, RIL down 2.97%, DLF down 2.25%, Reliance Communication down 1.41%, Jaiprakash Association down 0.98% and Jindal Steel down 0.76% were the only losers on the index.

Consumer Durables (CD) up 0.92%, IT up 0.83%, TECk up 0.55%, Capital Goods (CG) up 0.47% and Public Sector Undertakings (PSU) up 0.38% were the major gainers in the BSE sectoral space.Oil & Gas down 1.75%, Realty 1.18%, Bankex down 0.05% and Power down 0.04% were losers in the BSE sectoral space.

The surge in global crude oil prices can have a slowing down impact on Indian economy, said the financial services conglomerate Goldman Sachs in a recent report. Every increase in international crude prices by $10 a barrel can reduce growth in India's gross domestic product (GDP) by 20 basis points, it noted.

India imports nearly 75% of total crude consumed by it and higher global prices therefore will impact costs throughout the supply chain. Not only will it make India's exports costly but can also impact domestic consumption as at some stage the government will have to pass on the increase in crude prices, at least partially, to retail fuel prices. This will boost transportation costs and thereby push the already high domestic inflation. 

Global crude prices continue to remain at elevated levels following the political unrest in many Middle-East and African countries that threatens supply disruptions. Brent crude prices were hovering around $124 a barrel on April 23. Current prices of Brent are the highest seen in last more than two years. At these levels, Indian government's subsidy spending will be far too higher compared with it has been looking forward to. This in turn will also cause a higher fiscal deficit than budgeted levels.

Besides, higher crude prices will also boost India's trade deficit and hence current account deficit (CAD). According to estimates prepared by the Goldman Sachs, with every $10 increase in oil prices, the CAD would rise by 40 basis points. In fact CAD was a major worry for Indian policy makers till recently but the strong growth seen in India's exports over the last few months has brought down the deficit to under 3% of gross domestic product.

The S&P CNX Nifty touched a high and a low of 5,906.60 and 5,857.00 respectively.

The top gainers on the Nifty were HCL Tech up 4.15%, Sterlite Industries up 2.82%, Ambuja Cement up 1.90%, SBI up 1.89% and Kotak Bank up 1.78%.

The top losers on the index were Axis Bank down 4.83%, Reliance down 3.04%, DLF down 2.53%, SAIL down 2.52% and RCOM down 1.93%.

In what came as a major relief for banks, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has relaxed the norms relating to provisioning of non-performing assets (NPAs). The move will result in decline in the capital that banks would have to put in for potential bad assets and hence boost profitability.

The central bank has said in a notification that while setting aside provisions for bad loans, banks need not account for assets that got the NPA tag after September 30. Earlier, the RBI had asked banks to maintain a provisioning coverage ratio (PCR) of 70% of gross NPAs on an ongoing basis. This would have required the banks computing NPAs till the closing date in every quarter.

Now, however, the central bank has said that provisioning may not be done on regular or continuous basis and for the purpose of computing provisioning ratio, banks can refer to NPAs as on September 30. This will bring down the provisioning requirement in absolute terms as banks would have got additional NPAs after Sept 30 and they would not need to make provisioning for these bad assets on immediate basis.

According to the central bank, most of the commercial banks have already achieved the PCR of 70% as required by it and have been approaching the RBI on whether they needed to maintain the PCR on an ongoing basis. Continuously maintaining a PCR would obviously result in banks setting aside the requisite provisions as soon as an asset is identified of being sub-standard or doubtful and hence increase overall provisioning for banks.

"The matter has been examined by us and till such time RBI introduces a more comprehensive methodology of countercyclical provisioning taking into account the international standards as are being currently developed by Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) and other provisioning norms, banks are advised that the PCR of 70% may be with reference to the gross NPA position in banks as on September 30, 2010," said the central bank in a notification.

The move will also benefit banks which had asked for an extension to meet the 70% provisioning requirement. As part of the original RBI directive, banks were required to achieve 70% provisioning ratio by Sept 30, 2010. Some of the banks had asked for an extension to meet the new provisioning norms. For such banks as well, the shortfall from 70% level will now be computed in context of NPAs existing as on Sept 30, 2010.

Finally, in cases where the provisioning exceed the sum required as per the extant policies, the RBI recommended such surplus to be kept in a separate account known as the counter-cyclical provisioning buffer till the central bank introduced a more comprehensive methodology of countercyclical provisioning taking into account the international standards as were being currently developed by Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS). The buffer will be allowed to be used by banks for making specific provisions for NPAs during periods of system wide downturn, with the prior approval of RBI.

