Local bourses continue to trade higher in morning session

Key benchmark indices continued to trade higher in morning session on the back of sustained buying by domestic institutional investors. Sentiments remained upbeat with report that the government is planning to save about Rs 35,000 crore to help manage the fiscal load put by the production-linked incentive (PLI) and phased manufacturing program (PMP) schemes, its initiatives to attract investment into the country. Market participants also took a note of private survey stating that there is a need for further financial stimulus to energise and strengthen demand in the economy, which saw 23.9 percent contraction during the April-June 2020 quarter. It also showed that businesses are seeing improvement in some of their operational parameters as the economy is progressively opening up in phases. Strength in broader Asian markets also boosted investor sentiment. On the sectoral front, there was some reaction in hotel and hospitality industry stocks with a study by industry chamber CII and hospitality consulting firm Hotelivat showing that the coronavirus pandemic has dealt a crippling blow to the Indian travel and tourism industry and the entire value chain linked to the sector is likely to lose around Rs 5 lakh crore or $65.57 billion.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green, following the tech-led rebound overnight on Wall Street. Upbeat Japanese core machine orders data for July also boosted sentiment. The Cabinet Office said that the total value of core machine orders in Japan was up a seasonally adjusted 6.3 percent on month in July, standing at 751.3 billion yen. That beat expectations for an increase of 1.9 percent following the 7.6 percent decline in June. Besides, investors now look ahead to the European Central Bank's monetary policy decision due later in the day. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 38479.19, up by 285.27 points or 0.75% after trading in a range of 38367.07 and 38517.36. There were 23 stocks advancing against 7 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.83%, while Small cap index was up by 1.73%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Energy up by 2.13%, Oil & Gas up by 1.63%, Realty up by 1.49%, Industrials up by 1.20% and Power up by 1.13%, while Telecom down by 0.18% and FMCG down by 0.02% were the few losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Asian Paints up by 2.30%, Reliance Industries up by 2.26%, Indusind Bank up by 2.11%, ONGC up by 1.72% and Bajaj Finserv up by 1.63%. On the flip side, Bajaj Auto down by 1.19%, Titan Co down by 0.72%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.50%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.33% and Tech Mahindra down by 0.31% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant has said India is the youngest country in the world with a vibrant startup eco-system and therefore India must convert this (COVID-19) crisis into an opportunity by positioning itself as a great innovator and transformer. He also said the country can successfully find solutions to massive challenges across sectors through the development of digital technology solutions.

Further, he said the New Education Policy (NEP) will take forward digital India's story and will significantly contribute in building the human capital. The NEP will ensure that India becomes a true knowledge superpower.

He said the NEP is a futuristic policy curated to cater to the needs of learners in the 21st Century. The policy focuses on critical thinking, experiential learning, interactive classrooms, integrated pedagogies and competence-based education. He added that the policy marks a welcome departure from archaic practices and pedagogies.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11360.10, up by 82.10 points or 0.73% after trading in a range of 11327.40 and 11367.35. There were 36 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were BPCL up by 3.12%, Indusind Bank up by 2.46%, Reliance Industries up by 2.34%, Asian Paints up by 2.14% and HDFC Life Insurance up by 1.84%. On the flip side, Bharti Infratel down by 1.35%, UPL down by 1.14%, Bajaj Auto down by 1.00%, Hindalco down by 0.98% and JSW Steel down by 0.91% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 surged 150.89 points or 0.66% to 23,183.43, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 54.36 points or 0.43% to 12,662.94, KOSPI rose 24.86 points or 1.05% to 2,400.67, Hang Seng increased 9.76 points or 0.04% to 24,478.69 and Shanghai Composite gained 9.56 points or 0.29% to 3,264.19.

On the global front, Straits Times trembled 11.01 points or 0.44% to 2,488.32 and Jakarta Composite lost 251.27 points or 4.88% to 4,898.11.