Markets add considerable gains in late afternoon session

The Indian equity benchmarks added considerable gains in late afternoon session, with both the larger peers, Sensex and Nifty gaining more than 300 and 80 points, respectively. Gains led by FMCG and Metal stocks along with firm European markets, helped the markets to recover from lackluster trade. Domestic sentiments got boost after India's exports grew by 19.21% to $27.84 billion in August on account of healthy performance by sectors such as petroleum. Some optimism also came with the department of financial services (DFS) expecting good recovery of bad loans by the public sector banks (PSBs) in the second quarter of the current financial year. Separately, the cabinet approved a new procurement policy under which one scheme will focus on compensating oilseeds farmers if rates fall below the MSP, and another will allow states to rope in private players for procurement. Traders paid no heed towards a private report stating that India's GDP growth is likely to have peaked in the first quarter of this fiscal and going ahead some moderation is expected as weaker rupee and rising oil prices remain two major headwinds for the economy.

On the global front, European markets were trading in green, as German economic sentiment improved more-than-expected to a four-month high in September, despite trade war fears. As per survey data from the Centre for European Economic Research or ZEW, the economic sentiment indicator climbed to -10.6 from -13.7 in August. Adding some optimism, Eurozone employment increased at a steady pace in the second quarter. The data from Eurostat showed that employment increased 0.4 percent sequentially in the second quarter, the same rate as seen in the first quarter. Asian markets were trading in red, after US President Donald Trump told reporters that the US was taking a tough stance with China. Back home, in scrip specific development, Fiberweb (India) traded higher on receiving export orders worth Rs 25.3 crore ($3.51 million).

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 37731.84, up by 318.71 points or 0.85% after trading in a range of 37342.00 and 37738.38. There were 22 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.55%, while Small cap index was down by 0.32%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were FMCG up by 2.16%, Metal up by 1.65%, Consumer Durables up by 1.09%, Basic Materials up by 1.01% and Healthcare up by 0.92%, while Realty down by 0.41% and Telecom down by 0.40% were the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Sun Pharma up by 3.47%, Adani Ports & SEZ up by 3.32%, Vedanta up by 2.76%, Power Grid Corporation up by 2.60% and Hindustan Unilever up by 2.50%. On the flip side, Tata Motors down by 1.33%, Axis Bank down by 1.15%, ICICI Bank down by 0.69%, Indusind Bank down by 0.52% and Hero MotoCorp down by 0.38% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, expressing need of more private investment in agriculture research and development (R&D), Niti Aayog member Ramesh Chand has said that India's public spending on agriculture R&D is not far behind neighbouring China and added that of late in China, private investment in farm research is on the rise with rapid pace as compared to the public funding in China.

Ramesh Chand also noted globally, private sector has created more intellectual property rights in farm technologies and this shows that private sector is not avoiding investment in agriculture. He further expressed need to use technology in a more balanced way, highlighting that technology used in the Green Revolution period had some adverse effects as it promoted the use of fertilisers and pesticides.

Besides, Niti Aayog member said that the food demand is set to rise with increase in population and the technology innovation would play an important role to achieve the desired production. He also pointed out about creating awareness on nutritious foods and absence of science in food manufacturing in the country.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11368.50, up by 81.00 points or 0.72% after trading in a range of 11250.20 and 11380.75. There were 31 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Adani Ports & SEZ up by 3.48%, Sun Pharma up by 3.35%, Indiabulls Housing Finance up by 2.67%, Grasim Industries up by 2.66% and Hindalco up by 2.63%. On the flip side, BPCL down by 1.64%, IOC down by 1.53%, HPCL down by 1.46%, Tata Motors down by 1.42% and Axis Bank down by 1.09% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Hang Seng plunged 77.51 points or 0.29% to 26,345.04, Shanghai Composite decreased 8.69 points or 0.33% to 2,656.11, Jakarta Composite fell 17.46 points or 0.3% to 5,813.66, KOSPI lost 0.28 points or 0.01% to 2,282.92, Taiwan Weighted declined 29.73 points or 0.28% to 10,722.57 and Nikkei 225 decreased 60.08 points or 0.27% to 22,604.61. On the flip side, Straits Times was up by 19.26 points or 0.62% to 3,129.17.

All European markets were trading in green; UK’s FTSE 100 rose 8.64 points or 0.12% to 7,282.18, France’s CAC increased 40.71 points or 0.76% to 5,324.50 and Germany’s DAX was up by 57.63 points or 0.48% to 12,027.90.