Indian markets maintain upward momentum

Indian equity markets maintained their upward momentum in early noon session, following gains in Auto and Consumer Discretionary stocks. Healthy buying was observed in blue-chip stocks like Hero MotoCorp, Maruti Suzuki and Bajaj Auto. Besides, broader indices were also trading in green, supporting their larger peers. Sentiments got boost with Minister of State for Finance Anurag Thakur’s statement that Indian economy is structurally and fundamentally very strong and the current slowdown, which is cyclical in nature, would not affect it much. He also exuded confidence that India would achieve the target of becoming $5 trillion economy by 2024-25. However, upside remain limited as former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan expressed concern over India's fiscal deficit figures, stating that it is the likely reason behind the slowdown in Indian economy. He also criticised the government over its populist decision-making which failed to focus on economic growth. Meanwhile, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal stated that India does not have any trade disputes with the US, and there is huge bilateral trade potential.

On the global front, Asian stocks were trading mixed, as the optimism over last week's tentative trade truce between the US and China faded. Back on home turf, in scrip specific developments, shares of  Syndicate Bank fell as the RBI has imposed a monetary penalty of Rs 75 lakh on Syndicate Bank for non-compliance with the directions issued by RBI on frauds classification and reporting; innovative housing loan products wherein upfront disbursal of loans is done. However, ONGC gained on inking MoU with EXXON-Mobil.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 38469.26, up by 254.79 points or 0.67% after trading in a range of 38238.27 and 38474.30. There were 25 stocks advancing against 6 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.43%, while Small cap index was up by 0.20%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Auto up by 1.89%, Power up by 1.29%, Consumer Discretionary up by 1.14%, Bankex up by 0.97% and Utilities was up by 0.92%, while Telecom down by 1.92%, Metal down by 0.65%, TECK down by 0.57%, IT down by 0.42% and Basic Materials was down by 0.24% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Hero MotoCorp up by 3.10%, Maruti Suzuki up by 2.41%, Bajaj Auto up by 1.62%, ONGC up by 1.59% and Kotak Mahindra Bank was up by 1.58%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 2.41%, Infosys down by 1.90%, Tata Motors down by 1.17%, Vedanta down by 1.12% and Tata Steel was down by 0.94% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the rating agency ICRA in its latest report has said that Indian healthcare sector is on a recovery path after past two years of underperformance that was mainly due to the cap on prices of stents and knee implants by the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA), adverse impact of rollout of Goods and Services Tax (GST) on profitability and strict regulatory action taken by multiple states.

According to the report, the strong performance of the sector is further supported by the average revenue per operating bed (ARPOB) which grew at a healthy 9 percent in Q1 FY20 against 3 percent in FY18 and 6 percent in FY19. It also noted that the growth in the ARPOB in Q1 FY20 is much higher than the six-year compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of around 6 percent, on account of the hike in tariffs undertaken.

Nonetheless, ICRA said the regulatory environment continues to be the overarching challenge for the hospital sector with the wide-ranging regulatory restrictions from multiple authorities suppressing their margins. But, it stated that structurally, in the long term, underlying fundamentals such as the significant shortage of beds in the country and the increase in the disease burden and an ageing demographic profile continue to favour the sector.
  
The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11409.90, up by 68.75 points or 0.61% after trading in a range of 11342.10 and 11414.45. There were 39 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Eicher Motors up by 4.66%, Hero MotoCorp up by 3.32%, Zee Entertainment up by 3.01%, Maruti Suzuki up by 2.48% and Bajaj Auto was up by 1.74%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 2.25%, JSW Steel down by 2.19%, Infosys down by 1.91%, Tata Motors down by 1.56% and Wipro was down by 1.31% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; Straits Times trembled 4.95 points or 0.16% to 3,119.50, Jakarta Composite lost 1.90 points or 0.03% to 6,124.98, Hang Seng decreased 43.60 points or 0.16% to 26,478.25 and Shanghai Composite was down by 19.43 points or 0.65% to 2,988.45. On the other hand, KOSPI rose 2.09 points or 0.1% to 2,069.49, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 44.85 points or 0.41% to 11,111.80, Nikkei 225 was up by 408.34 points or 1.87% to 22,207.21.