Local indices remain in green in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade in green terrain in morning deals, tracking gains in index majors Ultratech Cement, Reliance Industries and HCL Technologies amid persistent foreign fund inflow. Sentiments remained positive with Niti Aayog vice chairman Rajiv Kumar’s statement that the government is committed to improving the ease of doing business and innovation ecosystem where every school student has access to the innovative tools and trends. Some support also came as Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan stating that more than 100 startups have provided innovative products and solutions to overcome challenges posed by the pandemic. Meanwhile, businesses with up to Rs 5 crore turnover will have to file only four GST sales returns, or GSTR-3B, from January instead of 12 at present. The Quarterly filing of Return with Monthly Payment (QRMP) Scheme would impact almost 94 lakh taxpayers, about 92 per cent of the total tax base of the goods and services tax (GST).

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red as underlying sentiment remained cautious amid anxiety over the growing number of Covid-19 cases in the U.S., rising U.S.-China tensions and continued uncertainty over a Brexit trade deal. Back home, on the sectoral front, pharma sector stocks remained in focus with a private report that Pfizer and Serum Institute of India have sought emergency use approval for their respective COVID-19 vaccines from the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) and an internal review has begun under the accelerated review process.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 45708.61, up by 281.64 points or 0.62% after trading in a range of 45459.74 and 45728.85. 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 0.39%, while Small cap index was up by 0.45%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Energy up by 1.65%, Realty up by 1.09%, IT up by 0.97%, TECK up by 0.82% and Basic Materials up by 0.59%, while Metal down by 0.77% and Power down by 0.07% were the few losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Ultratech Cement up by 2.67%, Reliance Industries up by 2.30%, HCL Technologies up by 2.24%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.64% and Infosys up by 1.33%. On the flip side, Sun Pharma down by 1.47%, Indusind Bank down by 1.39%, Tech Mahindra down by 0.76%, Tata Steel down by 0.49% and Bajaj Finserv down by 0.42% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) in its monthly bulletin has showed that companies raised Rs 73,215 crore from the capital markets in October, with private placement of debt instruments continuing to be the most-preferred route for funding. The funds have been mopped up mainly for business expansion plans, loan repayments and working capital requirements.

It showed that firms raised a total of Rs 73,215 crore in October compared to Rs 75,232 crore in September through issuance of equity and debt securities. Prior to this, companies had mopped up Rs 1.1 lakh crore in August. Out of the cumulative Rs 73,215 crore garnered in October, Rs 62,331 crore was mopped up from private placement of debt securities and Rs 4,144 crore through private placement of equity, which include qualified institutional placement (QIP) and preferential allotment routes. Individually, a total of Rs 2,200 crore were raised through the QIP route and Rs 1,944 crore were raised through issuance of shares on a preferential allotment basis.

In comparison, corporates had mobilised Rs 64,389 crore and Rs 9,022 crore through private placement of debt securities and equities, respectively, in September. When it comes to raising funds through public issuance in October, Rs 5,825 crore was raised through six main-board initial public offering (IPO), Rs 62 crore from eight SME's initial share-sale and Rs 554 crore through rights issue.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 13429.55, up by 73.80 points or 0.55% after trading in a range of 13363.15 and 13435.45. There were 29 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Ultratech Cement up by 2.80%, Reliance Industries up by 2.25%, HCL Tech. up by 2.16%, UPL up by 1.90% and Maruti Suzuki up by 1.39%. On the flip side, Coal India down by 1.35%, Sun Pharma down by 1.31%, Indusind Bank down by 1.18%, JSW Steel down by 0.99% and Adani Ports &SEZ down by 0.87% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Hang Seng decreased 146.26 points or 0.55% to 26,360.59, Nikkei 225 slipped 61.86 points or 0.23% to 26,485.58, KOSPI fell 23.75 points or 0.87% to 2,721.69, Shanghai Composite declined 8.61 points or 0.25% to 3,407.99 and Straits Times trembled 0.03 points or 0% to 2,825.48.

On the flip side, Jakarta Composite soared 9.11 points or 0.15% to 5,939.87 and Taiwan Weighted strengthened 85.38 points or 0.6% to 14,341.98.