Sensex, Nifty hold gains in late morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade higher in late morning deals, with both Sensex and Nifty holding their strong gains. Positive cues from other Asian markets were helping key indices to maintain their gaining momentum in late morning session. Domestic sentiments were positive, as on the fourth anniversary of demonetisation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said it has helped reduce black money, increase tax compliance and formalisation, and given a boost to transparency. On November 8, 2016, Prime Minister Modi announced the decision to ban all currency notes of higher denomination of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 from midnight.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green, after Malaysia's industrial production rose at a faster rate in September. The data from the Department of Statistics showed that industrial production rose 1.0 percent year-on-year in September, following a 0.2 percent increase in August. The growth in production was mainly due to the rise in the manufacturing output. Factory output rose 4.3 percent yearly in September, following a 2.2 percent increase in the previous month. Among other sectors, the mining and quarrying output decreased 9.6 percent and electricity output fell 2.1 percent.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 42323.35, up by 430.29 points or 1.03% after trading in a range of 42267.29 and 42566.34. There were 27 stocks advancing against 3 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.29%, while Small cap index was up by 0.19%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 1.65%, Bankex up by 1.39%, TECK up by 1.03%, IT up by 0.96% and Oil & Gas up by 0.94%, while Healthcare down by 0.12% and Auto down by 0.02% were the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ICICI Bank up by 2.76%, Bharti Airtel up by 2.31%, Axis Bank up by 2.26%, Ultratech Cement up by 1.77% and HDFC Bank up by 1.70%. On the flip side, Maruti Suzuki down by 0.86%, ITC down by 0.72% and SBI down by 0.64% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, expressing optimism over growth of Indian economy, PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s President Sanjay Aggarwal has said that the economy is going to attain its fastest growth trajectory from the next financial year 2021-22 onwards. He appreciated the dynamic reforms undertaken by the Government during the last 7 months to mitigate the daunting impact of pandemic COVID-19 on trade and industry. He stated that the average GDP growth of Indian economy in next five years from 2021 to 2025 will be at 7.8%, highest as compared with top 10 economies including 6.2% of China, 3% of France, 2.9% of United Kingdom, 2.9% of Canada, 2.4% of United States, 2.3% of Germany, 2.3% of Italy, 2.3% of Brazil and 1.4% of Japan.

He added that the size of the economy will increase from Rs 203 trillion in FY 2019-20 to Rs 331 trillion in FY 2025-26 at current prices, which becomes at around $4.42 trillion considering the exchange rate at 74.9 (average of current fiscal year 2020-21; April-October). Sanjay Aggarwal said ‘Percolation of more and more economic reforms at the ground level with effective implementation would be crucial to attain the potential trajectory of $5 trillion in the next 6 financial years by FY 2026-27 (GDP at current prices; considering the exchange rate between 74-75).’

Aggarwal said recently, PHD Chamber on the basis of PHDCCI Economic and Business Momentum (EBM) Index, estimated that the GDP growth will be at around (-) 7.9% for the current financial year 2020-21 as compared with the median forecasts of (-) 9.3% by various national and international forecasting organizations. He noted that at this juncture, demand creation measures are needed to attain a positive growth trajectory sooner rather than later. He said that demand creation along with increased spending on infrastructure will have multiplier effects on the economic growth trajectory by boosting private investments, creating new employment opportunities in the country, generating demand for commodities such as steel, cement and power.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 12381.70, up by 118.15 points or 0.96% after trading in a range of 12367.70 and 12451.80. There were 41 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Divis Lab up by 6.27%, BPCL up by 3.08%, ICICI Bank up by 2.73%, Eicher Motors up by 2.56% and Axis Bank up by 2.26%. On the flip side, Cipla down by 2.96%, Maruti Suzuki down by 0.88%, Adani Ports & SEZ down by 0.85%, Coal India down by 0.74% and SBI down by 0.71% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 surged 580.72 points or 2.39% to 24,905.95, Hang Seng increased 416.81 points or 1.62% to 26,129.78, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 112.63 points or 0.87% to 13,086.16, Shanghai Composite gained 62.89 points or 1.9% to 3,375.05, KOSPI rose 38.03 points or 1.57% to 2,454.53 and Straits Times advanced 29.44 points or 1.14% to 2,608.12. On the flip side, Jakarta Composite lost 5.55 points or 0.1% to 5,329.98.