Indian equities continue to show positive trend

Indian benchmarks continued their trade in positive territory in late afternoon session. Sentiments remained upbeat, as centre launched the Aatmanirbhar Bharat ARISE-Atal New India Challenges programme to support MSMEs and start-ups for making India innovative, resilient, tech-driven, and research and development (R&D)-oriented. Traders took note of report that Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant has said India is the youngest country with a vibrant startup eco-system and it must convert the present (COVID-19) crisis into an opportunity. Traders shrugged off ICRA’s report that state governments' deficit is seen in the range from 4.25 per cent up to 5.52 per cent of the gross state domestic product (GSDP) in the current fiscal.

On the global front, Asian markets are trading mixed after Wall Street rebounded from a three-day slump for tech stocks. European markets were trading lower, as investors waited for the outcome of the European Central Bank meeting. Treasuries gained, while crude oil declined.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 38655.58, up by 461.66 points or 1.21% after trading in a range of 38367.07 and 38872.11. There were 18 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.32%, while Small cap index was up by 1.01%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Energy up by 6.25%, Oil & Gas up by 3.42%, PSU up by 0.91%, Consumer Discretionary up by 0.54% and Realty was up by 0.41%, while Metal down by 2.06%, Telecom down by 1.98%, Consumer Durables down by 0.65%, TECK down by 0.23% and Basic Materials was down by 0.07% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Reliance Industries up by 7.08%, Axis Bank up by 2.56%, Asian Paints up by 2.33%, Indusind Bank up by 1.70% and Ultratech Cement up by 1.16%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 3.44%, Bharti Airtel down by 2.17%, Titan Company down by 1.27%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.09% and Sun Pharma down by 0.91% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in order to provide convenience of banking services to the customers, Union Minister of Finance & Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman has unveiled doorstep banking services by PSBs. The services shall be rendered by the doorstep banking agents deployed by the selected Service Providers at 100 centres across the country.

As part of the EASE Reforms, doorstep banking services is envisaged to provide convenience of banking services to the customers at their door step through the universal touch points of Call Centre, Web Portal or Mobile App.  Customers can also track their service request through these channels.

The services can be availed by customers of Public Sector Banks at nominal charges. The services shall benefit all customers, particularly Senior Citizens and Divyangs who would find it at ease to avail these services.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11393.70, up by 115.70 points or 1.03% after trading in a range of 11327.40 and 11446.25. There were 24 stocks advancing against 26 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Reliance Industries up by 7.24%, BPCL up by 6.17%, Indian Oil up by 3.72%, Axis Bank up by 2.39% and Asian Paints up by 2.37%. On the flip side, Hindalco down by 4.62%, Bharti Infratel down by 4.61%, Tata Steel down by 3.57%, JSW Steel down by 2.42% and Bharti Airtel down by 2.16% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mixed; Jakarta Composite lost 257.92 points or 5.01% to 4,891.46, Hang Seng decreased 155.39 points or 0.64% to 24,313.54, Shanghai Composite declined 19.81 points or 0.61% to 3,234.82, Straits Times trembled 17.73 points or 0.71% to 2,481.60. On the flip side, KOSPI rose 20.67 points or 0.87% to 2,396.48, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 83.17 points or 0.66% to 12,691.75 and Nikkei 225 was up by 202.93 points or 0.88% to 23,235.47.

European markets were trading lower; UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 40.35 points or 0.67% to 5,972.49, France’s CAC decreased 21.17 points or 0.42% to 5,021.81 and Germany’s DAX was down by 12.50 points or 0.09% to 13,224.71.