Sensex, Nifty remain in green terrain in late morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks continued their trade in green terrain during late morning session, with both Sensex and Nifty holding notable gains. Sentiments over the street remained positive despite mixed cues from other Asian markets. Traders took encouragement with reports that the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and the Ministry of AYUSH have decided to work together to set up an Export Promotion Council to boost export of AYUSH products, according to an official statement on Sunday. The decision was taken recently in a joint review meeting attended by Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and Minister of AYUSH Shripad Naik.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed, even after Japan's leading index rose to its highest level in sixteen months in October. The preliminary data from the Cabinet Office showed that the leading index, which measures the future economic activity, climbed to 93.8 in October from 93.3 in September. The latest reading was the highest since June last year, when it was 94.1. The coincident index increased to 89.7 in October from 84.8 in the previous month. This was the highest since February.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 45172.28, up by 92.73 points or 0.21% after trading in a range of 45024.47 and 45291.56. There were 17 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.65%, while Small cap index was up by 1.15%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Healthcare up by 1.72%, Telecom up by 1.06%, PSU up by 1.02%, FMCG up by 0.95% and Utilities up by 0.95%, while Auto down by 0.17%, Bankex down by 0.11%, Metal down by 0.05% and Realty down by 0.03% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Sun Pharma up by 3.01%, Hindustan Unilever up by 2.17%, ONGC up by 1.95%, Indusind Bank up by 1.84% and NTPC up by 1.52%. On the flip side, HDFC Bank down by 1.71%, Nestle down by 1.27%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.03%, Ultratech Cement down by 0.81% and Bajaj Finserv down by 0.75% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, firmly establishing the country's credentials as a safe and key investment destination in the world, the data of the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) has showed that foreign direct investment (FDI) equity inflows into India crossed the $500 billion milestone during April 2000 to September 2020 period. The inflows during the period stood at $500.12 billion.

About 29 per cent of the FDI came through the Mauritius route. It was followed by Singapore (21 per cent), the US, the Netherlands, Japan (each 7 per cent), and the UK (6 per cent). India received $144.71 billion from Mauritius and about $106 billion from Singapore during the period under review. The other big investors have been from Germany, Cyprus, France and Cayman Islands.

Since 2015-16, FDI inflows have been recording significant growth. In that fiscal, the country received $40 billion FDI, an increase of 35 per cent over the previous year. In 2016-17, 2017-18, 2018-19 and 2019-20, the investments stood at $43.5 billion, $44.85 billion, $44.37 billion and $50 billion, respectively. The key sectors which attracted the maximum of these inflows include services segment, computer software and hardware, telecommunications, trading, construction development, automobile, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 13286.50, up by 27.95 points or 0.21% after trading in a range of 13241.95 and 13322.25. There were 29 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Sun Pharma up by 3.15%, Adani Ports & SEZ up by 2.91%, UPL up by 2.84%, Dr. Reddy’s Lab up by 2.62% and Hindustan Unilever up by 2.46%. On the flip side, HDFC Bank down by 1.70%, JSW Steel down by 1.30%, Nestle down by 1.29%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.09% and Hindalco down by 1.05% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; Nikkei 225 declined 177.44 points or 0.66% to 26,573.80, Straits Times fell 4.55 points or 0.16% to 2,835.34, Hang Seng plunged 453.86 points or 1.69% to 26,382.06 and Shanghai Composite lost 22.73 points or 0.66% to 3,421.85. On the other hand, Taiwan Weighted advanced 42.11 points or 0.30% to 14,174.55, KOSPI gained 0.10 points to 2,731.55 and Jakarta Composite surged 96.94 points or 1.67% to 5,907.42.