Bulls hold grip over Dalal Street

Bulls were holding a grip over the Dalal Street in late morning session, with both Sensex and Nifty maintaining their rally. Positive cues from other Asian markets were helping key indices to trade higher with strong gains. Traders were seen taking a note of reports that the Reserve Bank of India extended the deadline for banks to comply with new guidelines with respect to existing current accounts. Current accounts are widely used by businesses for their daily activities. A Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document will be issued to address all the issues raised by banks regarding implementation of the guidelines for existing current account.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading in green, after consumer prices in South Korea were up just 0.1 percent on year in October. The Statistics Korea said that was well shy of forecasts for an increase of 0.7 percent and down sharply from 1.0 percent in September. On a monthly basis, consumer prices tumbled 0.6 percent versus forecasts suggesting an increase of 0.5 percent following the 0.7 percent gain in the previous month.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 40283.07, up by 525.49 points or 1.32% after trading in a range of 39952.79 and 40315.98. There were 22 stocks advancing against 8 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.73%, while Small cap index was up by 0.63%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Bankex up by 2.45%, Metal up by 1.81%, Auto up by 1.70%, Capital Goods up by 1.23% and Consumer Durables up by 1.18%, while Realty down by 0.68% and Telecom down by 0.23% were the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ICICI Bank up by 4.22%, Indusind Bank up by 3.32%, SBI up by 3.11%, HDFC up by 2.71% and HDFC Bank up by 2.53%. On the flip side, NTPC down by 2.52%, Ultratech Cement down by 0.56%, Infosys down by 0.52%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.50% and Nestle down by 0.46% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the government has extended the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) for MSMEs by one month till November 30, as the scheme has so far failed to meet the target of Rs 3 lakh crore. The scheme was valid till October-end. It was launched as part of the Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan package announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in May to mitigate the distress caused by coronavirus-induced lockdown, by providing credit to different sectors, especially micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

The Finance Ministry said the scheme has been extended till November 30 or till such time that an amount of Rs 3 lakh crore is sanctioned under the scheme, whichever is earlier. The step has been taken in view of the opening up of various sectors in the economy and the expected increase in demand during the ongoing festive season. It said this extension will provide a further opportunity to such borrowers who have not availed of the scheme so far, to obtain credit under the scheme. According to data uploaded by member lending institutions on the ECLGS portal, an amount of Rs 2.03 lakh crore has been sanctioned under the scheme to 60.67 lakh borrowers so far, while an amount of Rs 1.48 lakh crore has been disbursed.

Under the scheme, fully guaranteed and collateral-free additional credit to MSMEs, business enterprises, individual loans for business purposes, and MUDRA borrowers is provided to the extent of 20 per cent of their credit outstanding as on February 29, 2020. Borrowers with a credit outstanding up to Rs 50 crore as on February 29, and with an annual turnover of up to Rs 250 crore are eligible under the scheme. Interest rates under the scheme are capped at 9.25 per cent for banks and financial institutions (FIs), and 14 per cent for non-banking financial companies (NBFCs). Tenor of loans provided under the scheme is four years, including a moratorium of one year on principle repayment.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11806.70, up by 137.55 points or 1.18% after trading in a range of 11723.30 and 11826.40. There were 38 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ICICI Bank up by 3.95%, Eicher Motors up by 3.81%, Hindalco up by 3.63%, Hero MotoCorp up by 3.20% and SBI up by 2.93%. On the flip side, UPL down by 5.78%, NTPC down by 2.75%, Adani Ports & SEZ down by 2.00%, Ultratech Cement down by 0.56% and Nestle down by 0.53% 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.