Benchmarks trade in high spirit in early deals

Indian equity benchmarks extended their previous session’s gains with gap-up opening on Thursday, tracking firm global cues amid April F&O expiry day. Markets are trading in high spirit with gains of over 2.50% each in early deals. All the BSE Sensex sectoral indices were in the green, led by Auto, Metal and IT. Traders took encouragement with Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant’s statement that India's COVID-19 recovery rate has improved from 15% on April 19 to 24.56% as of April 29. Adding optimism among markets participants with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement that the government was continuously taking steps to ensure the interests of those who feed the entire country were protected. He also said his government was committed to protect the rights of these anndataas (food providers). Meanwhile, in India, the total coronavirus cases are nearing the 32,000-mark. The death toll has climbed to 1,008.

On the global front, all the Asian markets are trading higher extending gains from the previous session as promising trial results of Gilead Sciences' potential coronavirus treatment remdesivir boosted investors’ sentiment. Gilead Sciences cited positive data emerging from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases' study of its investigational antiviral remdesivir for the treatment of COVID-19. The company said the trial met its primary endpoint and that NIAID will provide detailed information at an upcoming briefing. Meanwhile, industrial production in Japan fell a seasonally adjusted 3.7% on month in March. That beat expectations for a drop of 5.2% following the 0.3% fall in February.

Back home, infra stocks were in focus with the Finance Ministry’s statement that to augment infrastructure and create jobs in the country, a government task force has projected total investment of Rs 111 lakh crore in infra projects over five years. In scrip specific developments, Vodafone Idea jumped after the Supreme Court ordered the government to process the tax refund to the telecom major within four weeks. ONGC and GAIL climbed as oil built on big gains in the previous session. Reliance Industries rose ahead of the release of financial results for the January-March period.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 33555.36, up by 835.20 points or 2.55% after trading in a range of 33354.93 and 33640.73. There were 29 stocks advancing against 1 stock declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index surged 1.48%, while Small cap index was up by 1.64%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Auto up by 4.83%, Metal up by 3.76%, IT up by 3.55%, Bankex up by 3.19%, TECK up by 3.13%, while there was no losers.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Maruti Suzuki up by 5.47%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 5.36%, Infosys up by 4.93%, ICICI Bank up by 4.60% and Bajaj Auto up by 4.40%. On the flip side, Sun Pharma down by 1.26% was the sole loser.

Meanwhile, Minister of Commerce and Industry & Railways Piyush Goyal has held discussions with the Export Promotion Councils (EPCs) of the country and said incentives can be given, but they have to be justified, reasonable, and WTO-compliant. The minister called upon exporters to identify their strengths, potentials and competitive advantages in specific sectors, and focus on harnessing them in the world markets. In the post-COVID era, he said, there is going to be perceptible change in the global supply-chains, and Indian industrialists and exporters should be looking to capture significant share in the world trade.

He assured them that the government will be a pro-active supporter and facilitator in their efforts, and the Indian missions abroad can play an important role in that. He also said that the ministry is working on identifying the specific sectors which can be taken forward in the immediate future for the exports purpose.

He mentioned that India is going to have a bumper Rabi harvest this season, and our storage facilities are overflowing. At the same time, there are news stories that there is shortage of food items in several countries. Many places are not having food of appropriate quality, taste and quantity, due to disruptions in the supply chains because of COVID-19 crisis. He added this seems to be a good opportunity for export of agricultural and processed food items.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 9810.75, up by 257.40 points or 2.69% after trading in a range of 9731.50 and 9815.65. There were 49 stocks advancing against 1 stock declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Motors up by 12.28%, Vedanta up by 5.94%, Maruti Suzuki up by 5.53%, Infosys up by 5.49% and Mahindra & Mahindra up by 5.49%. On the flip side, Sun Pharma down by 1.18% was the sole loser.

All the Asian markets are trading in green; Nikkei 225 jumped 569.34 points or 2.88% to 20,340.53, Straits Times surged 56.31 points or 2.19% to 2,631.04, Taiwan weighted soared 188.32 points or 1.75% to 10,960.54, Jakarta Composite climbed 109.54 points or 2.40% to 4,676.86 and Shanghai Composite was up by 36.77 points or 1.30% to 2,859.21.