Stock markets in Europe remained closed on account of Easter Monday holiday.

Most of the Asian equity indices finished in the negative terrain as they re-opened after the long Easter weekend. Chinese benchmark index ended with a gut of more than one and a half percent on concerns that the Peoples' Bank of China may maintain tight monetary policies for longer than expected given the rising price of oil. The Japanese traders gave up their earlier gains ahead of the reporting season this week, as they continued to worry about the corporate outlook after last month's natural disasters. However, South Korea's benchmark Seoul Composite surged more than half a percent and hit another record intraday high. Stock markets in Hong Kong remained closed for the trade on Monday on account of Easter holiday.

TREND FOR 26th APRIL

Markets seem to be cue less & thus clueless as to the direction it should take & so it was without much movement & just dithered along in a tight range. The NIFTY may move up to 5944 & on the downside may drift to 5847 - 5829. Long positions can be taken in SHYAMTEL for a target of 61, SIEMENS for a target of 900, PIRHEALTH for a target of 478, PANTALOONR for a target of 296, ORIENTBANK for a target of 405.
                                                          CHEERS !!!

CAUTIOUS MARKETS

Trade has turned choppy for the domestic markets and the local bourses that were showing a sign of recovery after a weak start have once again pared almost all their gains. Though all the regional peers, barring Shanghai Composite was trading in green but the domestic investors' mood has turned cautious due to mixed earnings announcement and the F&O series expiry later in the week. Oil & Gas sector remains the laggard of the trade weighed by the decline in the sectors heavyweight Reliance and drop in PSU oil marketing companies. Though, Consumer durables and the IT sector stocks are slightly supporting the markets. The broader markets are outperforming the benchmarks, trading higher by over a quarter percent.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 19,604.84, up by 2.61 points or 0.01%.  The index has touched a high and a low of 19,697.49 and 19,531.34 respectively.  There were 14 stocks advancing against 16 declines on the index.

The broader indices were outperforming the benchmarks; the BSE Mid cap and Small cap indices gained 0.26% and 0.48% respectively. 

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were, CD up by 0.89%, IT up by 0.57%, FMCG up by 0.56%, PSU up by 0.52% and TECk was up by 0.32%.

On the other hand Oil & Gas down by 1.21%, Realty down by 0.58%, power down by 0.22%, Auto down by 0.13% and Metal down by 0.11% were the top losers.

The top gainers on the Sensex were SBI up by 2.17%, Infosys up by 1.20%, Sterlits Industries up by 1.09%, ONGC up by 1.08%, L&T up by 1.06%.

On the flip side, RIL down by 2.56%, DLF down by 1.44%, Jindal Steel down by 1.15%, JP Associates down by 1.13% and Maruti Suzuki down by 1.08% were the top losers on the index.

The Planning Commission of India, top economic strategy maker for the country, has agreed to set the target for growth in Twelfth Five Year Plan somewhere between 9-9.5%, slightly below the earlier talks of 10%, as fiscal consolidation remains key to sustainability and the global scenario too continues to remain somewhat uncertain despite the ongoing recovery from the 2008 financial crisis.

The Planning Commission accepted that in order to boost the growth sustainably to over 9%, further reforms will be required, particularly in governance and in foreign sector.  The manufacturing sector will also require substantial pick up to a pace of growth of 11-12% in order to create greater number of employment opportunities. Foreign direct investment should be promoted to boost capacities in the manufacturing sector and at the same time trade policies should be made simpler and trader friendly.  

"Exclusive manufacturing zones, more liberal foreign direct investment and trade policies together with a better regulatory frame work are among the prescriptions," the Planning Commission said in its presentation to the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh while making suggestions for reviving the slowing down manufacturing sector. The Commission said rate of investment should be further boosted to over 40% of the gross domestic product (GDP) in order to sustain a 9% or higher growth. This will again require bringing greater FDI into India despite the fact that the country enjoys a high saving rate of around 33-35%.

"There was general agreement that the Planning Commission should focus on policy and governance reforms, while working towards a growth target of 9.0% to 9.5% for the Twelfth Five Year Plan. We should also set monitorable targets related to different dimensions of inclusiveness, and then work to achieve these targets by appropriate design of policy and funding of Plan schemes," said the Prime Minister in his concluding remarks following the meeting with the Commission.

The S&P CNX Nifty is currently trading at 5,879.85, down by 4.85 points or 0.08% and has touched a high and low of 5,906.60 and 5,857.00 respectively. There were 29 stocks advancing against 21 declines on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were HCL tech up by 4.90%, SBI up by 2.02%, PNB up by 1.64%, Ranbaxy up by 1.27% and Kotak Bank was up by 1.21%.

