Bourses maintain momentum; Nifty surpasses 12k mark

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade in high spirit in afternoon session, on account of broad based buying in blue chip counters amid positive global cues. All sectoral indices were trading firm and PSU was the top gainer on BSE, up by 2.78% followed by Oil & Gas and Metal indices, trading up over 2% each. Apart from blue chips, broader indices too equally participated in the rally with both mid and small cap indices trading up by over 1% each. Sentiments were upbeat with finance ministry’s statement that economy has been recovering at a fast pace and would likely to reach pre-Covid-19 levels by the end of the current fiscal year. Additional support also came, with Director General of Foreign Trade -- Amit Yadav stating that while October data looked promising for exports, the situation will improve further in the coming months due to collaborative efforts of all the stakeholders. Meanwhile, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and his running mate Senator Kamala Harris of Indian origin, inched closer to the magic figure of 270 Electoral College votes, even as incumbent Republican President Donald Trump moved ahead with his plan to mount a massive legal battle.

On the global front; Asian markets were trading higher as investors wagered the prospect of U.S. policy gridlock would greatly favour some industries while also restraining government borrowing. Back home, the overall market breadth on BSE was in the favour of advances which thumped declines in the ratio of 1638:783; while 160 shares remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 41200.11, up by 583.97 points or 1.44% after trading in a range of 41030.17 and 41282.60. All the 30 stocks on Sensex were trading in green.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 1.40%, while Small cap index was up by 1.37%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were PSU up by 2.78%, Oil & Gas up by 2.31%, Metal up by 2.28%, Energy up by 1.90% and FMCG was up by 1.65%, while there were no losing indices on the BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were SBI up by 5.41%, Tata Steel up by 4.01%, Bajaj Finance up by 3.83%, Bajaj Finserv up by 2.87% and HCL Tech up by 2.45%, while there were no losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, Union minister Prakash Javadekar said that the coronavirus disease (covid-19) pandemic-hit economy is coming back on rails at ‘more speed than expected’. He also said that an increase in rail freight collection, higher goods and services tax mop-up, rise in power demand and improved FDI inflows indicate that the economy was doing better in the second quarter of the current financial year (Q2FY21).

The minister said that the increase in power demand was despite lesser consumption by the agriculture sector due to good rains and railways, which is not yet fully operational. He said despite these two facts, 12 percent increase in power indicates a complete return to normalcy in the production sector.

India's economy has suffered its worst slump on record in April-June quarter of current fiscal year (Q1FY21), with the gross domestic product (GDP) contracting by 23.9% as the coronavirus-related lockdowns weighed on the already-declining consumer demand and investment. The RBI too has projected a contraction of 9.5 per cent in the current fiscal.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 12075.20, up by 166.70 points or 1.40% after trading in a range of 12027.60 and 12100.85. There were 48 stocks advancing against 2 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were SBI up by 5.48%, BPCL up by 4.54%, Tata Steel up by 4.07%, UPL up by 3.81% and Bajaj Finance was up by 3.67%. On the flip side, Hero MotoCorp down by 0.70% and Divis Lab was down by 0.61% were the only losers.

All Asian markets were trading higher; Nikkei 225 surged 410.05 points or 1.73% to 24,105.28, Straits Times advanced 54.70 points or 2.17% to 2,570.68, Hang Seng increased 681.76 points or 2.74% to 25,567.90, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 50.90 points or 0.4% to 12,918.80, KOSPI rose 56.47 points or 2.4% to 2,413.79, Shanghai Composite gained 40.49 points or 1.24% to 3,317.93 and Jakarta Composite was up by 127.71 points or 2.5% to 5,232.91.