India : Nifty consolidates ahead of FO expiry; Asian Paints surges 7%

Equity benchmarks continued to trade higher amid consolidation with the Nifty holding 8600 level ahead of expiry of July derivative contracts.The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 77.26 points at 28101.59 and the 50-share NSE Nifty rose 15 points to 8630.80. The broader markets outperformed benchmarks.

The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices gained 0.7-0.8 percent as about two shares advanced for every share declining on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Asian Paints shares rallied 7 percent after its first quarter (April-June) earnings surpassed analysts’ expectations with consolidated profit growing 18.7 percent year-on-year to Rs 553 crore, boosted by operational performance.

“The decorative business segment in India registered double digit growth during the quarter and international business performed well aided by good growth in markets like Nepal, UAE and Fiji,” KBS Anand, MD and CEO said.

State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) and Hindustan Petroleum Corp (HPCL) may sell a part of their stake in Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals (MRPL) to comply with regulations on minimum public holding.Public shareholding in the Mangalore-based refiner is currently just 11.42 percent, not even half of the mandatory 25 percent public float required by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for listed companies.

PSUs have been asked by SEBI to comply with the public shareholding requirement by August next year.

The Board of MRPL will meet on August 1 for approval options to raise public shareholding up to 25 percent as per SEBI directive, a senior official said.

After a build of expectations because of good monsoon and government reforms, this quarter has been disappointing in terms of corporate earnings, says Pramod Gubbi, Director Institutional Sales, Ambit Singapore Pte. Ltd.

Speaking to CNBC-TV18, Gubbi said abundant liquidity can take global markets to new highs, as major central banks are persisting with their easy money policies. 

However, Gubbi cautions against buying shares at current levels as he feels the market has run ahead of fundamentals. The risks are more on the downside, Gubbi says.