Markets trade higher with notable gains in early deals; Nifty surpasses 14,400 mark

Indian equity benchmarks made optimistic start on Monday and scaled fresh record highs. Markets are trading higher with notable gains in early deals on the back of buying in IT, TECK and Telecom stocks. Sensex and Nifty surpasses their crucial 49,100 and 14,400 levels, respectively. Sentiments got a boost with Assocham’s statement that India's economy is showing decisive signs of a V-shaped recovery in 2021 with the return of consumer confidence, robust financial markets, an uptick in manufacturing and exporters braving it out in the global market with never-say-die spirit. Also, IHS Markit said Indian economy is likely to rebound with an 8.9 per cent growth in the fiscal year beginning April 2021 after economic activity showed significant improvement in the last quarter. Traders took note of Union Minister Piyush Goyal’s statement that India is strengthening the entire ecosystem to achieve Prime Minister Narendra Modi's dream of becoming a $5 trillion economy by 2025 through rapid structural reforms. Meanwhile, India continues to show a downward trend in the new number of coronavirus cases.

On the global front, most of the Asian markets were trading lower despite the positive cues from Wall Street Friday. Investors turned cautious following news about growing calls for US President Donald Trump's removal from office and as they looked ahead to the first batch of quarterly earnings results from major companies due later this week. The Japanese market is closed for a holiday. Back home, oil & gas sector stocks were in focus with ratings agency ICRA in its latest report stating that the domestic demand for petroleum products is expected to increase at a healthy rate of 8 to 10 per cent in FY22 on a year-on-year basis. In scrip specific development, TCS advanced after the country's leading IT services company reported a healthy set of Q3 FY21 results, beating estimates on all fronts.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 49130.66, up by 348.15 points or 0.71% after trading in a range of 49015.22 and 49260.21. 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 0.11%, while Small cap index was up by 0.50%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 2.16%, TECK up by 1.97%, Telecom up by 1.50%, FMCG up by 1.43%, Realty up by 0.97%, while Metal down by 1.36%, Basic Materials down by 0.70%, Capital Goods down by 0.63%, Energy down by 0.44%, Power down by 0.24% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Infosys up by 3.13%, HCL Technologies up by 2.78%, Bharti Airtel up by 2.24%, ITC up by 1.94% and HDFC Bank up by 1.83%. On the flip side, Axis Bank down by 1.20%, ONGC down by 1.19%, Bajaj Finance down by 0.96%, Maruti Suzuki down by 0.80% and Larsen & Toubro down by 0.72% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Assocham in its latest report has said that India's economy is showing decisive signs of a 'V-shaped' recovery in 2021 with the return of consumer confidence, robust financial markets, an uptick in manufacturing and exporters braving it out in the global market with never-say-die spirit.

The industry chamber expects immense accruals of economic benefits from the COVID-19 vaccination programme about to be rolled out. It said the high-frequency data is a strong pointer to a V-shaped recovery in 2021 with the seeds bursting into green shoots over the last two months of 2020 itself.  It also pointed out that with India about to roll out its vaccination programme with approvals of the two vaccines, the accruals of the economic benefits would be significant, especially to sectors such as hospitality, transportation, entertainment, which were hit hard during the pandemic.

According to the report, the most definitive of the data is the record collection of Rs 1.15 lakh crore in the Goods and Services Tax (GST) during December. The state-wise collection showed the fight back spirit in consumer confidence. Illustratively, the largest consumption state of Maharashtra, which was amongst the severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, has posted a healthy growth of seven per cent in GST collection; even as the total GST mop-up was up 12 per cent year-on-year.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 14439.75, up by 92.50 points or 0.64% after trading in a range of 14401.65 and 14474.05. There were 30 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Infosys up by 3.13%, HCL Technologies up by 2.81%, Tata Motors up by 2.78%, Bharti Airtel up by 2.24% and Wipro up by 2.01%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 2.24%, Hindalco down by 2.05%, Adani Ports & SEZ down by 1.57%, Axis Bank down by 1.16% and ONGC down by 1.14% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Straits Times lost 10.59 points or 0.35% to 2,982.60, Taiwan Weighted fell 27.97 points or 0.18% to 15,435.98, KOSPI declined 8.12 points or 0.26% to 3,144.06 and Shanghai Composite was down by 8.34 points or 0.23% to 3,561.77. On the other hand, Hang Seng surged 244.71 points or 0.88% to 28,122.93 and Jakarta Composite rose 81.06 points or 1.30% to 6,338.90.