Sensex, Nifty continue to trade in positive terrain

Indian stock markets continued to trade in positive terrain in morning session, tracking firm cues from other Asian markets and ahead of GDP data for April-June quarter due later in the day. Sentiments remained optimistic with Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant’s statement that India's business climate has been continuously improving and the government will work tirelessly to make India one of the easiest countries to invest and create wealth. He also emphasised that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of ease of living for the citizens of India will be the government's focus. Additional support also came with Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB) chairman Rajiv Kumar’s statement that central public sector enterprises, which have a combined net worth of close to Rs 12 lakh crore, can boost India's GDP by 2-3 percent by leveraging funds and stepping up capital expenditure. However, markets trimmed some of their opening gains as some anxiety remained among traders with private report stating that India's fiscal deficit is expected to touch 7 percent of GDP in 2020-21 fiscal as against budget estimate of 3.5 per cent, with revenue collections being hit amid disruptions in economic activities due to lockdowns.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green, as investors wagered monetary and fiscal policies globally would stay super stimulatory, while an upbeat reading on China's service sector augured well for continued recovery there. The manufacturing sector in China continued to expand in August, albeit at a slower pace, with a manufacturing PMI score of 51.0. That missed expectations for a reading of 51.2 and it's down from 51.1 in July. Back home, on the sectoral front, stocks related to Agriculture sector remained in focus with Agriculture Secretary Sanjay Agarwal’s statement that private companies have began investing in farm sector spurred by the recent reforms that will help increase farmers' income.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 39787.63, up by 320.32 points or 0.81% after trading in a range of 39702.59 and 40010.17. There were 21 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell 0.13%, while Small cap index was down by 0.46%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 2.42%, Energy up by 1.98%, Power up by 1.08%, Realty up by 1.06% and IT up by 1.03%, while Auto down by 0.47%, Basic Materials down by 0.33%, Telecom down by 0.30%, Consumer Discretionary down by 0.30% and Capital Goods down by 0.07% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ONGC up by 5.67%, Tech Mahindra up by 2.23%, HDFC Bank up by 1.87%, Reliance Industries up by 1.84% and Indusind Bank up by 1.83%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 1.23%, Bajaj Auto down by 0.77%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.75%, SBI down by 0.67% and Sun Pharma down by 0.49% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its latest data has showed that bank credit grew 5.52 per cent to Rs 102.19 trillion and deposits increased 11.04 per cent to Rs 140.80 trillion in the fortnight ended August 14. In the year-ago period, bank credit stood at Rs 96.84 trillion and deposit at Rs 126.8 trillion , respectively.

In the previous fortnight ended July 31, 2020, bank credit grew 5.51 per cent while deposits witnessed a growth of 11.11 per cent. On a year-on-year (y-o-y) basis, non-food bank credit growth was at 6.7 per cent in June, nearly the same as in May. However, it was lower than the growth of 11.1 per cent in June 2019. Growth in credit to agriculture and allied activities rose 2.4 per cent in June as compared to 8.7 per cent rise in the same month of 2019.

As per the data, growth in loans to industry grew 2.2 per cent in June this year compared to 6.4 per cent growth in June 2019. Credit to large industries increased 3.7 per cent as against 7.6 per cent. Credit to the services sector continued to grow at a robust, albeit decelerated, rate at 10.7 per cent in June 2020 vis-a-vis 13 per cent in June 2019. Personal loans continued to perform well registering a growth of 10.5 per cent in June, nearly the same as in May but lower than 16.6 per cent growth in June 2019.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11735.45, up by 87.85 points or 0.75% after trading in a range of 11714.50 and 11794.25. There were 33 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ONGC up by 6.04%, IOC up by 3.93%, Adani Ports &SEZ up by 3.60%, Bharti Infratel up by 3.15% and Wipro up by 2.98%. On the flip side, JSW Steel down by 1.96%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.18%, Eicher Motors down by 1.14%, Shree Cement down by 0.89% and Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.79% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Hang Seng increased 345.59 points or 1.36% to 25,767.65, Nikkei 225 surged 380.70 points or 1.66% to 23,263.35, Straits Times advanced 9.41 points or 0.37% to 2,549.04 and Shanghai Composite gained 27.07 points or 0.8% to 3,430.88.

On the flip side, KOSPI fell 22.24 points or 0.94% to 2,331.56, Jakarta Composite lost 7.14 points or 0.13% to 5,339.52 and Taiwan Weighted dropped 62.40 points or 0.49% to 12,666.45.