Benchmarks add some gains in late afternoon session

The Indian equity benchmarks added some gains in late afternoon session, with the Sensex and Nifty gaining more than 350 and 100 points, respectively. Traders remain energized with Union Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs Anurag Thakur’s statement that India will have a strong economic revival thanks to its well-planned easing of lockdown. He also defended the contentious farm sector reforms, saying the Narendra Modi government had the courage to do what others could not. Some support also came with describing India as an attractive investment destination for the energy sector, Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas & Steel Dharmendra Pradhan has said that several policy reforms have enhanced the ease-of-doing-business. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green ahead of a possible post-Brexit deal. European markets were trading higher as markets are convinced a Brexit deal is in sight following several news reports that one will be announced within hours.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 46850.15, up by 405.97 points or 0.87% after trading in a range of 46539.02 and 46919.87. There were 20 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.24%, while Small cap index was up by 0.62%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Bankex up by 1.89%, Energy up by 1.88%, Oil & Gas up by 1.69%, Telecom up by 1.66% and PSU was up by 1.45%, while IT down by 0.82%, TECK down by 0.52% and Capital Goods was down by 0.13% were the few losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ONGC up by 3.36%, Axis Bank up by 3.24%, Bajaj Auto up by 2.11%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.99% and ICICI Bank up by 1.98%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 1.66%, Nestle down by 1.13%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.77%, HCL Tech down by 0.69% and Asian Paints down by 0.59% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, describing India as an attractive investment destination for the energy sector, Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas & Steel Dharmendra Pradhan has said that several policy reforms have enhanced the ease-of-doing-business.

The minister also noted that India’s developmental stage engenders a rapid expansion of energy consumption and a need for robust energy security. He also said that India took leadership in pledging to adapt energy efficiency and move towards green power, such as solar and wind.

Besides, Pradhan said that India is most committed to environmental and climate causes with the massive renewable energy and the energy efficiency programs. Talking about boosting rural economy, he mentioned about the waste-to-wealth generation under the Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation (SATAT) initiatives.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 13720.20, up by 119.10 points or 0.88% after trading in a range of 13626.90 and 13740.20. There were 31 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index, while 1 stock remains unchanged.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Motors up by 3.84%, Axis Bank up by 3.36%, ONGC up by 3.30%, SBI Life up by 2.57% and Indian Oil up by 2.21%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 1.52%, Nestle down by 1.24%, Wipro down by 0.79%, Grasim Industries down by 0.72% and Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.69% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green, Nikkei 225 surged 143.56 points or 0.54% to 26,668.35, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 57.19 points or 0.4% to 14,280.28, KOSPI rose 47.04 points or 1.7% to 2,806.86, Hang Seng increased 43.46 points or 0.16% to 26,386.56 and Straits Times was up by 8.64 points or 0.3% to 2,842.04. On the flip side, Jakarta Composite lost 14.58 points or 0.24% to 6,008.71 and Shanghai Composite was down by 19.21 points or 0.57% to 3,363.11.

European markets were trading higher, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 9.80 points or 0.15% to 6,505.55 and France’s CAC was up by 7.29 points or 0.13% to 5,534.88.