Benchmarks add gains in late afternoon session

Indian equity markets added gains in the late afternoon session on account of buying in front line counters. The sentiment remained largely positive, as Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has come out with a Co-Lending Model (CLM) scheme under which banks can provide loans along with NBFCs to priority sector borrowers based on a prior agreement, in order to improve the flow of credit to the unserved and underserved sector of the economy. Meanwhile, the government has announced simplified guidelines for Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) and IT Enabled Services (ITES) players to reduce the compliance burden for the industry and facilitate Work from Home and Work from Anywhere. On the sectoral front, airline industry remained in focus, as Ministry of Civil Aviation (MOCA) has said the cap on the number of domestic flights that Indian airlines are permitted to operate would be increased to 70-75 per cent of their pre-COVID levels as the passenger traffic surges.

On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly in green despite uncertainty around the U.S. presidential race as vote counting extended into its third day. European markets were trading lower as investors await the outcome of the U.S. election and react to rising coronavirus cases and new restrictions across the continent.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 41841.11, up by 500.95 points or 1.21% after trading in a range of 41383.29 and 41885.04. There were 20 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.55%, while Small cap index was up by 0.78%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Energy up by 3.27%, Bankex up by 1.57%, Realty up by 1.20%, Consumer Durables up by 1.15% and Oil & Gas was up by 0.94%, while Telecom down by 0.55%, FMCG down by 0.21%, Healthcare down by 0.20%, TECK down by 0.05% and IT was down by 0.01% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bajaj Finserv up by 4.45%, Indusind Bank up by 4.14%, Reliance Industries up by 4.02%, HDFC Bank up by 2.73% and Bajaj Finance up by 2.33%. On the flip side, Maruti Suzuki down by 2.01%, Nestle down by 1.31%, Ultratech Cement down by 1.26%, Asian Paints down by 1.22% and Bharti Airtel down by 0.95% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in order to improve the flow of credit to the unserved and underserved sector of the economy, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has come out with a Co-Lending Model (CLM) scheme under which banks can provide loans along with NBFCs to priority sector borrowers based on a prior agreement.

The CLM, which is an improvement over the co-origination of loan scheme announced by the RBI in September 2018, seeks to provide greater flexibility to the lending institutions. As per a notification by RBI, NBFCs will be the single point of interface for the customers and shall enter into a loan agreement with the borrowers. The agreement should clearly contain the features of the arrangement and the roles and responsibilities of NBFCs and banks.

The RBI also said that all transactions (disbursements/ repayments) between the banks and NBFCs relating to CLM have to be routed through an escrow account maintained with the banks, in order to avoid inter-mingling of funds.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 12252.00, up by 131.70 points or 1.09% after trading in a range of 12131.85 and 12264.40. There were 31 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bajaj Finserv up by 4.56%, Indusind Bank up by 4.02%, Reliance Industries up by 3.98%, HDFC Bank up by 2.59% and Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.25%. On the flip side, Maruti Suzuki down by 2.03%, GAIL India down by 2.00%, Nestle down by 1.29%, Ultratech Cement down by 1.25% and Asian Paints down by 1.20% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in green, Nikkei 225 surged 219.95 points or 0.91% to 24,325.23, Jakarta Composite soared 75.20 points or 1.43% to 5,335.53, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 54.73 points or 0.42% to 12,973.53, Hang Seng increased 17.05 points or 0.07% to 25,712.97 and KOSPI was up by 2.71 points or 0.11% to 2,416.50. On the flip side, Straits Times trembled 4.94 points or 0.19% to 2,583.68 and Shanghai Composite was down by 7.97 points or 0.24% to 3,312.16.

European markets were trading lower; UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 12.53 points or 0.21% to 5,893.65, France’s CAC decreased 20.23 points or 0.41% to 4,963.76 and Germany’s DAX was down by 58.73 points or 0.47% to 12,509.36.