Indices remain under grip of bulls in late morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks remained under a grip of bulls in late morning deals, with both Sensex and Nifty extending their gains. Positive cues from other Asian markets helped key indices to maintain their gaining momentum in late morning session. Domestic sentiments were positive, as the Union Ministry of Finance informed that an amount of Rs 30,000 crore Special Liquidity Scheme has been progressed for non-banking, housing finance companies and Monetary Financial Institutions (MFI) as part of the Atmanirbhar Bharat package. According to the Finance Ministry, 37 proposals involving Rs 10,590 crore have been approved as on September 11. While six applications seeking financing of Rs 783.5 crore are under process.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green, after China's bank lending increased in August as the economy started to recover from the coronavirus driven downturn. The data from the People's Bank of China revealed that banks offered CNY 1.28 trillion loans in August. This was bigger than the expected level of CNY 1.22 trillion and CNY 992.7 billion loans provided in July. Total social financing, a broad measure of credit and liquidity in the economy, surged to CNY 3.58 trillion from CNY 1.69 trillion in July.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 39170.40, up by 315.85 points or 0.81% after trading in a range of 39070.86 and 39230.16. There were 20 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining, while 1 stock remain unchanged on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 1.95%, while Small cap index was up by 4.11%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 4.11%, Realty up by 3.62%, Consumer Durables up by 3.58%, TECK up by 3.15% and Industrials up by 2.45%, while Telecom down by 1.49% and FMCG down by 0.20% were the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were HCL Tech up by 10.00%, Infosys up by 3.92%, Tech Mahindra up by 3.46%, TCS up by 2.88% and Bajaj Auto up by 2.03%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 2.48%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.31%, Sun Pharma down by 1.14%, Nestle down by 1.11% and Bajaj Finance down by 1.05% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Moody’s Investors Service in its latest report has projected that India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate to contract 11.5% for the financial year 2020-21 (FY21), from (-) 4% estimated earlier. Besides, India’s economic growth fell 23.9% during the first quarter of 2020-21, primarily because of a lockdown imposed to limit the spread of the coronavirus.

The agency said ‘India’s credit profile is increasingly constrained by low growth, high debt burden and a weak financial system’. These risks have been exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic. It added that ‘mutually reinforcing risks from deeper stresses in the economy and financial system could lead to a more severe and prolonged erosion in fiscal strength, exerting further pressure on the credit profile’.

Moody’s also said that India’s policy-making institutions have struggled to mitigate the risks worsened by the coronavirus pandemic. However, for 2021-22, it projected the economy to clock a growth of 10.6% on the back of a strong base effect.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11553.75, up by 89.30 points or 0.78% after trading in a range of 11516.90 and 11566.60. There were 33 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were HCL Tech up by 9.69%, Infosys up by 3.86%, Tata Motors up by 3.43%, Tech Mahindra up by 3.42% and UPL up by 3.25%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 2.57%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.35%, BPCL down by 1.17%, Sun Pharma down by 1.15% and Bajaj Finance down by 1.13% 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.