Indian markets maintain upward momentum

Indian equity markets maintained their upward momentum in morning session, following gains in Realty, Auto and Consumer Discretionary stocks amid firm global cues. Traders took support with IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad’s statement that artificial intelligence (AI) has massive potential to generate development and India is well-poised to tap into the opportunity with its large pool of skilled professionals. He also said the proposed data protection legislation will give a big fillip to the country's data economy. Some solace also came with Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal’s statement that Indian exports will automatically increase if the products are good and competitively priced and that entrepreneurs should not think that subsidies are the only solution.  Meanwhile, the Centre said it will release Rs 20,000 crore to states on account of GST compensation dues. In the meeting of the 42nd GST Council, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the states which received less apportionment of Integrated GST (IGST) for 2017-18, the Centre will next week transfer a cumulative Rs 24,000 crore to them.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading higher, after U.S. President Donald Trump was discharged from hospital following treatment for COVID-19 and as prospects for a fresh U.S. stimulus package appeared to brighten. Back home, on the sectoral front, stocks related to logistics sector remained in watch as ratings agency ICRA said that the near-term growth of the Covid-19-battered logistics sector is expected to be driven by specific segments like e-commerce. Citing how trends in online purchases and deliveries have picked up substantially post the lockdown, it also pointed out the pickup in the automotive sector, especially entry-level cars, motorcycles, and the tractors segment which augurs well for specific logistics players like auto carriers.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 39345.25, up by 371.55 points or 0.95% after trading in a range of 39191.10 and 39378.93. There were 23 stocks advancing against 7 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.67%, while Small cap index was up by 0.59%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 2.27%, Auto up by 1.68%, Consumer Discretionary up by 1.06%, Industrials up by 0.92% and FMCG up by 0.91%, while IT down by 0.75%, TECK down by 0.60%, Metal down by 0.59% and Power down by 0.13% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were HDFC up by 5.92%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 4.00%, Asian Paints up by 2.61%, HDFC Bank up by 1.93% and Indusind Bank up by 1.69%. On the flip side, TCS down by 1.61%, Infosys down by 0.89%, NTPC down by 0.41%, Tata Steel down by 0.33% and Tech Mahindra down by 0.18% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, ratings agency ICRA has said that the near-term growth of the Covid-19-battered logistics sector is expected to be driven by specific segments like e-commerce. Citing how trends in online purchases and deliveries have picked up substantially post the lockdown, it also pointed out the pickup in the automotive sector, especially entry-level cars, motorcycles, and the tractors segment which augurs well for specific logistics players like auto carriers. However, other segments like capital goods continued to remain subdued for the logistics sector.

In its analysis of ten leading logistics companies, ICRA observed an adverse impact in Q1FY21 as aggregate revenues of players declined by 35 per cent on a YoY basis, in line with the sharp moderation in GDP growth. The agency said while the revenues and profitability in Q2 FY2021 would have revived from the troughs witnessed in Q1 FY2021, given ongoing intermittent lockdowns in various parts of the country and continued rapid spread of the pandemic constraining the pace of recovery in industrial activity, the logistic sector is also likely to witness a gradual roadmap to recovery.

For FY21, it expects the revenue of its sample to decline by 18-20 per cent YoY, against the backdrop of 11 per cent contraction in GDP. Besides, it said over the medium term, the sector is likely to witness some consolidation trends, given the rising pressure on viability of small fleet operators.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11595.30, up by 91.95 points or 0.80% after trading in a range of 11564.30 and 11615.30. There were 38 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Motors up by 6.95%, HDFC up by 5.80%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 4.18%, Adani Ports &SEZ up by 3.01% and Asian Paints up by 2.49%. On the flip side, Wipro down by 2.08%, TCS down by 1.60%, Hindalco down by 1.45%, Infosys down by 0.98% and Grasim Industries down by 0.83% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading higher; Hang Seng increased 179.19 points or 0.75% to 23,946.97, Jakarta Composite soared 51.11 points or 1.03% to 5,009.88, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 132.95 points or 1.06% to 12,681.23, Straits Times advanced 13.82 points or 0.55% to 2,531.05, KOSPI rose 9.80 points or 0.42% to 2,367.80 and Nikkei 225 surged 117.28 points or 0.5% to 23,429.42.