Markets on a consolidation mode as focus shifts to Union Budget, Sensex ends 51 pts higher

Mumbai: Bringing up the second day of gains, equities showed signs of consolidation after the benchmark Sensex closed at 27,309 as investors tried to strike a fine balance between new policies of US President-elect Donald Trump and the domestic budget, which is a few days away. Firming global stocks kept the pitch conducive, traders said, with foreign and domestic investors both playing along. Oil and gas and PSU stocks stayed in the limelight. The 30-share Sensex settled up 50.96 points, or 0.19 percent, at 27,308.60. The gauge had climbed 22 points yesterday. The 50-share Nifty too rose 18.10 points, or 0.22 percent, to close at 8,435.10 after moving between 8,445.15 and 8,404.05. Yes Bank advanced 0.06 percent after the company posted a 30.6 per cent rise in net profit at Rs 882.63 crore for the third quarter ended December while Axis Bank fell 0.95 percent ahead of its quarterly results. [caption id=“attachment_3197814” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Reuters[/caption] “Despite a favourable start to the earnings season, the market is consolidating as investors are looking for a balance between upcoming Trump policies and the domestic budget. A turnaround in FII inflows is supporting the market, but cautiousness has prevailed due to Fed’s rate hike course and selling in European market ahead of ECB monetary policy,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services. Buying picked up after the Cabinet gave its approval to Alternative Mechanism that would decide on the quantum of disinvestment in a particular Central Public Sector Enterprise (CPSE) on a case to case basis subject to government retaining 51 per cent equity and management control, the traders added. Asia saw a mixed closing and European bourses ruled high. GAIL emerged as the star player and closed up by 5.31 percent, followed by PowerGrid 1.79 percent. ONGC, Tata Motors, ITC, Adani Ports, Bharti Airtel, Hero MotoCorp and Infosys all rose. Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net of Rs 319.14 crore yesterday, as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges. Among the 30-share Sensex constituents, 14 stocks turned green while 16 led by Lupin, Sun Pharma, Wipro, HDFC Bank and HDFC, among others, fell, which pulled back the gains. BSE oil and gas index jumped the most by rising 2.03 percent, followed by PSUs (1 percent), consumer durables (0.89 percent), power (0.81 percent) and auto (0.52 percent). The broader markets continued to trend firm as retail investors built more bets, with the BSE mid-cap index rising 0.41 percent and small-cap 0.33 percent. While Japan’ Nikkei rose 0.94 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng shed 0.21 percent. Shanghai Composite fell 0.31 percent. European markets were higher in their early session ahead of the European Central Bank’s policy meeting. London’s FTSE was up 0.33 percent, Paris CAC 40 0.15 percent and Frankfurt 0.08 percent. In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average yesterday closed at the lowest level of 2017, marking a fourth straight day in the red for the blue-chip gauge. The market breadth remained positive as 1,441 shares ended higher, 1,286 closed lower while 199 ruled steady. The total turnover on BSE went up to Rs 3,233.87 crore, from Rs 3,094.42 crore in the previous trading session.