Bourses manage to keep heads in green terrain

Indian equity benchmarks managed to keep heads in green terrain in morning session, on the back of buying by funds and retail investors amid positive cues from global markets. Traders were taking support with Fitch Ratings stating that the government's coronavirus pandemic-driven renewed reform agenda has the potential to raise India's medium-term growth rate. It also noted that raising medium-term growth rates under these circumstances will require reforms to support investment and boost productivity and it will take time to assess whether the reforms are implemented effectively. Some support also came as negotiations for further expansion of a preferential trade agreement between India and South American nation Chile are in the final stages and both the countries would include about 400 more products under the pact with an aim to boost economic ties. However, gains remain capped as some concern came with report that as many as 437 infrastructure projects, each worth Rs 150 crore or more, have been hit by cost overruns of over Rs 4.37 lakh crore. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green as hopes of a rapid rollout of coronavirus vaccine offset concerns over renewed lockdowns in several countries.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 43915.71, up by 33.46 points or 0.08% after trading in a range of 43817.17 and 44271.15. There were 17 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 1.00%, while Small cap index was up by 1.06%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Healthcare up by 1.96%, Energy up by 1.95%, Utilities up by 1.50%, Power up by 1.41% and Oil & Gas up by 1.25%, while Bankex down by 0.72%, Telecom down by 0.43% and Consumer Durables down by 0.41% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Indusind Bank up by 3.56%, Bajaj Finserv up by 3.27%, NTPC up by 2.40%, Reliance Industries up by 2.31% and Bajaj Finance up by 2.17%. On the flip side, HDFC down by 2.61%, ICICI Bank down by 1.74%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.62%, HDFC Bank down by 1.31% and Axis Bank down by 1.30% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Industry body the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry’s (FICCI’s) latest quarterly survey has said India's manufacturing sector is poised to witness recovery in the July-September quarter as compared to the previous quarter, even as hiring outlook for the segment remains bleak, with a rise in percentage of respondents reporting higher production.

It mentioned that the proportion of respondents reporting higher output during July-September rose to 24 per cent, as compared to 10 per cent in the previous quarter. Besides, the percentage of respondents expecting low or same production is 74 per cent in the second quarter which was 90 per cent in the first quarter of 2020-21.

However, it said hiring outlook for the sector, though improving slightly, shows a bleak picture as 80 per cent of the respondents mentioned that they are not likely to hire additional workforce in the next three months. The survey covered wide areas of relevance for manufacturing like exports, capacity utilisation, ongoing restrictions, availability of labour/workforce and others. In many of these areas there are signs of operations inching towards normal and in coming months could see better performance.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 12888.25, up by 29.20 points or 0.23% after trading in a range of 12844.20 and 12962.10. There were 30 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Divis Lab up by 3.95%, Indusind Bank up by 3.90%, Bajaj Finserv up by 3.23%, Dr. Reddys Lab up by 3.02% and NTPC up by 2.78%. On the flip side, HDFC down by 2.56%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.49%, ICICI Bank down by 1.45%, Axis Bank down by 1.26% and HDFC Bank down by 1.18% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Taiwan Weighted strengthened 124.83 points or 0.91% to 13,841.27, Jakarta Composite soared 49.51 points or 0.89% to 5,621.17, KOSPI rose 45.81 points or 1.79% to 2,599.31, Shanghai Composite gained 29.06 points or 0.86% to 3,406.79 and Straits Times advanced 19.91 points or 0.71% to 2,832.92.

On the flip side, Hang Seng decreased 48.37 points or 0.18% to 26,403.17.