Benchmarks continue to trade in positive terrain

Indian stock markets continued to trade in positive terrain in the afternoon session due to buying in telecom, realty and TECK stocks. Healthy buying was observed in blue-chip stocks like HCL Tech, Bharti Airtel and Larsen & Toubro. Sentiments were upbeat as Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman exhorted large central public sector enterprises (CPSEs) to achieve by December 75 per cent of their planned capital expenditure (capex) target for 2020-21, to support economic growth hit by the COVID-19 crisis. Some support also came as markets regulator SEBI allowed exchanges dealing with agri-commodity derivatives to utilise the fund created for farmers and FPOs for reimbursement of mandi tax and charges incurred by them on storage and transportation of goods. The decision was taken based on the recommendations of the Commodity Derivatives Advisory Committee (CDAC).

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly lower as the investors went cautious with the talk of a last-ditch effort to strike a deal by US lawmakers on a fresh round of fiscal relief before the 2020 presidential elections. Back home, the BSE Sensex is currently trading at 40714.05, up by 282.45 points or 0.70% after trading in a range of 40305.59 and 40732.01. There were 21 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.23%, while Small cap index was up by 0.27%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 3.39%, Realty up by 2.05%, TECK up by 1.92%, IT up by 1.58% and Capital Goods was up by 1.15%, while Oil & Gas down by 0.75%, PSU down by 0.65%, Energy down by 0.40%, Power down by 0.32% and Metal was down by 0.28% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were HCL Tech up by 4.17%, Bharti Airtel up by 3.27%, Larsen & Toubro up by 2.87%, Tech Mahindra up by 2.21% and HDFC Bank was up by 1.67%. On the flip side, ONGC down by 2.31%, NTPC down by 1.04%, Tata Steel down by 0.70%, Indusind Bank down by 0.69% and ICICI Bank was down by 0.44% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Finance Ministry has said that banks have covered 1.5 crore farmers under the Kisan Credit Card (KCC) scheme to sanction credit limit of Rs 1.35 lakh crore to help them meet financial requirements during the coronavirus disease (covid-19) pandemic. It noted that as part of the Rs 20.97 lakh crore Aatma Nirbhar Bharat Package, the government in May had announced the provision of concessional credit of Rs 2 lakh crore which is likely to benefit Rs 2.5 crore farmers, including fishermen and dairy farmers.

The ministry stated that as a result of concerted and sustained efforts by the banks and other stakeholders in the direction of providing access to concessional credit by the farmers, including fishermen and dairy farmers, a major milestone target of covering more than 1.5 crore farmers under KCC, with sanctioned credit limit of Rs.1.35 lakh crore has been achieved. While ensuring convenient and cost-effective credit delivery to farmers, it said, the ongoing campaign will also be instrumental in driving the rural economy and further accelerating agricultural production and allied activities, besides enhancing the income level of farmers. It also said this will also go a long way in fulfilling the objective of food security for the country.

The KCC Scheme was introduced in the year 1998 with the objectives of providing adequate and timely credit to farmers for their agricultural operation. The government provides interest subvention of 2 percent and prompt repayment incentive of 3 percent to farmers, thus making the credit available at a very subsidized rate of 4 per cent per annum.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11929.00, up by 55.95 points or 0.47% after trading in a range of 11837.25 and 11949.25. There were 28 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were HCL Tech up by 4.01%, Bharti Airtel up by 3.12%, Larsen & Toubro up by 2.83%, Tech Mahindra up by 2.32% and TCS was up by 1.57%. On the flip side, Britannia Industries down by 5.18%, ONGC down by 2.45%, Indian Oil Corporation down by 1.82%, Coal India down by 1.22% and GAIL India was down by 1.14% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Taiwan Weighted dropped 45.97 points or 0.36% to 12,862.37, Jakarta Composite lost 34.93 points or 0.68% to 5,091.40, Nikkei 225 slipped 104.09 points or 0.44% to 23,567.04, Straits Times trembled 12.42 points or 0.49% to 2,531.15 and Hang Seng was down by 21.51 points or 0.09% to 24,520.75.

On the other side; KOSPI rose 11.67 points or 0.5% to 2,358.41 and Shanghai Composite was up by 7.70 points or 0.23% to 3,320.37.