Markets continue to trade in high spirit

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade in high spirit in early noon session, as investors opted to buy beaten down but fundamentally strong stocks after six sessions of continuous slaughter. All sectoral indices were trading firm and IT was the top gainer on BSE, up by around 3% followed by Metal and FMCG indices, trading up over 1% each. Apart from blue chips, broader indices too participated in the rally with both mid and small cap indices trading up by over 1% each. Investors got boost as GDP numbers were slightly ahead of estimates with green shoots on the manufacturing side seeing better traction. Sentiments further perked up as Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) data showed that India's foreign exchange reserves inched up by $29 million to a fresh lifetime high of $476.122 billion in the week to February 21, aided by an increase in the value of gold holdings.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly higher due to short covering after prices slumped on worries about coronavirus epidemics and the possibility for a global recession. Back home, market breadth on the BSE was positive; there were 1,465 shares on the gaining side against 662 shares on the losing side while 131 shares remain unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 38845.30, up by 548.01 points or 1.43% after trading in a range of 38683.67 and 39083.17. 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 1.39%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 2.76%, TECK up by 2.55%, Metal up by 1.90%, FMCG up by 1.72% and Healthcare was up by 1.67%, while there were no losers on sectoral indices.

The top gainers on the Sensex were HCL Tech up by 4.52%, ICICI Bank up by 4.03%, Infosys up by 3.69%, Nestle up by 2.38% and TCS was up by 2.21%. On the flip side, Bajaj Auto down by 3.16%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.05% and Bajaj Finance was down by 0.31% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the growth of India's eight core sectors has improved to 2.2% in January 2020 against 1.5% in the same month last year, helped by expansion in the production of coal, refinery products and electricity. According to data released by the ministry of Commerce and Industry, the combined Index of eight core industries stood at 137.5 in January, 2020, which was 2.2% higher compared to the index of January, 2019. The Eight Core Industries - coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers, steel, cement and electricity - comprise 40.27% of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP).

Among eight core sectors, Coal production having 10.33 percent weight increased by 8.0 percent in January, 2020 over January, 2019, while its cumulative index decreased by 2.4 percent during April to January, 2019-20 over corresponding period of the previous year. Petroleum Refinery production having 28.04 percent weight increased 1.9 percent in January, 2020 over January, 2019, while its cumulative index dropped by 0.4 percent during April to January, 2019-20 over the corresponding period of previous year.

Steel production having 17.92 percent weight increased by 2.2 percent in January, 2020 over January, 2019 and its cumulative index surged by 5.3 percent during April to January, 2019-20 over the corresponding period of previous year. Electricity generation having 19.85 percent weight rose 2.8 percent in January, 2020 over January, 2019 while its cumulative index increased by 0.9 percent during April to January, 2019-20 over the corresponding period of previous year. Cement production having 5.37 percent weight increased by 5.0 percent in January, 2019 over January, 2018 and its cumulative index rose by 1.1 percent during April to January, 2019-20 over the corresponding period of previous year.

Crude Oil production having 8.98 percent weight fell by 5.3 percent in January, 2020 over January, 2019 and its cumulative index dropped by 6.0 percent during April to January, 2019-20 over the corresponding period of previous year. The Natural Gas production having 6.88 percent weight declined by 9.1 percent in January, 2020 over January, 2019, and its cumulative index was down by 4.3 percent during April to January, 2019-20 over the corresponding period of previous year. Fertilizer production having 2.63 percent weight declined by 0.1 percent in January, 2020 over January, 2019, while, its cumulative index increased by 4.2 percent during April to January, 2019-20 over the corresponding period of previous year.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11364.45, up by 162.70 points or 1.45% after trading in a range of 11308.30 and 11433.00. There were 46 stocks advancing against 4 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were HCL Tech up by 4.43%, Eicher Motors up by 3.94%, ICICI Bank up by 3.92%, Infosys up by 3.82% and Coal India was up by 3.00%. On the flip side, Bajaj Auto down by 3.29%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.12%, GAIL India down by 0.57% and Bajaj Finance was down by 0.27% were the top losers.

Most of the Asian markets were trading higher; Hang Seng increased 212.30 points or 0.81% to 26,342.23, Nikkei 225 surged 233.31 points or 1.1% to 21,376.27, Straits Times advanced 8.32 points or 0.28% to 3,019.40, KOSPI rose 16.82 points or 0.85% to 2,003.83 and Shanghai Composite was up by 89.42 points or 3.1% to 2,969.72. On the other hand, Jakarta Composite lost 55.39 points or 1.02% to 5,397.31 and Taiwan Weighted was down by 110.16 points or 0.98% to 11,182.01.