Local indices continue to trade higher in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade higher in morning session, following Asian peers as hopes of a coronavirus vaccine were rekindled after AstraZeneca resumed its phase-3 trial. Sentiments remained positive as Chief Economic Adviser K V Subramanian exuded confidence that retail inflation will come down in the days ahead with the easing of lockdowns, attributing the rise in inflation to supply-side frictions. Some support also come as RBI data showed that the country's foreign exchange reserves rose by $582 million to reach a lifetime high of $542.013 billion in the week ended September 4. Market participants overlooked CARE Ratings’ report that India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is likely to see a sharper contraction of 8-8.2 percent in the current financial year (FY21) under the assumption of there being no fiscal stimulus from the government. It said this would imply that there would be no increase in capital expenditure (capex) during the year beyond what is provided in the Budget.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green, as investor sentiment was boosted by news that AstraZenece has resumed the late-stage trial of its coronavirus vaccine in the UK. Back home, on the sectoral front, coal industry stocks remained in focus as India's coal import declined by 34.9 percent to 12.46 million tonnes (MT) in August on account of subdued demand for the dry fuel from consuming sectors like power and cement.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 39148.63, up by 294.08 points or 0.76% after trading in a range of 39070.86 and 39230.16. There were 18 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 1.77%, while Small cap index was up by 3.72%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 3.58%, IT up by 3.16%, Realty up by 3.15%, TECK up by 2.50% and Industrials up by 2.23%, while Telecom down by 0.51% and FMCG down by 0.24% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were HCL Technologies up by 6.28%, Infosys up by 2.91%, Tech Mahindra up by 2.84%, TCS up by 2.52% and Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.65%. On the flip side, Asian Paints down by 1.21%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.99%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.96%, Sun Pharma down by 0.85% and Bajaj Finance down by 0.74% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the finance ministry has said banks have sanctioned loans worth over Rs 1.63 lakh crore to more than 42 lakh business units under the Rs 3-lakh crore Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) for the MSME sector. On the disbursement front, however, over Rs 1.18 lakh crore doled out to 25 lakh MSME units, till September 10, which were hit by the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing lockdowns. Amount of Rs 1,18,138.64 crore has been disbursed to 25,01,999 borrowers, it said while sharing the progress of implementation of various schemes under the Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan package.

Sharing details of other schemes being implemented by the finance ministry, it said banks have approved purchase of portfolio of Rs 25,055.5 crore under Rs 45,000-crore Partial Credit Guarantee Scheme 2.0 for NBFCs, HFCs and MFIs to do fresh lending to MSMEs and individuals scheme as on August 28. It said lenders are currently in the process of approval/negotiations for additional Rs 4,367 crore. Besides, talking about income tax refunds, it said the department has issued Rs 1,01,308 crore to more than 27.55 lakh taxpayers between April 1, 2020 and September 8, 2020.

The scheme is the biggest fiscal component of the Rs 20-lakh crore Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan package announced by government in May to mitigate the distress by providing credit to different sectors, especially micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11545.90, up by 81.45 points or 0.71% after trading in a range of 11516.90 and 11563.35. There were 33 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were HCL Technologies up by 6.34%, Infosys up by 3.08%, Tech Mahindra up by 2.72%, UPL up by 2.71% and TCS up by 2.67%. On the flip side, Asian Paints down by 1.09%, BPCL down by 1.04%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.01%, Britannia Inds down by 0.99% and Sun Pharma down by 0.93% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Hang Seng increased 163.35 points or 0.67% to 24,666.66, Nikkei 225 surged 160.74 points or 0.69% to 23,567.23, Jakarta Composite soared 117.36 points or 2.34% to 5,134.07, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 105.17 points or 0.83% to 12,781.12, KOSPI rose 27.69 points or 1.16% to 2,424.38 and Shanghai Composite gained 18.33 points or 0.56% to 3,278.68.

On the flip side, Straits Times lost 1.10 points or 0.04% to 2,488.99.