Benchmarks trim some gains in late afternoon session

The Indian benchmarks trimmed some of their initial gains in late afternoon session. Traders were seen piling up positions in Metal, Telecom and Basic Materials sector while selling was witnessed in FMCG, TECK and IT sector stocks. Markets remained in green zone, as Income Tax department said it has issued refunds worth over Rs 1.64 lakh crore to over 1.41 crore taxpayers till January 4, this fiscal. This includes Personal income tax (PIT) refunds amounting to Rs 53,070 crore and corporate tax refunds of over Rs 1.10 lakh crore during this period. However, upside remain capped despite overall hiring activity in the country has improved by 14 per cent during December 2020, compared to the previous month mainly led by insurance, auto and ancillary sectors. The Naukri JobSpeak Index for December 2020, at 1,972, witnessed an increase of 14 per cent in hiring activity as compared to November 2020, when it stood at 1,727.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green on hopes that a Democrat-controlled U.S. Senate will be a net positive for economic growth globally. European markets were trading higher driven by hopes that a bumper U.S. stimulus package and large-scale coronavirus vaccine rollouts across the continent will spur a strong economic recovery.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 48272.33, up by 98.27 points or 0.20% after trading in a range of 48178.69 and 48558.34. There were 15 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 1.29%, while Small cap index was up by 1.08%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 4.04%, Telecom up by 3.34%, Basic Materials up by 2.14%, Industrials up by 1.94% and Realty was up by 1.78%, while FMCG down by 0.90%, IT down by 0.69%, TECK down by 0.17% and Consumer Durables was down by 0.06% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel up by 3.65%, Indusind Bank up by 3.32%, Axis Bank up by 2.74%, Bajaj Finserv up by 2.72% and Larsen & Toubro up by 2.06%. On the flip side, Titan Company down by 2.00%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.70%, Nestle down by 1.59%, ITC down by 1.41% and Infosys down by 1.27% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman has reviewed the progress of National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) implementation. The agenda was to discuss the progress of NIP projects, expenditure incurred so far and the initiatives taken to expedite the project implementation. This was the second review meeting by the Finance Minister with various Ministries & Departments to monitor and accelerate NIP project implementation.

In a meeting, Finance Minister said that NIP is a part of the Government of India’s initiative to provide world class infrastructure to its citizens and enhance the ease of living. The Finance Minister asked the two ministries/departments to push the infra-expenditure by effectively implement all NIP projects in time and to ensure quick resolution of unresolved issues in coordination with State Governments and other Ministries.

Besides, Ministries/Departments were also asked to promote investible projects by holding discussions with prospective investors. Ministries were also asked to update the National Infrastructure Pipeline dashboard regularly to allow seamless online monitoring.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 14185.50, up by 39.25 points or 0.28% after trading in a range of 14157.50 and 14256.25. There were 29 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Steel up by 6.50%, Hindalco up by 5.81%, Adani Ports by 4.27%, Bharti Airtel up by 3.71% and Indusind Bank up by 3.34%. On the flip side, Titan Company down by 2.07%, Divis Lab down by 1.74%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.71%, Nestle down by 1.68% and ITC down by 1.36% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green, Nikkei 225 surged 434.19 points or 1.6% to 27,490.13, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 230.87 points or 1.54% to 15,214.00, Jakarta Composite soared 87.95 points or 1.45% to 6,153.63, KOSPI rose 63.47 points or 2.14% to 3,031.68, Straits Times advanced 44.03 points or 1.54% to 2,907.04 and Shanghai Composite gained 25.32 points or 0.71% to 3,576.20. On the flip side, Hang Seng was down by143.78 points or 0.52% to 27,548.52.

European markets were trading higher, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 4.30 points or 0.06% to 6,846.16, France’s CAC increased 21.85 points or 0.39% to 5,652.45 and Germany’s DAX was up by 45.95 points or 0.33% to 13,937.92.