Axis Bank down by 4.86%, Siemens down by 2.77%, Reliance Industries down by 2.46%, DLF down by 1.56% and Jindal Steel down by 1.44%, were the top losers on the index.

Asian markets were trading mostly in the green; Nikkei 225 gained  0.13%, Straits Times added 0.07%, Seoul Composite zoomed 0.72% and Taiwan Weighted was trading higher by 0.10%.

On the flip side, Shanghai Composite was trading lower by 0.68%.

TREND FOR 25th APRIL

Though the Markets are in positive territory, with the NIFTY likely to move up to 5944 & on the downside may slip to 5834 - 5819, it appears to be range bound & unless it crosses 5944 convincingly, it may not move forward. Long positions can be taken in JINDALSTEL for a target of 724, KPIT for a target of 184, OPTOCIRCUI for a target of 305, ORCHIDCHEM for a target of 325, RAYMOND for a target of 360, SUNTV for a target of 364.
                                                             CHEERS !!!

WEEKEND

Enjoy the long weekend, go for some cooler places & chill. If interested in paintings visit rajanpanseart.wordpress.com. I will post the trend for 25th sometime on Sunday.... till then....

                                                           CHEERS !!!

WINNING MOMENTUM

Domestic benchmarks snapped the last trading session of the holiday shortened week on an optimistic note, extending the winning momentum for third back to back session. However, position squaring was witnessed in IT stocks and particularly in TCS after it announced its results which were near the street's expectations and got punished as the expectation were even higher. Moreover, the subdued inflation data released by government weighed on sentiments as food inflation edged up to 8.74%, year-on-year for the week ended April 9, 2011 against 8.28% in the previous week. The upside for the markets also remained capped as investors remained on the sidelines ahead of the financial result of heavyweights RIL. However, heavy buying in some metal and oil and gas stocks helped the market to hold their head above the water till the dying moments. Leads from across the globe too remained supportive as investors overlooked the surge in international crude oil prices which are rising since last few days. The NSE's 50-share broadly followed index Nifty, settled with gains of around half a percent, above the crucial 5,850 support level while Bombay Stock Exchange's Sensitive Index, Sensex ended with triple digit gains, around the psychological 19,600 mark. The broader markets failed to show any kind of fervor this Thursday as the midcap index added 0.13% while the smallcap index rose by 0.03%. On the sectoral front, the Metal index, grabbed the top gainers position after soaring 1.62% due to rally in stocks like Sesa Goa and Hindustan Zinc which surged 4.34% and 3.12% respectively. While the Oil and Gas counter too witnessed some buying and ended with gains of 1.28% because of 1.39% gains in heavyweight like RIL ahead of its result announcement and 3.01% gains in ONGC. On the other hand the Capital Goods pocket down 0.98% and Power index down 0.84% saw bouts of profit booking as bellwether BHEL slipped by 4.38% by the end of trade.

On the global front, majority of Asian equity indices settled with good gains with Taiwanese benchmark leading the pack, supported by chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSMC) and strong quarterly results from Apple and Intel brightened the outlook for technology demand. The European markets after starting with a positive bias have held on to the gains as France's CAC was gaining 0.46%, Britain's FTSE 100 rising 0.63% and Germany's DAX advancing 0.11%. On the other hand, the screen trading for US index futures too indicated that the Dow could open with gains of around half a percent point.

Earlier on Dalal Street, the benchmark got off to a gap up opening as it carried forward the enthusiasm, after the sharp rally on Wednesday, as investors' mood remained upbeat following the rally in Asian and overnight Wall Street, supported by hefty gains in technology counter and reports of larger than predicted rise in US existing home sales numbers. After the firm opening, the frontline indices capitalized on the initial momentum and went on to test the psychological 5,900 and 19,700 levels which proved as a stiff resistance levels for the indices as they once again faltered after inching closer to those levels as the market gave up some gains with a few blue-chip stocks retreating slightly on profit taking. Thereafter the benchmarks oscillated in a narrow range through the second half of trade and eventually snapped the session after climbing around half a percent point. Markets registered volumes of over Rs 1.61 lakh crore while the turnover for NSE F&O segment remained higher compared to Wednesday at over 1.43 lakh crore. Market breadth remained almost even-steven as there were 1416 shares on the gaining side against 1486 shares on the losing side while 116 shares remained unchanged. Stock markets in India will remain shut Friday on the account of Good Friday.

Finally, the BSE Sensex surged by 131.25 points or 0.67% to settle at 19,602.23 while the S&P CNX Nifty gained 33.05 points or 0.56% to end at 5,884.70.

