Sensex, Nifty continue to trade in positive terrain

Indian stock markets continued to trade in positive terrain in the afternoon session due to buying in oil and gas, public sector and utilities stocks. Buying in frontline stocks such as ONGC, NTPC and Tata Steel were aiding sentiment, while selling in Asian Paints, Nestle and HDFC Bank kept the gains in the markets in check. Sentiments got a boost as Union Minister for Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Nitin Gadkari said that India was a destination with huge potential for attractive investments and urged people to invest in MSMEs in the country. On the sectoral front, NBFCs stocks were in limelight as Fitch Ratings states that Indian non-banking financial institutions will continue to face challenging conditions in 2021 even as the economy is projected to gradually recover. Those with construction funding and SME exposure which will take longer to recover from the crisis will face greater risks.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed after Wall Street tumbles following signs damage to the U.S. economy from the coronavirus is worsening while Congress is deadlocked over possible new aid. Back home, in scrip specific developments, Shalby gained on incorporating wholly owned subsidiary company and HCL Technologies jumped on entering into Vietnam.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 46219.12, up by 259.24 points or 0.56% after trading in a range of 46024.76 and 46309.63. There were 23 stocks advancing against 7 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index surged 0.29%, while Small cap index was up by 0.76%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 2.72%, PSU up by 2.63%, Utilities up by 1.97%, Metal up by 1.85% and Energy was up by 1.62%, while Telecom down by 0.18% and Healthcare was down by 0.02% were the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ONGC up by 7.53%, NTPC up by 4.01%, Tata Steel up by 1.88%, Bajaj Finance up by 1.73% and Indusind Bank was up by 1.62%. On the flip side, Asian Paints down by 1.08%, Nestle down by 0.46%, HDFC Bank down by 0.42%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.24% and Tech Mahindra was down by 0.08% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, ratings agency ICRA in its latest report has said that the Indian IT services revenue are expected to remain flattish in US dollar terms in FY21 as compared to previous estimate of a negative growth, helped by acceleration in demand for digital services. It said while coronavirus disease (covid-19) pandemic remains an ongoing concern, enterprises have shifted to virtual models that have pushed the acceleration and the credit profile of Indian IT services companies is expected to remain stable.

According to the report, the global spread of the covid-19 has resulted in simultaneous supply and demand shocks. It noted that IT Services companies have managed to overcome supply led challenges through uninterrupted delivery of IT services, through work-from-home model but the challenges on the demand front continue to persist. It also said the US and the Eurozone, which generates more than 80 percent of IT services export revenues, will see their GDP contract in CY20, and the first half of FY21 will also see impact in the form of price discounts and extended furlough requests by clients as they restructure their businesses.

The report further said as a silver lining, the covid-19 pandemic is accelerating the secular trends of core modernization, usage of collaborative technologies and cloud migration as companies shift to digital business models to pursue work-from-home model which will benefit IT services companies.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 13548.65, up by 70.35 points or 0.52% after trading in a range of 13505.15 and 13579.35. There were 33 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ONGC up by 7.36%, GAIL India up by 5.83%, NTPC up by 3.91%, Coal India up by 3.56% and Indian Oil Corp. up by 2.92%. On the flip side, Divis Lab down by 1.54%, Eicher Motors down by 1.05%, Asian Paints down by 1.00%, Britannia Inds down by 0.71% and Grasim Industries down by 0.66% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; KOSPI rose 24.66 points or 0.9% to 2,771.12, Hang Seng increased 84.86 points or 0.32% to 26,495.45, Straits Times advanced 7.49 points or 0.27% to 2,832.45 and Taiwan Weighted was up by 12.20 points or 0.09% to 14,261.69. On the other hand, Nikkei 225 slipped 103.72 points or 0.39% to 26,652.52, Jakarta Composite lost 3.14 points or 0.05% to 5,930.56 and Shanghai Composite was down by 45.59 points or 1.35% to 3,327.69.