Markets continue to trade in high spirit; Nifty above 11,900 mark

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade in high spirit in early noon session, on account of broad based buying in blue chip counters amid positive Asian cues. Most of the sectoral indices were trading firm and Energy was the top gainer on BSE, up by around 2.66% followed by Metal and Bankex indices, trading up over 2%. Apart from blue chips, broader indices too equally participated in the rally with both mid and small cap indices trading up by over 1% each. Going from strength to strength, major indices -- Sensex and Nifty -- garnered gains of over 700 and 200 points and covered a distance of 40,600 and 11,900 mark respectively. Sentiments got a boost with government’s statement that the economy is not in recession and India recorded the highest average growth among the G-20 nations during 2014-19. Investors further cheered the report that the  banks credit and deposits grew 7.21 per cent and 9.51 per cent to Rs 100.05 lakh crore and Rs 131.26 lakh crore, respectively. In the year-ago fortnight, banks advance stood at Rs 93.32 lakh crore, while deposits at Rs 119.85 lakh crore.

On global front, Asian markets were trading higher rebounded from earlier session losses in line with the strong measures taken by China to contain coronavirus and to buoy the economy. Closer home, shares of Glaxosmithkline Pharmaceuticals tumbled by over 10% after the company reported a consolidated net loss of Rs 661 crore for the December 2019 quarter, mainly on account of financial impact related to the voluntary recall of Zinetac.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 40618.17, up by 745.86 points or 1.87% after trading in a range of 40117.46 and 40638.71. There were 27 stocks advancing against 3 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 1.29%, while Small cap index was up by 1.33%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Energy up by 2.66%, Metal up by 2.25%, Bankex up by 2.22%, Oil & Gas up by 1.99% and Basic Materials was up by 1.97%, while Telecom was down by 0.41% was the only losing index on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Hero MotoCorp up by 3.36%, HDFC Bank up by 3.19%, ICICI Bank up by 3.15%, Reliance Industries up by 2.89% and ITC was up by 2.86%. On the flip side, Bajaj Auto down by 2.61%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.94% and Hindustan Unilever was down by 0.19% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, terming the Union Budget pragmatic, Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant said the government is determined to bring Indian economy back to a high trajectory growth path. He further said if the government will be able to achieve disinvestment target of 2020-21 then the Budget will be very successful. He noted that the budget pushes for public private partnership (PPP) in many areas and it lays lot of emphasis on AI, quantum computing, roadmap for infrastructure sector. However, he said the major challenge of the Budget will be reviving animal spirit and credit flow.

Niti Aayog CEO has stated that the finance minister has laid emphasis on macro-economic stability. For an economy to grow at 8-9 percent, he said animal spirit of the private sector is necessary. He also stressed that India's $3 trillion economy can't grow only on the back of investment by public sector. On disinvestment, he the government is on tract as far as stake sale in BPCL, CONCOR and privatisation of Air India is concerned. He added that the government aims to garner Rs 90,000 crore from the listing of LIC and stake dilution in IDBI Bank in the next fiscal (FY21) out of total disinvestment target of Rs 2.10 lakh crore.

Kant said ‘in the next month or so we will be accelerating pace of disinvestment in some of big PSUs. We will push limits on disinvestment of PSUs. We will put out another six airports for bids in the next month or two...We are also trying to put out some power grids and gas grids.’ Noting that India is a difficult place for greenfield investments, he said, but it is an attractive destination for brownfield investments where projects are already been constructed and there are low risks.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11923.85, up by 215.95 points or 1.84% after trading in a range of 11783.40 and 11931.30. There were 45 stocks advancing against 5 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Hindalco up by 3.58%, Hero MotoCorp up by 3.32%, ICICI Bank up by 3.17%, HDFC Bank up by 3.11% and Bajaj Finserv was up by 3.07%. On the flip side, Bajaj Auto down by 2.88%, Yes Bank down by 2.78%, Eicher Motors down by 1.18%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.05% and Hindustan Unilever was down by 0.32% were the top losers.

All Asian markets were trading higher; KOSPI rose 37.84 points or 1.79% to 2,156.72, Shanghai Composite gained 13.75 points or 0.5% to 2,760.36, Jakarta Composite soared 40.23 points or 0.68% to 5,924.40, Straits Times advanced 39.38 points or 1.26% to 3,155.69, Nikkei 225 surged 124.41 points or 0.54% to 23,096.35, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 207.85 points or 1.83% to 11,562.77 and Hang Seng was up by 252.88 points or 0.96% to 26,609.86.