Markets continue to trade in positive terrain

Indian stock markets continued to trade in positive terrain in the afternoon session due to buying in metal, basic materials and IT stocks. Buying in frontline stocks such as TCS, ONGC and Sun Pharma were aiding sentiment, while selling in Kotak Mahindra Bank, Titan Company and HDFC Bank kept the gains in the markets in check. Traders remain energized as India’s manufacturing sector continued to strengthen in December with companies stepping up production and input buying amid efforts to rebuild their inventories following pandemic-driven business closures earlier in 2020. Some support also came in as 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 higher amid vaccine rollout and optimism ahead to the release of Minutes of Federal Reserve's December meeting and a US December payroll report, which will provide further clues on the pace of economic recovery. Back on street, in scrip specific developments, Cochin Shipyard gained on declaring an interim dividend of Rs 9 per share and Federal Bank jumped as its deposits up by 12% in December 2020.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 47943.24, up by 74.26 points or 0.16% after trading in a range of 47594.47 and 48168.22. There were 18 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.75%, while Small cap index was up by 0.78%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 3.41%, Basic Materials up by 1.90%, IT up by 1.43%, Capital Goods up by 1.32% and TECK was up by 1.27%, while Realty down by 0.83%, Consumer Durables down by 0.42%, Bankex down by 0.32% and Energy was down by 0.24% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were TCS up by 2.33%, ONGC up by 2.09%, Sun Pharma up by 1.80%, Larsen & Toubro up by 1.58% and Hindustan Unilever was up by 1.53%. On the flip side, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.30%, Titan Company down by 0.92%, HDFC Bank down by 0.75%, Bajaj Finance down by 0.70% and Reliance Industries was down by 0.69% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the commerce ministry has sought views of different departments on its proposed national logistics policy which aims at enhancing productivity and competitiveness of manufacturers by reducing cost of logistics. The proposed policy talks about developing national and state master plans for multi-modal connectivity; formulation of an umbrella national logistics law; comprehensive standards for the sector; and developing IT applications to provide solutions that include track and trace for trucks.

Besides, the policy proposes development of short-term training courses for creation of a talented workforce, and promotion of green logistics enterprises and infrastructure. To improve logistics for international trade, it proposes augmentation of physical facilities and land custom stations, improvement in inter-agency coordination to streamline inspection and testing.

In the last Budget, the government had announced that it will come up with National Logistics Policy. The move comes at a time when high logistics cost is impacting competitiveness of domestic goods in international market. India's logistics sector is highly fragmented and the government aims to reduce the logistics cost from the present 14 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to less than 10 per cent by 2022.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 14053.90, up by 35.40 points or 0.25% after trading in a range of 13953.75 and 14114.15. There were 34 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Steel up by 4.55%, Hindalco up by 3.94%, GAIL India up by 2.95%, Eicher Motors up by 2.89% and Grasim Industries was up by 2.42%. On the flip side, Hero MotoCorp down by 1.48%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.42%, Adani Ports down by 1.19%, Titan Company down by 1.06% and HDFC Bank was down by 0.91% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly higher; KOSPI rose 70.98 points or 2.47% to 2,944.45, Hang Seng increased 196.94 points or 0.72% to 27,428.07, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 169.50 points or 1.15% to 14,902.03, Shanghai Composite gained 34.36 points or 0.99% to 3,507.43, Straits Times advanced 3.91 points or 0.14% to 2,847.72 and Jakarta Composite was up by 78.27 points or 1.31% to 6,057.34. On the flip side; Nikkei 225 was down by 185.79 points or 0.68% to 27,258.38.