Markets remain firm in afternoon session

Indian equity markets maintained their upward momentum in afternoon session, following gains in telecom, consumer durables and banking stocks. Healthy buying was observed in blue-chip stocks like Bharti Airtel, ICICI Bank and Ultratech Cement. Traders were encouraged after RBI left its key interest rates unchanged as widely expected as inflation remains elevated. The Monetary Policy Committee, led by Governor Shaktikanta Das, voted unanimously to hold the policy repo rate at 4.00 percent. The reverse repo rate was retained at 3.35 percent. Adding optimism, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that India's economy will return to growth in 2021-22 and higher spending in the budget due in February will lay the foundations for even stronger growth in the next four to five years.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed amid growing prospects of a large U.S. economic stimulus package, while hopes that coronavirus vaccine rollouts will boost the global economy underpinned investor sentiment. Back on street, Indian Card Clothing jumped on acquiring commercial premises in Mumbai, while Panacea Biotec dipped after Serum Institute of India sold its stake in the company via open market.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 44909.59, up by 276.94 points or 0.62% after trading in a range of 44665.91 and 45033.19. There were 27 stocks advancing against 3 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.22%, while Small cap index was up by 0.02%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 1.66%, Consumer Durables up by 1.06%, Bankex up by 0.98%, FMCG up by 0.98% and Industrials was up by 0.72%, while Energy down by 0.70% and Oil & Gas was down by 0.29% were the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel up by 2.74%, ICICI Bank up by 2.40%, Ultratech Cement up by 2.36%, Sun Pharma up by 1.99% and Hindustan Unilever was up by 1.80%. On the flip side, Reliance Industries down by 0.84%, Bajaj Finserv down by 0.22% and HCL Tech was down by 0.19% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, few days after announcement of Q2 gross domestic product (GDP) data, the Finance Ministry in its latest Monthly Economic Review has said that the Indian economy is witnessing a V-shaped recovery as the GDP has recorded a quarter-on-quarter growth of 23 per cent in the July-September quarter of this fiscal.

AS per the report, this V-shaped recovery, evident at the half-way stage of 2020-21, reflects the resilience and robustness of the Indian economy. It further noted that the fundamentals of the economy remain strong as gradual scaling back of lockdowns, along with the astute support of Atmanirbhar Bharat Mission has placed the economy firmly on the path of recovery.

The report also underlined agriculture, construction and manufacturing as the largest support for the growth drivers and added that the contact-sensitive services sector has also contributed although mainly through logistics and communication. Besides, it said that the recently celebrated festive season contributed to a rise in fresh COVID-19 positive cases in India, although numbers have started to decline again, a trend seen in many other countries.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 13204.05, up by 70.15 points or 0.53% after trading in a range of 13164.65 and 13250.30. There were 37 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining, while 1 stock remains unchanged on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Hindalco up by 4.03%, Ultratech Cement up by 3.03%, Bharti Airtel up by 2.78%, ICICI Bank up by 2.28% and Sun Pharma was up by 2.11%. On the flip side, JSW Steel down by 1.12%, Reliance Industries down by 0.88%, Coal India down by 0.79%, BPCL down by 0.75% and HDFC Life Insurance was down by 0.48% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; KOSPI rose 35.23 points or 1.31% to 2,731.45, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 155.35 points or 1.11% to 14,132.44, Hang Seng increased 48.93 points or 0.18% to 26,777.43 and Straits Times was up by 17.46 points or 0.62% to 2,839.80.

On the other hand; Shanghai Composite declined 0.89 points or 0.03% to 3,441.25, Nikkei 225 slipped 58.13 points or 0.22% to 26,751.24 and Jakarta Composite was down by 21.25 points or 0.36% to 5,801.69.