Benchmarks extend gains in late afternoon session

Indianequity benchmarks extended their gains in late afternoon session, with the Sensex and the Nifty gaining above 300 and 70 points, respectively. Traders remained energized, as RBI data reported that bank credit grew 5.49 percent to Rs 102.11 lakh crore, while deposits increased 10.92 percent to Rs 141.76 lakh crore in the fortnight ended August 28. Traders overlooked Asian Development Bank (ADB) in its latest report has predicted that India's economy is likely to contract by 9 per cent this year -- worse than the 4 per cent contraction. It had forecast three month ago. On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly in green after Wall Street surged on a flurry of corporate deal-makingand Chinese economic activity improved. European markets were trading higher supported by improving Chinese economic data and positive results coming fromretailers.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 39061.56, up by 304.93 points or 0.79% after trading in a range of 38753.68 and 39062.05. There were 22 stocks advancing against 8 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.84%, while Small cap index was up by 1.31%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Healthcare up by 2.26%, Telecom up by 2.00%, TECK up by 1.47%, Power up by 1.40% and IT was up by 1.39%, while Realty down by 0.61%, Metal down by 0.08% and Auto was down by 0.04% were the few losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Sun Pharma up by 2.70%, Bharti Airtel up by 2.13%, Bajaj Finance up by 1.46%, Infosys up by 1.39% and Indusind Bank up by 1.35%. On the flip side, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.21%, ITC down by 0.93%, Bajaj Finserv down by 0.86%, Titan Company down by 0.82% and Asian Paints down by 0.69% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in its latest report has predicted that India's economy is likely to contract by 9 per cent this year -- worse than the 4 per cent contraction it had forecast three months ago. However, ADB expects India to bounce back with 8 per cent growth next year as the country begins to emerge from the economic devastation caused by coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

For developing Asia, the Asian Development Outlook (ADO) 2020 Update forecasts minus 0.7 per cent gross domestic product (GDP) growth this year -- marking its first negative economic growth since the early 1960s.

The report further noted that growth will rally to 6.8 per cent in 2021, in part because growth will be measured relative to a weak 2020. This will still leave next year's output below pre-COVID-19 projections, suggesting an L-shaped rather than a V-shaped recovery. About three-quarters of the region's economies are expected to post negative growth in 2020.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11517.75, up by 77.70 points or 0.68% after trading in a range of 11442.25 and 11523.55. There were 34 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Cipla up by 3.87%, Dr. Reddys Lab up by 3.32%, Sun Pharma up by 2.64%, Bharti Airtel up by 2.30% and UPL up by 2.01%. On the flip side, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.34%, Eicher Motors down by 0.98%, ITC down by 0.98%, HDFC Life Insurance down by 0.93% and Bajaj Finserv down by 0.85% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in green, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 57.83 points or 0.45% to 12,845.65, Hang Seng increased 92.48 points or 0.38% to 24,732.76, KOSPI rose 15.67 points or 0.65% to 2,443.58, Straits Times advanced 4.47 points or 0.18% to 2,487.02, Shanghai Composite gained 16.87 points or 0.51% to 3,295.68. On the flip side, Jakarta Composite lost 60.97 points or 1.18% to 5,100.86 and Nikkei 225 slipped 104.41 points or 0.44% to 23,454.89.

European markets were trading higher, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 39.69 points or 0.66% to 6,065.94, France’s CAC increased 13.32 points or 0.26% to 5,065.20, Germany’s DAX increased 8.39 points or 0.06% to 13,202.05