Local indices continue to trade higher in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade higher in morning deals, after the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) approved the emergency use of both Oxford-AstraZeneca’s Covishield and Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin for immunisation against Covid-19 in India. Traders also took some support with data showing that goods and Services Tax (GST) collections touched a record-high of over Rs 1.15 lakh crore in December 2020, in signs that the economy continues to reflate after a strict lockdown. Mop-up from GST in December 2020 was 12 percent higher than Rs 1.03 lakh crore collected in the same month of 2019. Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) remained net buyers for the third month in a row by investing Rs 68,558 crore in December in Indian markets as global investors continued betting on emerging markets.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green as investors pinned their hope on vaccines to eventually deliver a global economic upturn, even as a possible tightening in virus rules for Tokyo pulled Japanese stocks off 30-year highs. Back home, on the sectoral front, banking stocks were in focus as the data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) showed that banks continued to depend on personal loans for credit growth in the September quarter (July-September, or Q2).?While bank credit grew only 5.4 per cent in Q2 on a year-on-year (Y-o-Y) basis, personal loans, accounting for one fourth of the credit, continued to maintain double-digit growth.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 48094.19, up by 225.21 points or 0.47% after trading in a range of 48047.54 and 48168.22. There were 25 stocks advancing against 5 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.97%, while Small cap index was up by 0.92%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 2.60%, Basic Materials up by 1.51%, PSU up by 1.35%, Industrials up by 1.26%, Capital Goods up by 1.15% while, Realty down by 0.10%, Energy down by 0.03% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ONGC up by 2.41%, TCS up by 1.51%, Hindustan Unilever up by 1.47%, Bajaj Finserv up by 1.46% and Larsen & Toubro up by 1.39%. On the flip side, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.63%, Reliance Industries down by 0.46%, Asian Paints down by 0.26%, Titan Co down by 0.23% and Dr. Reddys Lab down by 0.01% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) remained net buyers for the third month in a row by investing Rs 68,558 crore in December in Indian markets as global investors continued betting on emerging markets. For the equity segment, this is the highest quantum of money invested ever since the FPI data has been made available by the National Securities Depository.

The second highest amount into equities was invested by FPIs in November, when they had pumped in Rs 60,358 crore. As per depositories data, overseas investors put in a net Rs 62,016 crore into equities and Rs 6,542 crore into the debt in December 2020.

The total net investment during the month stood at Rs 68,558 crore. Prior to this, FPIs were net buyers in October and November as well and invested Rs 22,033 crore and Rs 62,951 crore, respectively.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 14093.30, up by 74.80 points or 0.53% after trading in a range of 14080.15 and 14114.15. There were 43 stocks advancing against 6 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Hindalco up by 3.04%, Tata Steel up by 2.87%, Tata Motors up by 2.47%, ONGC up by 2.31% and Eicher Motors up by 1.90%. On the flip side, Hero MotoCorp down by 0.68%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.62%, Reliance Industries down by 0.57%, Asian Paints down by 0.38% and Titan Co down by 0.34% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Hang Seng increased 203.48 points or 0.75% to 27,434.61, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 190.13 points or 1.29% to 14,922.66, KOSPI rose 66.67 points or 2.32% to 2,940.14, Shanghai Composite gained 31.50 points or 0.91% to 3,504.57, Straits Times advanced 5.11 points or 0.18% to 2,848.92 and Jakarta Composite soared 59.73 points or 1% to 6,038.80.

On the flip side, Nikkei 225 slipped 186.84 points or 0.68% to 27,257.33.