Local indices remain higher in morning session

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade higher in morning session, on the back of positive cues from Asian indices. Traders took support with ICRA Ratings’ report that farm sentiments have remained buoyant mainly driven by healthy monsoon and further optimism of a good kharif crop. It also said agriculture income is likely to benefit over the medium term aided by increased government focus on rural income coupled with the recently introduced farm reforms. Market participants overlooked report that after six months of severe stress triggered by the toughest lockdown so far, some high-frequency indicators point towards economic recovery but there are signs that this revival is fragile. It estimated that the economy is likely to contract by 13.5 per cent in the second quarter (July-September), and the contraction in FY21 (April 2020 to March 2021) is likely to be around 9.5 per cent unless the government takes immediate initiative to revive the economy. On the sectoral front, majority of auto stocks were trading in red with SIAM’s report that passenger vehicle exports from India declined 57.52 per cent in April-September period of the current fiscal year as COVID-19 related disruptions hampered despatches to various global markets. 

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green, on the back of optimism about a U.S. stimulus package before the presidential elections in November and a coronavirus vaccine before the end of this year. Some support also came with official data showed China's economic recovery gathered pace in the third quarter of 2020, with GDP growth in July-September registering at 4.9 percent from a year earlier, boosted by investment and exports. Besides, the Ministry of Finance said Japan posted a merchandise trade surplus of 674.978 billion yen in September. That was shy of expectations for a surplus of 989.8 billion yen, but still up from the 248.3 billion yen surplus in August.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 40416.33, up by 433.35 points or 1.08% after trading in a range of 40211.22 and 40488.15. There were 25 stocks advancing against 5 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.25%, while Small cap index was up by 0.39%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Bankex up by 2.64%, PSU up by 1.58%, Energy up by 1.43%, Oil & Gas up by 1.31% and FMCG up by 0.89%, while IT down by 0.68%, TECK down by 0.66%, Healthcare down by 0.30%, Consumer Durables down by 0.27% and Telecom down by 0.22% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ONGC up by 4.17%, Axis Bank up by 3.88%, ICICI Bank up by 3.85%, HDFC up by 2.73% and Indusind Bank up by 2.59%. On the flip side, TCS down by 1.45%, Infosys down by 0.71%, Titan Company down by 0.54%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.36% and Sun Pharma down by 0.15% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) in its latest data has showed that passenger vehicle exports from India declined 57.52 per cent in April-September period of the current fiscal year (H1FY21) as COVID-19 related disruptions hampered despatches to various global markets. Passenger vehicle exports in the H1FY21 stood at 1,55,156 units as compared with 3,65,247 units in the year-ago period.

Passenger car exports during the period under review stood at 1,00,529 units, down 64.93 per cent from 2,86,618 units in April-September, 2019-20. Similarly, utility vehicle shipments saw a drop of 29.67 per cent at 54,375 units from 77,309 units in the same period of 2019-20. Van shipments also witnessed a drop of 80.91 per cent at 252 units from 1,320 units in April-September last year. SIAM Director General -- Rajesh Menon said this can be largely attributed to the COVID-19 related disruptions globally, which has led to closure of plants and dealerships, supply chain disruptions, curfews in cities and interruptions in international trade.

However, he added with relaxation in lockdown norms globally, exports have improved in the recent past and the monthly shipments in second half of the current fiscal are expected to be higher than earlier months. During the second quarter of FY21 (July-September), PV exports declined by 41.96 per cent to 1,11,555 units as compared with 1,92,193 units in the same period of 2019-20. All the major PV exporters saw significant drop in their overseas shipments during the first six months of the current fiscal.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11876.80, up by 114.35 points or 0.97% after trading in a range of 11820.80 and 11892.20. There were 37 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ONGC up by 4.16%, ICICI Bank up by 4.10%, Axis Bank up by 3.88%, Indusind Bank up by 2.70% and HDFC up by 2.48%. On the flip side, Eicher Motors down by 2.45%, Divis Lab down by 1.87%, UPL down by 1.77%, Hero MotoCorp down by 1.67% and TCS down by 1.51% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 surged 279.29 points or 1.19% to 23,689.92, Hang Seng increased 168.03 points or 0.69% to 24,554.82, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 133.20 points or 1.04% to 12,883.57, KOSPI rose 15.30 points or 0.65% to 2,356.83, Straits Times advanced 12.48 points or 0.49% to 2,545.50 and Jakarta Composite soared 7.22 points or 0.14% to 5,110.63.

On the flip side, Shanghai Composite declined 11.07 points or 0.33% to 3,325.29.