Benchmarks trade firm in early deals

Indian equity benchmarks made optimistic start on Wednesday tracking positive cues from Asian peers. Markets are trading firm in early deals with gains on over 0.80% each. Some support came in with private report that Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is likely to announce this week a second stimulus for the economy hit by a nationwide lockdown triggered by the coronavirus pandemic, concluding multiple rounds of discussions within the government. Traders took note of report that the Asian Development Bank has approved a $1.5 billion (about Rs 11,400 crore) loan to India to help fund its response to the novel coronavirus pandemic, including support for immediate priorities such as disease containment and prevention, as well as social protection for the poor and economically vulnerable sections. Meanwhile, the total number cases of coronavirus cases in India has risen 31,324, and 1,008 people have died from the fatal disease so far, according to Worldometer data.

On the global front, all the Asian markets are trading higher despite the negative cues overnight from Wall Street, as crude oil prices rebounded more than 11% in Asian trades and on improved sentiment following the re-opening of businesses in several virus hot spots in Europe and some select states in the US Investors now look ahead to the US Federal Reserve's monetary policy decision due later in the day. The Federal Reserve is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged at near-zero levels, although the central bank could provide additional guidance regarding how long it plans to keep rates at their current levels.

Back home, auto stocks were in focus with Crisil’s report that auto sales are likely to remain muted as consumers may not flock to dealerships and even avoid shopping malls and markets due to the fear of coronavirus infection for an extended period post lockdown. In scrip specific developments, IT stocks such as TCS, Infosys and Wipro were modestly higher after the Centre gave permission for IT professionals to work from home till July 31. On the other hand, Axis Bank fell as it posted a loss for the March quarter amid increased provisions for bad loans.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 32388.82, up by 274.30 points or 0.85% after trading in a range of 32171.65 and 32431.20. There were 22 stocks advancing against 8 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.72%, while Small cap index was up by 0.70%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Utilities up by 1.66%, Metal up by 1.66%, Power up by 1.41%, Realty up by 1.38%, PSU up by 1.12%, while FMCG down by 0.11%, Consumer Durables down by 0.09% were the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were HDFC up by 4.51%, Bajaj Finance up by 3.15%, HDFC Bank up by 2.36%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.84% and Tata Steel up by 1.74%. On the flip side, Axis Bank down by 4.70%, Indusind Bank down by 4.38%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.34%, Titan Company down by 1.10% and Asian Paints down by 0.78% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Moody's Investors Service in its report titled - Global Macro Outlook 2020-21 (April 2020 update), has cut India growth forecast to 0.2 percent, from 2.5 percent projected in March for calendar year 2020. For 2021, Moody's expects India's growth to rebound to 6.2 percent. It said the economic costs of coronavirus crisis amid the near shutdown of the global economy are accumulating rapidly.

Further, it expects G-20 advanced economies as a group to contract by 5.8 percent in 2020. Even with a gradual recovery, 2021 real GDP in most advanced economies is expected to be below pre-coronavirus levels. China's economy is forecast to grow by 1 percent in 2020.

Besides, it said that India extended a nationwide lockdown to 40 days from 21 days, but relaxed restrictions in rural areas to facilitate agricultural harvesting in the second half of April. The country has determined that many of these areas are free of the virus. India also plans a phased opening of different regions while continuing to carry out identification and contract tracing.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 9458.45, up by 77.55 points or 0.83% after trading in a range of 9392.35 and 9469.95. There were 36 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were HDFC up by 4.40%, Bajaj Finance up by 3.18%, GAIL India up by 2.48%, HDFC Bank up by 2.42% and JSW Steel up by 2.32%. On the flip side, Axis Bank down by 4.71%, Indusind Bank down by 4.12%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.42%, Titan Company down by 1.17% and Dr. Reddy’s Lab down by 0.95% were the top losers.

All the Asian markets are trading in green; Straits Times rose 12.45 points or 0.49% to 2,575.40, Hang Seng gained 51.23 points or 0.21% to 24,627.19, Taiwan weighted soared 169.98 points or 1.60% to 10,786.04, KOSPI jumped 14.02 points or 0.72% to 1,948.11, Jakarta Composite surged 18.34 points or 0.40% to 4,547.89 and Shanghai Composite was up by 13.07 points or 0.47 % to 2,823.09.