Sensex, Nifty continue to trade in green terrain

Indian equity benchmarks were trading in green terrain during late morning deals, on account of firm cues from other Asian markets. Heavy buying at Banking, Basic Materials and Realty counters was helping key indices to keep their heads above water. The street took a note of a report stating that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) received Rs 64,746 crore worth of bids or more than six times the amount it proposed to buy government bonds through the special open market operation (OMO). In the OMO sale auction, the RBI received Rs 50,260 crore of bids for four securities.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading in green, even after consumer confidence in South Korea tumbled in April, with a consumer confidence index score of 70.8 - down from 78.4 in March. Consumer sentiment regarding current living standards was six points lower than in March, at 77, and that concerning the future outlook for living standards was four points down, to 79.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 31873.63, up by 130.55 points or 0.41% after trading in a range of 31661.34 and 32164.65. There were 16 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.35%, while Small cap index was up by 0.69%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Bankex up by 2.02%, Basic Materials up by 0.94%, Realty up by 0.87%, Industrials up by 0.62% and Oil & Gas up by 0.53%, while Energy down by 1.24%, FMCG down by 0.99%, Healthcare down by 0.89%, Telecom down by 0.77% and Power down by 0.62% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Indusind Bank up by 9.75%, HDFC up by 4.69%, Bajaj Finance up by 4.23%, Axis Bank up by 4.08% and ICICI Bank up by 2.75%. On the flip side, NTPC down by 2.65%, Bajaj Auto down by 2.19%, HCL Tech. down by 2.06%, Sun Pharma down by 2.05% and Reliance Industries was down by 1.79% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) has recommended subsuming of all levies such as royalty and contributions to the District Mineral Foundation (DMF) into one tax like GST to reduce the tax burden on the mining industry. It also argued that the mining sector is going through a tough time due to falling commodity prices and demand contraction.

As the sector is grappling with the challenges of no/limited production owing to lockdown of operations, FICCI has sought deferment of royalty and contributions to DMF and the National Mineral Exploration Trust (NMET) by six months till the economic situation stabilises. It said under such challenging times, when commodity prices are freely falling and demand is contracting, most of the miners are struggling to remain profitable or even survive. 

The industry body further recommended smooth operations of ports and inter-state movement of raw material and goods for the mining sector which has been allowed to operate amidst the lockdown. Since subdued demand is a major area of concern for the minerals and metals sector, it also requested the government to push the economy by announcing special packages for the sector. It suggested that policy interventions would help the industry to revive back soon once the situation improves, resulting in enhanced contribution to mineral production, employment opportunities and to overall economy as well as the GDP.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 9325.05, up by 42.75 points or 0.46% after trading in a range of 9260.00 and 9402.55. There were 26 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Indusind Bank up by 9.57%, HDFC up by 5.06%, Bajaj Finance up by 4.56%, Axis Bank up by 3.93% and UPL up by 3.16%. On the flip side, NTPC down by 2.76%, Bajaj Auto down by 2.19%, Sun Pharma down by 2.06%, Cipla down by 2.03% and Vedanta was down by 1.98% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Hang Seng gained 203.64 points or 0.84% to 24,483.78, Taiwan weighted rose 34.18 points or 0.32% to 10,601.45, KOSPI soared 2.95 points or 0.15% to 1,925.72, Jakarta Composite inched up 2.18 points or 0.05% to 4,515.32 and Shanghai Composite increased 2.99 points or 0.11% to 2,818.48. On the other hand, Nikkei 225 fell 49.28 points or 0.25% to 19,733.94 and Straits Times was down by 5.74 points or 0.23% to 2,543.66.