Bourses manage to trade above neutral lines in morning session

Key Indian benchmarks managed to trade above their neutral lines in morning session, on account of buying in frontline blue chip counters. Traders were taking support from report that India has moved four places on the Global Innovation Index (GII) 2020 to rank at 48 since 2019. This makes it the third-most innovative lower middle-income economy in the world. However, gains remain capped as some concern came with Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) stating that the government's decision to cap export incentives under the Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS) at Rs 2 crore per exporter on exports made between September 1, 2020 to December 31, 2020 is going to seriously affect traders and cause uncertainty. In the currency front, the rupee emerged weak in early trade, and was trading at 73.35 against US Dollar, lower by 32 paise. On the sectoral front, majority of power stocks were trading in green with rating agency ICRA’s report that demand for electricity in the country improved to about 98 percent of pre-COVID-19 level in August, led by recovery in rural areas.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red, as the latest survey from the Australian Industry Group revealed that the construction sector in Australia continued to contract in August, and at a faster pace, with a Performance of Construction Index score of 37.9. That's down from 42.7 and it moves farther beneath the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction. Besides, the latest survey from Jibun Bank revealed that the services sector in Japan continued to contract in August, and at a slightly faster pace, with services PMI score of 45.0. That's down from 45.4 in July and it moves farther beneath the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 39160.24, up by 74.21 points or 0.19% after trading in a range of 39061.79 and 39236.36. 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 0.57%, while Small cap index was up by 1.03%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 2.12%, TECK up by 1.70%, Consumer Durables up by 1.12%, Industrials up by 0.99% and Auto up by 0.77%, while Metal down by 0.73%, Energy down by 0.50%, PSU down by 0.32%, Bankex down by 0.28% and Utilities down by 0.22% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tech Mahindra up by 2.31%, TCS up by 2.30%, Infosys up by 2.09%, Titan Company up by 1.85% and HCL Technologies up by 1.70%. On the flip side, ICICI Bank down by 1.39%, Power Grid down by 1.24%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.19%, NTPC down by 0.96% and Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.78% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, India for the first time made it to the top 50 countries in the Global Innovation Index (GII) 2020. India has moved up four positions since 2019 to become the third-most innovative lower-middle-income economy in the world. India, at 48, also retains the highest rank in the central and southern Asia region. The index, compiled by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), along with Cornell University and the INSEAD Business School, presents the latest global innovation trends and annual innovation ranking of 131 economies.

India increased the most in three pillars: Institutions (61, from 77 in 2019), business sophistication (55, from 65 in 2019), and creative outputs (64, from 78 in 2019). Under institutions, the country’s rank on indicators, such as political and operational stability (from 91 to 83), government effectiveness (from 65 to 55), and ease of resolving insolvency (from 95 to 47), improved remarkably.

Under business sophistication, indicators such as expenditure financed by business was not available last year; this time India came in at 48. India also bettered its rank in both intellectual property payments (27, from 29 in 2019) and research talent (38, from 46 in 2019). Under creative outputs, India increased its ranking by a combination of performance improvements and model changes. It gained 18 places in cultural and creative services exports to 21 and it ranked 31 on the new indicator on global brands, thanks to its 164 brands in the top 5,000, led by Tata Group.

However, India continued to lag in infrastructure, even as it moved up four notches to come in at 75, from 79 in 2019. Also, it lost seven places to move down to 60 in human capital and research, from 53 in 2019. India came out as an innovation achiever for the tenth consecutive year. It was so because India was on the list of the first 10 countries, income-group wise.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11564.35, up by 29.35 points or 0.25% after trading in a range of 11534.95 and 11584.95. There were 26 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bharti Infratel up by 4.62%, Wipro up by 4.09%, UPL up by 4.04%, Grasim Industries up by 2.84% and Eicher Motors up by 2.54%. On the flip side, Hindalco down by 1.94%, ICICI Bank down by 1.47%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.18%, Shree Cement down by 1.16% and Power Grid down by 1.13% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Hang Seng decreased 77.44 points or 0.31% to 25,042.65, Jakarta Composite lost 35.43 points or 0.67% to 5,276.54, Straits Times trembled 15.76 points or 0.62% to 2,524.18 and Shanghai Composite declined 2.11 points or 0.06% to 3,402.69.

On the flip side, KOSPI rose 33.97 points or 1.44% to 2,398.34, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 38.70 points or 0.3% to 12,738.20 and Nikkei 225 surged 253.06 points or 1.09% to 23,500.21.