Domestic markets trade higher in early deals

Indian equity benchmarks made slightly negative start on Monday tracking weakness in global peers. But soon markets wiped out all the losses to enter into green zone and are trading higher on the back of buying in the Telecom, Capital Goods and TECK counters. Early cautiousness came in with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s statement that the government has begun an exercise to assess the impact of the pandemic on the economy and likely contraction in GDP, even as she did not rule out the possibility of another stimulus to boost growth. Though, some respite came with a private report that COVID-19 vaccines will be the fastest vaccine to be ever developed and they will be available by the summer of 2021. Adding more optimism, a report stated that India on Monday witnessed a significant drop in the number of new Covid-19 cases. According to Worldometer, at 46,498, the country registered fewer daily infections than the US -- for the first time in over a month -- taking its tally to 7,594,736.

On the global front, all the Asian markets were trading lower following the overnight losses on Wall Street amid concerns whether lawmakers in Washington will reach an agreement on a new stimulus bill before the November 3 US presidential election. Investors’ sentiment was further dampened after Europe reported record daily coronavirus infections. Back home, sugar industry stocks were in focus with ISMA’s statement that India needs to export 6 million tonnes (MT) of sugar in 2020/21 marketing year started on October 1 as the production is set to jump on higher area. In scrip specific development, Maruti Suzuki India rose after launching a special edition version of its hatchback Swift.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 40546.83, up by 115.23 points or 0.28% after trading in a range of 40305.59 and 40628.47. There were 16 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.21%, while Small cap index was up by 0.27%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 1.26%, Capital Goods up by 1.25%, TECK up by 1.22%, IT up by 1.15%, Realty up by 0.96%, while PSU down by 0.62%, Oil & Gas down by 0.54%, Bankex down by 0.45%, FMCG down by 0.34%, Utilities down by 0.20% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were HCL Technology up by 3.02%, Larsen & Toubro up by 2.53%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.68%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.59% and Asian Paints up by 1.45%. On the flip side, ONGC down by 1.73%, ICICI Bank down by 1.31%, SBI down by 1.23%, Indusind Bank down by 1.19% and NTPC down by 0.98% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Union Minister of State for Agriculture Parshottam Rupala has launched a new scheme, Ayushman Sahakar, under which the National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) would extend term loans of Rs 10,000 crore to cooperatives for creating healthcare infrastructure in rural India. The Ayushman Sahakar specifically covers establishment, modernization, expansion, repairs, renovation of hospitals and healthcare and education infrastructure. It would also assist cooperative hospitals take up medical and Ayush education. The scheme also provides working capital and margin money to meet operational requirements. The scheme provides interest subvention of 1 per cent to women majority cooperatives.

Any cooperative society with suitable provision in its byelaws to undertake healthcare related activities would be able to access the NCDC fund. The NCDC assistance will flow either through the state governments or directly to the eligible cooperatives. Subsidy/ grant from other sources can be dovetailed. The ongoing pandemic has brought into focus the requirement of creation of more facilities. The NCDC's scheme will be a step towards strengthening farmers welfare activities by the central government. The NCDC would extend term loans of Rs 10,000 crore to prospective in the coming years under the scheme, which would revolutionize the way healthcare delivery takes place in rural areas.

The NCDC's Ayushman Sahakar which is in line with National Digital Health Mission would bring transformation in rural areas. By virtue of their strong presence in rural areas, cooperatives utilizing the scheme would bring revolution in comprehensive health care services. That apart, the NCDC's scheme aligns itself with the focus of the National Health Policy, 2017, covering the health systems in all their dimensions - investments in health, organization of healthcare services, access to technologies, affordable health care to farmers, among others.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11893.45, up by 20.40 points or 0.17% after trading in a range of 11837.25 and 11924.30. There were 26 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were HCL Technology up by 3.31%, Larsen & Toubro up by 2.45%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.89%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.61% and Asian Paints up by 1.20%. On the flip side, Britannia Industries down by 4.71%, IOC down by 1.82%, ONGC down by 1.80%, SBI down by 1.42% and Indusind Bank down by 1.26% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading in red; Nikkei 225 declined 129.36 points or 0.55% to 23,541.77, Straits Times slipped 15.62 points or 0.61% to 2,527.95, Hang Seng inched down 21.92 points or 0.09% to 24,520.34, Taiwan Weighted lost 20.01points or 0.16% to 12,888.33, KOSPI fell 9.51 points or 0.41% to 2,337.23, Jakarta Composite decreased 14.56 points or 0.28% to 5,111.77 and Shanghai Composite was down by 4.36 points or 0.13% to 3,308.31.