Benchmarks trade in fine fettle in late afternoon session

The Indian equity benchmarks were trading in fine fettle in late afternoon session. The sentiment remained positive with the International Monetary Fund’s statement that India's economy, severely affected by the coronavirus pandemic, is gradually recovering. It said India's economy recovered faster than expected in the September quarter as a pick-up in manufacturing helped GDP clock a lower contraction of 7.5 percent and held out hopes for further improvement on better consumer demand. On the sectoral front, aviation sector remained in focus after Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri has said that the cap on the number of domestic flights that Indian airlines are permitted to operate was increased from 70 per cent to 80 per cent of their pre-COVID levels.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green on continued optimism over vaccines and on signs of progress on a new US stimulus, though surging infections and deaths highlighted the painful, immediate reality of the coronavirus crisis. European markets were trading higher after the Pentagon added more Chinese firms to a blacklist of alleged Chinese military companies.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 44900.13, up by 267.48 points or 0.60% after trading in a range of 44665.91 and 45033.19. There were 23 stocks advancing against 7 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.26%, while Small cap index was up by 0.15%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 1.78%, FMCG up by 1.28%, Bankex up by 1.09%, Consumer Durables up by 0.96% and Metal was up by 0.91%, while Energy down by 0.64% and Oil & Gas was down by 0.08% were the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ICICI Bank up by 3.70%, Sun Pharma up by 3.28%, Ultratech Cement up by 3.24%, Bharti Airtel up by 2.80% and Hindustan Unilever up by 2.67%. On the flip side, Reliance Industries down by 0.85%, HDFC down by 0.65%, Bajaj Finserv down by 0.46%, HCL Tech down by 0.35% and Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.21% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has kept the policy repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) unchanged at 4.0 per cent. Consequently, the reverse repo rate under the LAF remains unchanged at 3.35 per cent and the marginal standing facility (MSF) rate and the Bank Rate at 4.25 per cent.

The monetary policy committee (MPC) of RBI also decided to continue with the accommodative stance as long as necessary - at least during the current financial year and into the next financial year - to revive growth on a durable basis and mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on the economy, while ensuring that inflation remains within the target going forward.

These decisions are in consonance with the objective of achieving the medium-term target for consumer price index (CPI) inflation of 4 per cent within a band of +/- 2 per cent, while supporting growth.

On the economic growth front, real gross domestic product (GDP) growth is projected at (-)7.5 per cent in 2020-21: (+)0.1 per cent in Q3:2020-21 and (+)0.7 per cent in Q4:2020-21; and (+)21.9 per cent to (+)6.5 per cent in H1:2021-22, with risks broadly balanced. On the inflation front, CPI inflation is projected at 6.8 per cent for Q3:2020-21, 5.8 per cent for Q4:2020-21; and 5.2 per cent to 4.6 per cent in H1:2021-22, with risks broadly balanced.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 13207.90, up by 74.00 points or 0.56% after trading in a range of 13152.85 and 13250.30. There were 37 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Hindalco up by 3.99%, ICICI Bank up by 3.50%, Sun Pharma up by 3.45%, Ultratech Cement up by 3.04% and Bharti Airtel up by 2.83%. On the flip side, Reliance Industries down by 0.93%, HDFC down by 0.73%, HDFC Life Insurance down by 0.63%, BPCL down by 0.60% and Coal India down by 0.60% were the top losers

Asian markets were trading mostly in green, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 155.35 points or 1.11% to 14,132.44, Hang Seng increased 107.42 points or 0.4% to 26,835.92, KOSPI rose 35.23 points or 1.31% to 2,731.45, Straits Times advanced 16.24 points or 0.58% to 2,838.58 and Shanghai Composite was up by 2.44 points or 0.07% to 3,444.58. On the flip side, Jakarta Composite lost 12.46 points or 0.21% to 5,810.48 and Nikkei 225 was down by 58.13 points or 0.22% to 26,751.24.

European markets were trading higher, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 44.40 points or 0.68% to 6,534.67, France’s CAC increased 28.28 points or 0.51% to 5,602.64 and Germany’s DAX was down by 4.72 points or 0.04% to 13,257.58.