Bourses maintain upbeat mood in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks maintained upbeat mood in morning deals, tracking gains in index-heavyweights ICICI Bank, Indusind Bank and HDFC amid positive cues from global markets ahead of the US presidential election. Sentiments remained upbeat as think-tank National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) has said its Business Confidence Index (BCI) rose 41.1 per cent in the July-September 2020 period. This assumes significance as the GDP slipped by a historic 23.9 per cent in the April-June 2020 quarter, on account of the lockdown imposed by the government to check the spread of coronavirus.  A appreciation in the rupee against the US dollar added to the momentum. Indian rupee currently trading at 74.27 against the US dollar, registering a surge of 15 paise over its previous close.  Markets participants also took a note of SBI Research's report that higher duties will not promote competitive manufacturing but may lead to inefficiency. It noted that since the beginning of 2000, successive governments have been eyeing a quarter of the Gross domestic product (GDP) to come from manufacturing by 2025 but not much has moved in that direction.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading in green, following the positive cues overnight from Wall Street as upbeat economic data from the U.S, Europe and China helped offset worries about the outcome of the U.S. presidential election. Back home, on the sectoral front, stocks related to Telecom sector remained in focus with private report stated that telecom sector's revenue growth picked up to about 5 per cent in the September quarter against 1 per cent in the June quarter after relaxation of lockdown curbs.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 40191.05, up by 433.47 points or 1.09% after trading in a range of 39952.79 and 40217.27. There were 22 stocks advancing against 8 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.85%, while Small cap index was up by 0.72%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Bankex up by 2.04%, Auto up by 1.91%, Metal up by 1.66%, Consumer Durables up by 1.43% and Healthcare up by 1.33%, while Telecom down by 1.08%, Energy down by 0.11% and Realty down by 0.03% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ICICI Bank up by 3.61%, Indusind Bank up by 3.28%, HDFC up by 2.93%, Power Grid up by 2.31% and HDFC Bank up by 2.30%. On the flip side, NTPC down by 1.74%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.45%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.46%, Reliance Industries down by 0.37% and Nestle down by 0.31% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, indicating signs of improvement, think-tank National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) has said its Business Confidence Index (BCI) rose 41.1 per cent in the July-September 2020 period. This assumes significance as the GDP slipped by a historic 23.9 per cent in the April-June 2020 quarter, on account of the lockdown imposed by the government to check the spread of coronavirus.

It stated that after declining for two consecutive quarters (Q4:2019-20 and Q1:2020-21) and falling to its lowest ever of 46.4 in Q1:2020-21 (Round 113), the NCAER Business Confidence Index increased to 65.5 in Q2:2020-21 (Round 114), a quarter-on-quarter (q-o-q) increase of 41.1 per cent. However, on a year-on-year (y-o-y) basis, BCI for the second quarter of 2020-21 was lower by 36.5 per cent compared with a year ago and remained lower than the BCI in the fourth quarter of 2019-20.

It said round 114 of the NCAER BES, therefore, suggests that although business sentiment is recovering from its lowest-ever level in Q1:2020-21, it continues to remain subdued. The 114th round of the NCAER Business Expectations Survey (BES) in September 2020 came as the country entered the fourth phase of unlocking of the economy. The BCI is an indicator of business sentiment across the Indian industry.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11782.90, up by 113.75 points or 0.97% after trading in a range of 11723.30 and 11801.60. There were 38 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ICICI Bank up by 3.47%, Hero MotoCorp up by 3.07%, HDFC up by 2.99%, Indusind Bank up by 2.86% and HDFC Bank up by 2.24%. On the flip side, Adani Ports &SEZ down by 2.44%, NTPC down by 2.19%, UPL down by 1.87%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.51% and Hindustan Unilever down by 0.41% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading in green; Straits Times rose 33.36 points or 1.37% to 2,476.49, Hang Seng jumped 471.14 points or 1.94% to 24,931.15, KOSPI advanced 29.17 points or 1.27% to 2,329.33, Taiwan Weighted surged 127.22 points or 1.01% to 12,719.75, Jakarta Composite gained 34.83 points or 0.68% to 5,149.96 and Shanghai Composite was up by 36.76 points or 1.14% to 3,261.87.