Local bourses continue to trade higher in late afternoon deals

Local bourses maintained their upward momentum in late afternoon deals, following gains in realty, industrials and bankex stocks. Among blue chip stocks on the BSE, Bajaj Finance was top gainer trading up by around 6%, while Infosys was top loser down by over 1%. Meanwhile, the broader indices, mid cap and small cap indices were trading up by over 1% each. Sentiment were perked up with State Bank of India’s (SBI) chairman Rajnish Kumar statement that there is enough liquidity available in the system and also interest rates have moderated to a large extent. He further states that both the RBI and the government have taken measures to bring back the economy, derailed by the pandemic, back on track.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green, with reports of lower jobless claims in the United States, and China’s quick response to this week’s coronavirus cases in Beijing. Back home, in scrip specific developments, Trident gained on raising Rs 500 million through Commercial Papers and Bajaj Auto catches speed on launching split seat variant of Pulsar 125.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 34534.56, up by 326.51 points or 0.95% after trading in a range of 34136.39 and 34608.33. There were 23 stocks advancing against 6 stocks declining, while 1 stock remain unchanged on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index jump 1.22%, while Small cap index was up by 1.33%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 4.00%, Industrials up by 1.99%, Bankex up by 1.71%, Energy up by 1.55% and Auto was up by 1.52%, while IT down by 0.38%, TECK down by 0.10% and FMCG was down by 0.01% were the few losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bajaj Finance up by 5.98%, Axis Bank up by 3.47%, Maruti Suzuki up by 3.01%, ONGC up by 2.57% and SBI was up by 2.31%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 1.23%, HCL Technologies down by 0.97%, ITC down by 0.83%, HDFC down by 0.82% and Mahindra & Mahindra was down by 0.54% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, India Ratings & Research (Ind-Ra) in its latest report has said that textile companies are likely to witness 'huge fall' in their revenue in the first half of 2020-21 (H1FY21), due to the economic slowdown following lockdown to curb the spread of the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19). It noted that subdued domestic demand and declining export demand due to lockdowns in global markets on account of COVID-19 come as a double blow for textile companies.

According to the report, while domestic demand could revive in third quarter of FY21 with the onset of festive season and reopening of retail spaces, export demand would fairly depend on recoup of major economies such as the US and the UK. However, it said there also seems to be a short-term opportunity for Indian companies to cater to those markets which were earlier catered by China and Bangladesh.

Further, the agency stated that players in spinning, readymade garments carry high debts on account of stretched working capital cycles with low cushion to borrow. It expects the working capital cycle to stretch for textile players over the next nine months due to delays in collections and a longer inventory. It added that the ongoing economic slowdown is likely to contract the demand by 25-35 percent across yarn, fabric and apparels in FY21 as compared to the previous fiscal.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10191.45, up by 99.80 points or 0.99% after trading in a range of 10072.65 and 10212.70. There were 38 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Motors up by 6.28%, Bajaj Finance up by 6.14%, Bajaj Finserv up by 4.01%, Axis Bank up by 3.55% and Maruti Suzuki up by 3.25%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 1.25%, ITC down by 0.70%, Coal India down by 0.69%, HCL Technologies down by 0.63% and Shree Cement down by 0.55% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Taiwan Weighted strengthened 1.53 points or 0.01% to 11,549.86, Shanghai Composite gained 28.94 points or 0.98% to 2,968.26, Jakarta Composite soared 21.75 points or 0.44% to 4,947.00, KOSPI rose 7.84 points or 0.37% to 2,141.32, Hang Seng increased 250.43 points or 1.02% to 24,715.37 and Nikkei 225 was up by 123.33 points or 0.55% to 22,478.79.

On the flip side, Straits Times was down by 17.83 points or 0.67% to 2,647.83.