Benchmarks trim some gains in late afternoon session

Indian benchmarks trimmed some of their gains in late afternoon session but continued trade in green zone. Traders were seen piling up positions in Energy, Consumer Durables and Auto sector, while selling was witnessed in Telecom, Realty and Utilities sector stocks. Traders took support after Reserve Bank said India's GDP is within the striking distance of attaining positive growth, observing that the letter ‘V’ in the V-shaped recovery stands for vaccine. The Indian government launched the world's biggest vaccination drive on January 16 to protect people from COVID-19. However, markets trimmed some gains with Fitch Ratings’ statement that India’s medium-term growth potential is at around 6.5% but weak implementation of reforms, combined with continued financial sector problems, could lower its potential. It said the revival of the reform agenda is among the Indian government’s policy responses to the Covid pandemic shock. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green as investors were hopeful the incoming Biden administration will be able to secure passage of a massive new stimulus package to cushion the economic damage of the COVID-19 pandemic. European markets were trading higher amid cautious optimism following the inauguration of US President Joe Biden and ahead of the latest ECB policy meeting.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 50043.08, up by 250.96 points or 0.50% after trading in a range of 49964.00 and 50184.01. There were 16 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.14%, while Small cap index was up by 0.06%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Energy up by 1.84%, Consumer Durables up by 1.75%, Auto up by 1.59%, Capital Goods up by 1.36% and Industrials was up by 1.32%, while Telecom down by 1.65%, Realty down by 1.46%, Metal down by 1.21%, Utilities down by 0.80% and PSU was down by 0.71% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bajaj Finance up by 4.31%, Bajaj Finserv up by 4.06%, Bajaj Auto up by 2.93%, Reliance Industries up by 2.55% and Asian Paints up by 2.46%. On the flip side, ONGC down by 1.77%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.64%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.39%, Sun Pharma down by 1.21% and HDFC down by 1.07% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in order to minimize burdensome compliances, the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) has launched a regulatory compliance portal that will act as a bridge between citizens, industries and the government. It will also act as a first-of-its-kind central online repository of all central and state-level compliances.

All central ministries/departments and states/UTs would examine laws/ regulations/rules under their purview and implement an action plan to rationalize and simplify all the processes and remove burdensome compliances, decriminalise laws and repeal redundant acts. These details would be captured and tracked on the portal.

DPIIT has conducted 21 training sessions from January 4 to January 14 for all ministries and states to familiarise them with the portal. Besides, the department has been directed by the Cabinet Secretary to act as the nodal department for coordinating the exercise of minimizing regulatory compliance burden for citizens and businesses.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 14708.65, up by 63.95 points or 0.44% after trading in a range of 14695.25 and 14753.55. There were 26 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Motors up by 7.68%, Bajaj Finance up by 4.24%, Bajaj Finserv up by 3.99%, Bajaj Auto up by 2.72% and Reliance Industries up by 2.57%. On the flip side, ONGC down by 1.72%, GAIL India down by 1.70%, Coal India down by 1.63%, Tata Steel down by 1.58% and Bharti Airtel down by 1.53% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 347.59 points or 2.2% to 16,153.77, Nikkei 225 surged 233.60 points or 0.82% to 28,756.86, KOSPI rose 46.29 points or 1.49% to 3,160.84, Shanghai Composite gained 38.17 points or 1.07% to 3,621.26 and Straits Times advanced 8.92 points or 0.3% to 3,007.69. On the flip side, Jakarta Composite lost 15.87 points or 0.25% to 6,413.89 and Hang Seng was down by 34.71 points or 0.12% to 29,927.76.

European markets were trading higher, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 16.99 points or 0.25% to 6,757.38, France’s CAC increased 16.54 points or 0.29% to 5,644.98 and Germany’s DAX  was up by 71.01 points or 0.51% to 13,992.38.