Sensex, Nifty hold gains in late morning deals

Bulls were holding their tight grip over the Dalal Street in late morning deals, with both Sensex and Nifty holding their strong gains. Positive cues from other Asian markets were helping key indices to maintain their gaining momentum. Sentiments over the street remained positive, as the DPIIT has shared a list of 24 key sectors including food processing, toys, furniture, agro chemicals and textiles with respective ministries asking them to work on an action plan with a view to boost domestic manufacturing and make India a self-reliant country. The other sectors include organic farming, iron, aluminium and copper, electronics, industrial machinery, furniture, leather and shoes, and auto parts.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green, even after South Korea's consumer confidence weakened in September for the first time in four months. The survey data from the Bank of Korea showed that the composite consumer confidence index fell to 79.4 from 84.2 in August. The index had risen in each month after falling to a low of 7.8 in May. Consumers' assessment of the current and future living standards, income and spending deteriorated. Their perceptions regarding the current and future domestic economic conditions, savings, and employment opportunities also weakened.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 37911.22, up by 522.56 points or 1.40% after trading in a range of 37544.05 and 37946.50. There were 28 stocks advancing against 2 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 1.96%, while Small cap index was up by 2.14%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were PSU up by 3.24%, Power up by 3.05%, Oil & Gas up by 2.93%, Bankex up by 2.83% and Utilities up by 2.68%, while IT down by 0.40% and TECK down by 0.16% were the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ONGC up by 6.68%, Indusind Bank up by 5.68%, Bajaj Finance up by 5.15%, Axis Bank up by 4.62% and Power Grid up by 3.73%. On the flip side, TCS down by 1.17% and Infosys down by 0.92% were the only losers.

Meanwhile, the Finance Ministry is likely to provide capital support from the Rs 20,000 crore fund approved by Parliament in recently concluded session to some Public Sector Banks (PSBs) in the third quarter (Q3) itself. Parliament approved Rs 20,000 crore for PSB capital infusion as part of the first batch of Supplementary Demands for Grants for 2020-21 which sought additional spending of a record Rs 2.35 trillion primarily to meet expenses for combating the Covid-19 pandemic.

The fund infusion would be for meeting regulatory capital requirements if the need arises in October-December quarter. The second quarter result will give an idea as to which bank may require regulatory capital and accordingly recapitalisation bonds would be issued to them. Besides, state-owned banks already have shareholders' approval for raising capital through a mix of equity and bonds during the current fiscal. In 2019-20, the government infused Rs 70,000 crore into PSBs to boost credit for a strong impetus to the economy.

In the last financial year, Punjab National Bank got Rs 16,091 crore, Union Bank of India received Rs 11,768 crore while Canara Bank and Indian Bank got Rs 6,571 crore and Rs 2,534 crore, respectively. Allahabad Bank received Rs 2,153 crore, United Bank of India got Rs 1,666 crore and Andhra Bank received Rs 200 crore. These three lenders have been merged with various PSBs. Besides, Bank of Baroda got a capital infusion of Rs 7,000 crore, Indian Overseas Bank received Rs 4,360 crore and UCO Bank got Rs 2,142 crore. Punjab & Sind Bank received Rs 787 crore and Central Bank of India got Rs 3,353 crore. In addition, LIC-controlled IDBI Bank received additional capital of Rs 4,557 crore.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11203.90, up by 153.65 points or 1.39% after trading in a range of 11099.85 and 11212.60. There were 44 stocks advancing against 6 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ONGC up by 6.82%, Indusind Bank up by 5.63%, Bajaj Finance up by 5.15%, Tata Motors up by 4.83% and Adani Ports & SEZ up by 4.55%. On the flip side, Cipla down by 1.37%, TCS down by 1.21%, Infosys down by 1.06%, Divis Lab down by 0.61% and Wipro down by 0.41% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Taiwan Weighted strengthened 193.82 points or 1.58% to 12,426.73, Hang Seng increased 170.89 points or 0.74% to 23,406.31, Nikkei 225 surged 140.40 points or 0.61% to 23,345.02, KOSPI rose 33.36 points or 1.46% to 2,312.15 and Straits Times advanced 10.12 points or 0.41% to 2,482.40. On the flip side, Shanghai Composite declined 7.15 points or 0.22% to 3,212.27 and Jakarta Composite lost 22.03 points or 0.45% to 4,923.76.