Bourses add gains in afternoon session

Indian equity benchmarks added gains in afternoon deals due to heavy buying in realty, industrials and consumer durables stocks. Gains in frontline blue chip stocks such as Titan Company, Larsen & Toubro and SBI also helped lift the markets. Sentiments got a boost with private report that the landmark post-Brexit trade deal between the EU and the UK brightens the prospects of a free trade agreement (FTA) between New Delhi and London. Traders also remain energized as Centre for Economics and Business Research’s (CEBR) report states that India, which appears to have been pushed back to being the world's sixth biggest economy in 2020, will again overtake the UK to become the fifth largest in 2025 and race to the third spot by 2030. India had overtaken the UK in 2019 to become the fifth largest economy in the world but has been relegated to 6th spot in 2020. Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPI) have pumped in a net Rs 60,094 crore into Indian markets in December so far amidst optimism in the global markets.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed after President Donald Trump signed $900 billion economic aid package, helping to reduce uncertainty as governments re-impose travel and business curbs in response to a new coronavirus variant. Back on street, the overall market breadth on BSE was in the favour of advances which thumped declines in the ratio of 1958:867; while 186 shares remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 47299.38, up by 325.84 points or 0.69% after trading in a range of 47148.24 and 47354.71. There were 27 stocks advancing against 3 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.99%, while Small cap index was up by 1.31%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 3.72%, Industrials up by 1.62%, Consumer Durables up by 1.58%, Metal up by 1.37% and Capital Goods was up by 1.34%, while there were no losing sectoral indices on the BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Titan Company up by 2.33%, Larsen & Toubro up by 1.83%, SBI up by 1.59%, Indusind Bank up by 1.52% and HDFC Bank was up by 1.40%. On the flip side, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.80%, Sun Pharma down by 0.15% and HDFC was down by 0.01% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Financial Services Secretary Debasish Panda has said that loan restructuring and other measures announced by the government to help the industry hit by the coronavirus disease (covid-19) pandemic may save public sector banks (PSBs) from ‘shock’ in the next year. He said despite the pandemic, the lockdown and the consequent damage done to the economy, there are quick signs of recovery.

Panda further stated that there is a steady uptick in the credit growth. He noted that retail, home and agriculture loans are doing well, and MSMEs again, with the intervention of the government through the ECLGS and other similar schemes, have also picked up. He pointed out that with the window for restructuring now made available by the RBI through the COVID-19 resolution plan, which offers resolution for all kinds of loans, the impact may not be that severe as had been projected earlier. However, he said it is difficult to exactly predict the numbers.

In August 2020, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) permitted one-time restructuring of both corporate and retail loans without getting classified as a non-performing asset (NPA). Restructuring benefit can be availed by those whose account was standard on March 1 and defaults should not be over 30 days. Besides, the government has allocated Rs 20,000 crore for capital infusion into PSBs in the current financial year through the first supplementary demand for grants passed by Parliament in September. Of this, the finance ministry has granted Rs 5,500 crore to Punjab & Sind Bank to meet regulatory requirements.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 13854.90, up by 105.65 points or 0.77% after trading in a range of 13811.55 and 13865.45. There were 44 stocks advancing against 6 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Motors up by 4.26%, SBI Life Insurance up by 2.90%, HDFC Life Insurance up by 2.55%, JSW Steel up by 2.43% and Titan Company was up by 2.25%. On the flip side, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.94%, Shree Cement down by 0.53%, Britannia Industries down by 0.42%, Sun Pharma down by 0.25% and Eicher Motors was down by 0.15% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly higher; Taiwan Weighted strengthened 151.65 points or 1.06% to 14,483.07, KOSPI rose 1.76 points or 0.06% to 2,808.62, Nikkei 225 surged 197.42 points or 0.74% to 26,854.03, Jakarta Composite soared 65.14 points or 1.08% to 6,073.85

On the flip side, Shanghai Composite declined 7.86 points or 0.23% to 3,388.70, Straits Times trembled 0.05 points or 0% to 2,841.99 and Hang Seng was down by 86.12 points or 0.33% to 26,300.44.