Markets continue to trade in high spirit

Indian equity benchmarks continued their trade in high spirit in afternoon session, on account of broad based buying in blue chip counters amid positive Asian cues. Healthy buying was observed in blue-chip stocks like Indusind Bank, Bajaj Auto and Bajaj Finance. Sentiments were upbeat as India's manufacturing sector activity improved for the second straight month in September and touched an over eight-and-a-half-year high supported by accelerated increases in new orders and production, even as firms reduced staff numbers. The headline seasonally adjusted IHS Markit India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) increased from 52.0 in August to 56.8 in September -- highest since January 2012. Some support also came with report that government has released a set of fresh guidelines under its Unlock 5 plans to kick start the economy with a bevy of additional relaxations. In this phase, the Unlock guidelines have much fewer restrictions though local administrations in some states are heavily relying on voluntary curfew, local lockdowns and restrictions on the Covid-19 containment zones.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly higher amid optimism about new US coronavirus relief bill. Back on street, the overall market breadth on BSE was in the favour of advances which thumped declines in the ratio of 1487: 917; while 129 shares remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 38639.83, up by 571.90 points or 1.50% after trading in a range of 38410.20 and 38703.71. There were 26 stocks advancing against 4 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.88%, while Small cap index was up by 1.02%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Bankex up by 2.92%, Telecom up by 2.13%, Realty up by 1.87%, Metal up by 1.85% and Auto was up by 1.67%, while Consumer Durables was down by 0.28% were the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Indusind Bank up by 5.88%, Bajaj Auto up by 5.57%, Bajaj Finance up by 4.18%, ICICI Bank up by 3.71% and Axis Bank was up by 3.66%. On the flip side, ONGC down by 1.01%, Titan Company down by 0.65%, ITC down by 0.29% and NTPC was down by 0.23% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, ministry of Commerce and Industry in its latest data has showed that the growth of eight core infrastructure industries contracted by 8.5 percent in August 2020 as compared to same period of last year, mainly due to a decline in the production of steel, refinery products and cement. This is the sixth month of contraction in a row for the eight-core industries. The production of eight core sectors had contracted 0.2 percent in August 2019. The Eight Core Industries - coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers, steel, cement and electricity - comprise 40.27% of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP). 

Among eight core sectors, Coal production having 10.33 percent weight increased by 3.6 percent in August, 2020 over August, 2019, while its cumulative index fell by 10.2 percent during April to August, 2020-21 over corresponding period of the previous year. Petroleum Refinery production having 28.04 percent weight declined 19.1 percent in August, 2020 over August, 2019, while its cumulative index dropped by 17.5 percent during April to August, 2020-21 over the corresponding period of previous year.

Electricity generation having 19.85 percent weight fell 2.7 percent in August, 2020 over August, 2019, and its cumulative index decreased by 10.5 percent during April to August, 2020-21 over the corresponding period of previous year. Cement production having 5.37 percent weight decreased by 14.6 percent in August, 2020 over August, 2019 and its cumulative index fell by 29.1 percent during April to August, 2020-21 over the corresponding period of previous year. Steel production having 17.92 percent weight declined by 6.3 percent in August, 2020 over August, 2019, while its cumulative index fell by 33.0 percent during April to August, 2020-21 over the corresponding period of previous year. 

Crude Oil production having 8.98 percent weight fell by 6.3 percent in August, 2020 over August, 2019 and its cumulative index dropped by 6.1 percent during April to August, 2020-21 over the corresponding period of previous year. The Natural Gas production having 6.88 percent weight declined by 9.5 percent in August, 2020 over August, 2019, and its cumulative index was down by 13.7 percent during April to August, 2020-21 over the corresponding period of previous year. Fertilizer production having 2.63 percent weight increased by 7.3 percent in August, 2020 over August, 2019, and its cumulative index was up by 4.6 percent during April to August, 2020-21 over the corresponding period of previous year.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11405.40, up by 157.85 points or 1.40% after trading in a range of 11347.05 and 11423.50. There were 42 stocks advancing against 7 stocks declining, while 1 stock remain unchanged on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Indusind Bank up by 5.74%, Bajaj Auto up by 5.69%, Bajaj Finance up by 4.31%, ICICI Bank up by 3.83% and Axis Bank was up by 3.58%. On the flip side, ONGC down by 1.01%, Titan Company down by 0.70%, Dr. Reddys Lab down by 0.54%, Britannia Industries down by 0.51% and ITC was down by 0.50% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly higher; Straits Times advanced 30.02 points or 1.22% to 2,496.64 and Jakarta Composite was up by 71.87 points or 1.48% to 4,941.91. On the other hand, Nikkei 225 was down by 0.19 points to 23,184.93.