The BSE Sensex touched a high and a low of 19,695.98 and 19,530.50 respectively. The BSE Mid-cap and Small-cap indices gained 0.13% and 0.03%, respectively. 

Maruti Suzuki up 3.22%, ONGC up 3.01%, Hindalco Industries up 2.92%, HDFC up 2.57% and Sterlite Industries up 2.50% were the major gainers on the Sensex.

On the flip side, BHEL down 4.38%, TCS down 2.23%, Bharti Airtel down 1.01%, Bajaj Auto down 0.72% and Tata Motors down 0.60% were the only losers on the index.

Coal consuming industries in the country ranging from steel to cement and fertilizer producers have approached the Centre to protest the differential hikes in coal prices which have been implemented by the Coal India, the government controlled near monopolist coal miner of the country.

Coal Consumers' Association of India (CCAI) that includes members from key industries like steel, power, fertilizer, cement, paper etc has urged the government to immediately intervene and force the Coal India to roll back the sharp increase in coal prices. The industry body has approached Prime Ministers' Office (PMO), Finance Ministry and Coal Ministry in order to get the prices hikes by Coal India scrapped.

Earlier, Coal India had implemented a differential prices hike according to which sectors like power-utilities and independent power producers and the fertilizer producers would have to pay nearly 30% higher price of coal. Other sector like steel and cement too would have to pay 25-30% higher prices while remaining industries would continue to enjoy the administered prices of Coal Ministry.

CCAI contends that such differential treatment is arbitrary in nature and will cause unnecessary distortions in the market. Besides, a 30% hike in prices was excessive by any means anyway and will add substantially to cost of producers. This in turn will further push general inflation in an economy that is already suffering with elevated headline inflation. The industry body wants the Coal India to implement a smaller and uniform hike, for instance say a 10% hike across all the user industries.

Metal up 1.62%, Oil & Gas up 1.28%, Realty up 0.76%, Bankex up 0.65% and Auto up 0.54% were the major gainers in the BSE sectoral space. CG down 0.98%, Power down 0.84%, IT 0.61%, TECk down 0.59%, PSU 0.05% were major losers in the BSE sectoral space.

The S&P CNX Nifty touched a high and a low of 5,912.90 and 5,864.35 respectively.

The top gainers on the Nifty were Sesa Goa up 4.65%, Maruti up 3.61%, ONGC up 2.81%, Hindalco up 2.78% and Jindal Steel up 2.75%.

The top losers on the index were BHEL down 4.71%, TCS down 2.75%, Siemens down 2.52%, Ambuja Cement down 1.68% and GAIL down 1.63%.

Increasing use of imported equipment in country's power generation sector, particularly that of the used machinery, has raised concerns with the ministry of heavy industries as well as ministry of power on the kind of impact such a trend will have on domestic equipment producing industry, which is already bearing the brunt of high inflation and rising cost of production.

Domestic equipment industry has been urging the government to hike the import duty on power equipment as excessive inward shipments from countries like China was hugely affecting its business. The matter was taken up at a meeting of the committee of secretaries (CoS) where it was decided that while imports should not be totally restricted, it should be made sure that only high quality imports come in, and also that there is no systematic surge in imports.

According to the deal reached between power and heavy machinery ministers, certain qualifying norms would be placed on import of power equipment into the country. Such imports will be allowed only if the equipment meets the efficiency norms as stipulated by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency. Besides, the power ministry also agreed to pre-shipment inspection of used machinery by designated agencies as would be chosen by the Indian government. This inspection would happen at the source of the machinery being imported and if any quality issues are found, the shipment will not be cleared.

Also, the power ministry agreed that there should be regular monitoring of quantum of import of such machinery into the country. If at any stage it is found that there is a systematic surge in imports, which in turn may indicate dumping by some foreign producer, the issues will be brought into the Cabinet's notice. The Cabinet may then decide on raising import duty or scraping import from a particular source country altogether in such a case.

European markets have good gains on mix note. France's CAC 40 was up by 0.60%, Germany's DAX gained 0.70% and Britain's FTSE 100 was trading higher by 0.21%.

All the Asian equity indices barring KLSE Composite finished the day's trade in the positive terrain on Thursday taking cues from overnight gains in the Wall Street led by strong corporate earnings, signaling the global economic recovery is accelerating. Moreover, Taiwan Weighted surged more than one and a half percent, led by chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSMC), the world's top contract chip maker which rose 1.3 percent, as strong quarterly results from Apple and Intel brightened the outlook for tech demand.