Markets continue to trade higher; Nifty above 13k mark

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade in high spirit in afternoon on session, both Sensex and Nifty were trading above 44,400 and 13,000 marks, respectively, amid coronavirus vaccine hopes. Most of the sectoral indices were trading firm and auto was the top gainer on BSE, up by 1.92% followed by banking and consumer discretionary indices. Sentiment perked up with chief economic adviser (CEA) -- Krishnamurthy Subramanian’s statement that 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. Adding to the positive sentiment, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman stated that the momentum of reforms will continue in the future as well to make India an attractive investment destination.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly higher on the back of the progress made on the COVID-19 vaccine and the prospects for a speedy global economic revival. Back on street, the overall market breadth on BSE was in the favour of advances which thumped declines in the ratio of 1494: 1102; while 187 shares remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 44404.51, up by 327.36 points or 0.74% after trading in a range of 44247.12 and 44499.62. There were 19 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.48%, while Small cap index was up by 0.84%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Auto up by 1.92%, Bankex up by 1.86%, Consumer Discretionary up by 1.29%, Realty up by 0.99% and FMCG was up by 0.97%, while Energy down by 0.52% and Oil & Gas was down by 0.04% were the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Axis Bank up by 3.39%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 3.21%, HDFC Bank up by 2.62%, Maruti Suzuki up by 2.60% and Tech Mahindra was up by 2.26%. On the flip side, HDFC down by 1.13%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.89%, Reliance Industries down by 0.63%, Titan Company down by 0.62% and Indusind Bank was down by 0.61% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Secretary in the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) Guruprasad Mohapatra has said that the government will soon come out with a national master plan for providing multi-modal connectivity across the country with a view to reduce logistics cost and improve competitiveness of local manufacturing. He also said that all the infrastructure-related ministries including civil aviation, shipping, and railways have been given a timeline that by 2024, multi-modal connectivity of the global quality will be provided to various production centres in the country.

The proposal will go to the Cabinet and once it is approved, definite timelines will be given to infrastructure ministries for the plan. He said ‘we all are aware that India needs to do a lot for improving logistics in the country. He noted that one major initiative that is expected to be announced by the government soon is a national master plan for providing multi-modal connectivity all across the country wherever any economic activity is happening, could be an industrial cluster or industrial park.’

He added that the logistics division under the Department of Commerce is also working on a policy, wherein defined activities have been identified to reduce logistics cost and time. He said ‘I am sure that with these initiatives, you (industry) will see a lot of improvement in the logistics sector.’ He expressed hope that more and more compliance burden for the industry would be reduced in the next few months.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 13026.00, up by 99.55 points or 0.77% after trading in a range of 12978.00 and 13048.75. There were 33 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining, while 1 stock remains unchanged on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Adani Ports & SEZ up by 6.28%, Eicher Motors up by 3.49%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 3.42%, Axis Bank up by 3.42% and HDFC Bank was up by 2.61%. On the flip side, Shree Cement down by 1.17%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.14%, HDFC down by 0.97%, HDFC Life Insurance down by 0.74% and Indusind Bank was down by 0.69% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading most higher; Straits Times advanced 27.65 points or 0.97% to 2,876.43, Hang Seng increased 28.25 points or 0.11% to 26,514.4, KOSPI rose 15.17 points or 0.58% to 2,617.7, Nikkei 225 surged 638.22 points or 2.5% to 26,165.59 and Jakarta Composite was up by 42.65 points or 0.75% to 5,695.41.

On the other hand; Shanghai Composite declined 14.78 points or 0.43% to 3,399.71 and Taiwan Weighted was down by 70.88 points or 0.51% to 13,807.13.