Bourses manage to keep their heads above water in afternoon deals

Indian equity benchmarks managed to keep their heads above water in afternoon session on the back of buying by funds and retail investors, tracking mostly positive trade in Asian equities. Traders were taking support from a report that the government has set a target of adding 1.3 crore income tax filers in the current financial year against 1.1 crore new filers last year. However, lackluster earnings from large cap companies and weak monsoon capped gains. Traders also took note of outgoing Reserve Bank of India Deputy Governor Viral Acharya’s statement that an increase in government borrowing runs the risk of flooding the debt market while making it expensive for companies to borrow.

On the sectoral front, stocks related to power sector remained in focus with the report that the power ministry is considering a proposal to allow all generation companies (gencos) flexibility to supply electricity from any plant in their stable, a move that will reduce the cost of power for cash-strapped distribution companies (discoms) and ease the pressure to raise consumer tariffs.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green, on optimism over possible new U.S.-China talks despite rising Middle East tension. Back home, the BSE Sensex is currently trading at 38071.43, up by 40.30 points or 0.11% after trading in a range of 37917.52 and 38148.63. There were 19 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index fell 0.24%, while Small cap index was up by 0.36%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.08%, Utilities up by 1.06%, Power up by 1.05%, Consumer Durables up by 0.93% and FMCG up by 0.90%, while Metal down by 0.68%, Auto down by 0.38%, Telecom down by 0.11%, Industrials down by 0.04% and Healthcare down by 0.01% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Power Grid up by 2.18%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.81%, Infosys up by 1.52%, ITC up by 1.49% and Asian Paints up by 1.44%. On the flip side, HDFC down by 2.14%, HDFC Bank down by 1.60%, Bajaj Auto down by 1.56%, Tata Steel down by 1.49% and Tech Mahindra down by 0.88% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has issued guidelines for rollout of the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha evem Utthan Mahabhiyan (PM-KUSUM) Scheme, with a central aid of Rs 34,422 crore to provide financial and water security to farmers through harnessing solar energy capacities of 25.75 gigawatt (GW) by 2022.

In February 2019, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved the launch of the scheme with the aim of providing farmers with financial and water security. The scheme has three components. The Component-A provides for setting up of 10,000 megawatt of decentralised ground/ stilt-mounted grid-connected solar or other renewable energy-based power plants. The Component-B of the scheme provides for installation of 17.50 lakh stand-alone solar agriculture pumps, while the Component-C envisages solarisation of 10 lakh grid-connected agriculture pumps.

The guidelines issued stated that the Component-A and Component-C will be implemented initially on a pilot mode for 1,000 megawatt (MW) capacity and one lakh grid-connected agriculture pumps, respectively, while the Component-B will be implemented in full-fledged manner with total central government support of Rs 19,036.5 crore. After the successful implementation of pilot project of Components A and C, the same shall be scaled up with necessary modifications based on the learning from the pilot phase with the total central government support of Rs 15,385.5 crore. These guidelines have been formulated to provide broad implementation framework of the scheme. 

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11352.85, up by 6.65 points or 0.06% after trading in a range of 11315.95 and 11373.30. There were 27 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Power Grid up by 2.13%, UPL up by 1.86%, Infosys up by 1.59%, ITC up by 1.55% and Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.53%. On the flip side, HDFC down by 2.24%, Indiabulls Housing finance down by 2.05%, Tata Steel down by 1.71%, HDFC Bank down by 1.69% and JSW Steel down by 1.66% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 surged 204.09 points or 0.95% to 21,620.88, Hang Seng increased 81.45 points or 0.29% to 28,452.71, Shanghai Composite gained 10.71 points or 0.37% to 2,897.68, Straits Times advanced 10.66 points or 0.32% to 3,367.88, KOSPI rose 7.17 points or 0.34% to 2,100.51 and Taiwan Weighted strengthened 2.73 points or 0.02% to 10,947.26.

On the flip side, Jakarta Composite lost 26.96 points or 0.42% to 6,406.59.