Bourses maintain upbeat mood in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks maintained their upbeat mood in morning deals as buying momentum in the equities persisted. Domestic sentiments remained firm with positive global cues on vaccine hopes and bets on a faster return to economic growth likely to help underpin sentiment. Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant has said that unprecedented reforms undertaken on both governance and economic fronts by the government have been quite unprecedented and they will usher in a new era of growth and prosperity. Adding the optimism among investors, the chief economic adviser (CEA) -- Krishnamurthy Subramanian has said India is likely to report a current account surplus at the end of the current financial year ending in March 2021, mainly led by a fall in imports. Traders overlooked S&P Global Ratings’ statement that the recommendations made by the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) working group on allowing corporate ownership in banks given India's weak corporate governance amid large corporate defaults over the past few years pose a potential risk.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green, as traders reacted positively to additional upbeat news regarding a potential coronavirus vaccine. AstraZeneca announced that its vaccine candidate being developed in collaboration with Oxford University had an average efficacy of 70 percent. Adding to the positive sentiment, the FDA has granted an emergency use authorization for Regeneron's Covid-19 antibody treatment, while purportedly helped President Donald Trump fend off the disease.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 44458.72, up by 381.57 points or 0.87% after trading in a range of 44247.12 and 44499.62. There were 21 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.65%, while Small cap index was up by 0.90%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Bankex up by 1.91%, Auto up by 1.78%, Realty up by 1.24%, Consumer discretionary up by 1.18% and Industrials up by 0.98%, while Energy down by 0.47% and Oil & Gas down by 0.11% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 3.04%, Maruti Suzuki up by 2.85%, HDFC Bank up by 2.39%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 2.27% and Tech Mahindra up by 2.09%. On the flip side, Reliance Industries down by 0.66%, Sun Pharma down by 0.45%, ONGC down by 0.39%, Power Grid down by 0.33% and Titan Company down by 0.33% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the chief economic adviser (CEA) -- Krishnamurthy Subramanian has said India is likely to report a current account surplus at the end of the current financial year ending in March 2021, mainly led by a fall in imports.

He said demand for imports has fallen amid the COVID-19 pandemic, coupled with recent economic reforms initiated by the government to boost manufacturing. India's current account surplus rose to a record $19.8 billion in April-June (Q1) as its trade deficit narrowed sharply.

The current account surplus increased sharply to 3.9% of the gross domestic product (GDP) in the first quarter, compared to 0.1% in the preceding quarter. This was the second consecutive quarter that the country has seen a current account surplus.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 13036.85, up by 110.40 points or 0.85% after trading in a range of 12978.00 and 13048.75. There were 33 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Adani Ports &SEZ up by 6.58%, Eicher Motors up by 3.09%, Maruti Suzuki up by 2.82%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.78% and Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 2.42%. On the flip side, HDFC Life Insurance down by 1.19%, JSW Steel down by 0.75%, GAIL India down by 0.69%, Indusind Bank down by 0.65% and Reliance Industries down by 0.64% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 surged 675.42 points or 2.65% to 26,202.79, Hang Seng increased 43.63 points or 0.16% to 26,529.83, Jakarta Composite soared 36.00 points or 0.64% to 5,688.76, Straits Times advanced 24.53 points or 0.86% to 2,873.31 and KOSPI rose 10.72 points or 0.41% to 2,613.31.

On the flip side, Shanghai Composite declined 2.41 points or 0.07% to 3,412.08 and Taiwan Weighted dropped 69.09 points or 0.5% to 13,808.92.