Indian markets add gains in late afternoon session

Indian equity markets extended their gains in late afternoon session despite weak European markets cues. The Sensex and Nifty were gaining above 200 and 50 points, respectively. Traders found support as Reserve Bank of India (RBI) extended by six months the additional flexibility provided to states to raise funds through market borrowing and overdraft. The RBI in April provided additional flexibility to states and Union Territories (UTs) to raise funds to deal with the Covid-19 crisis. The flexibility was available till September 30, 2020. Traders ignored Nobel Laureate Abhijit Banerjee said India is among the worst performing economies in the world and the government’s economic stimulus was inadequate to tackle the problem. But, he said that the country will see a revival in growth in the July-September quarter of the current fiscal. He said the country's economic growth was slowing down even before the Covid-19 pandemic hit.

On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly in red as concerns over rising coronavirus infections and the uncertainty surrounding the U.S. election result offset data from China indicating a steady recovery for the economy. European markets were trading lower as a surge in coronavirus cases and the tone of the first US campaign debate dampened risk appetite at the end of a tumultuous month for financial markets.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 38191.93, up by 218.71 points or 0.58% after trading in a range of 37828.11 and 38211.78. 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 0.22%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were FMCG up by 1.91%, Consumer Durables up by 1.27%, Healthcare up by 0.92%, Capital Goods up by 0.87% and Industrials was up by 0.58%, while Oil & Gas down by 2.07%, Metal down by 1.84%, PSU down by 1.49%, Telecom down by 1.47% and Utilities was down by 0.84% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Hindustan Unilever up by 2.59%, Tech Mahindra up by 2.51%, Titan Company up by 2.31%, Nestle up by 2.30% and HDFC Bank up by 2.03%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 2.30%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.47%, NTPC down by 1.23%, Indusind Bank down by 1.14% and ICICI Bank down by 1.04% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in order to further improve the ease of doing business, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has agreed to most of the suggestions made by industry body, the Consulting Engineers Association of India (CEAI).

CEAI had made suggestions pertaining to areas that include Omnibus Bank Guarantee, Performance Parameters of Consultants, Approval of DPR, Value Engineering, Technical Capacity Provisions, Evaluation of Bids etc. NHAI agreed with most of the suggestions made by them. Suggestions which were outside the purview of NHAI have been sent to the related authorities for consideration.

Further, NHAI assured the body that all good suggestions facilitating smooth working with the Consultants shall be positively considered in the future as well. NHAI also said that it is committed to improve ease of doing business and facilitate better working relationship with all its stakeholders.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11288.70, up by 66.30 points or 0.59% after trading in a range of 11184.55 and 11290.10. There were 28 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Shree Cement up by 3.35%, Dr. Reddys Lab up by 3.21%, Tech Mahindra up by 2.59%, Hindustan Unilever up by 2.56% and Nestle up by 2.43%. On the flip side, BPCL down by 8.86%, Tata Steel down by 2.34%, JSW Steel down by 2.16%, Coal India down by 1.74% and Indian Oil down by 1.60% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in red, Nikkei 225 slipped 353.98 points or 1.5% to 23,185.12, Jakarta Composite lost 9.06 points or 0.19% to 4,870.04, Shanghai Composite declined 6.31 points or 0.2% to 3,218.05, Straits Times trembled 4.29 points or 0.17% to 2,467.32. On the flip side, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 47.88 points or 0.38% to 12,515.61 and Hang Seng was up by183.52 points or 0.79% to 23,459.05.

European markets were trading lower; UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 0.81 points or 0.01% to 5,896.69, France’s CAC decreased 18.26 points or 0.38% to 4,813.81 and Germany’s DAX decreased 65.99 points or 0.51% to 12,759.83.