Sensex, Nifty trade in green terrain

Indian equity benchmarks were trading in green terrain during late morning deals, with both Sensex and Nifty hovering near their neutral lines. Gains were limited over the Dalal Street, on the back of negative cues from other Asian markets. Traders were seen taking a note of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement that India is promoting investment in frontier technologies including Artificial Intelligence, additive manufacturing and interdisciplinary cyber-physical systems. Speaking at the World Economic Forum's Davos Dialogue via video conferencing, PM Modi said that the transactions at Unified Payments Interface (UPI) platforms have crossed 2 billion per month and a major portion of these transactions are taking place through the apps developed by private players.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red, even after Malaysia's exports rose sharply in December. The data from the Department of Statistics showed that exports rose 10.8 percent year-on-year in December, following a 4.6 percent increase in November. At MYR 95.7 billion, exports reached its highest value recorded in 2020. Imports grew 1.6 percent annually to MYR 75.0 billion in December, after a 9.0 percent fall in the previous month.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 46924.33, up by 49.97 points or 0.11% after trading in a range of 46738.70 and 47423.66. There were 12 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.68%, while Small cap index was up by 0.32%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 0.89%, Energy up by 0.69%, Bankex up by 0.41%, Metal up by 0.30% and Auto up by 0.26%, while Telecom down by 0.69%, TECK down by 0.60%, Capital Goods down by 0.59%, IT down by 0.57% and Healthcare down by 0.55% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Indusind Bank up by 4.27%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 3.73%, Bajaj Finance up by 2.11%, ICICI Bank up by 1.24% and Bajaj Finserv up by 1.19%. On the flip side, Maruti Suzuki down by 3.02%, Axis Bank down by 2.25%, Dr. Reddy’s Lab down by 1.51%, TCS down by 1.16% and Hindustan Unilever down by 1.01% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, rating agency Ind-Ra in its January 2021 edition of its credit news digest on India's power sector has said that with revival of electricity demand and adequate coal stocks at power plants, power generation in the country would continue to grow in fourth quarter of this fiscal year (Q4FY21). The report highlights the trends in the power sector, with a focus on capacity addition, generation, transmission, merchant power, deficit, regulatory changes and the recent rating actions by Ind-Ra.

It said ‘The all-India electricity generation (excluding renewables) is likely to continue its improvement in 4QFY21, backed by a revival in demand and the adequate stock of coal at power plants’. The electricity generation increased 4.6 per cent y-o-y (year on year) to 103.7 billion units in December 2020, supported by 5.8 per cent y-o-y growth in thermal generation, although hydro generation fell 8.2 per cent as compared to the year-ago period due to above-normal hydro generation in 2019.

In November 2020, power generation was up 1.9 per cent y-o-y and in October, it was higher by 8.9 per cent. Electricity generation from renewable sources fell 19.7 per cent y-o-y to 7.5 billion units in December 2020, with wind and solar generation declining 18.7 per cent and 4.6 per cent, respectively. The improvement of 13.3 per cent y-o-y in solar generation in April-December 2020-21 was offset by a decline of 12.9 per cent in wind generation.

The all-India energy demand continued its improving trend in the first 15 days of January 2021, with a 2.4 per cent increase to 52 billion units as compared to the year-ago period. Last month, the all-India energy demand increased 4.9 per cent y-o-y to 106.5 billion units, backed by a strong demand from the northern region (up 7.8 per cent y-o-y) and western region (up 9.3 per cent y-o-y). The energy demand in April-December period of this fiscal year was 3.9 per cent lower as compared to the year-ago period. In January 2021, the peak power demand reached its all-time high of 187.3GW, backed by a revival in economic activities.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 13831.65, up by 14.10 points or 0.10% after trading in a range of 13784.50 and 13966.85. There were 24 stocks advancing against 26 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Indusind Bank up by 4.75%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 3.84%, Bajaj Finance up by 2.09%, Tata Motors up by 1.91% and Indian Oil Corporation up by 1.73%. On the flip side, Maruti Suzuki down by 3.01%, Axis Bank down by 2.39%, Dr. Reddy’s Lab down by 2.09%, TCS down by 1.17% and GAIL India down by 1.09% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Nikkei 225 slipped 436.87 points or 1.55% to 27,760.55, Jakarta Composite lost 95.76 points or 1.6% to 5,883.63, Taiwan Weighted dropped 84.22 points or 0.55% to 15,331.66, KOSPI fell 68.62 points or 2.24% to 3,000.43 and Straits Times trembled 1.56 points or 0.05% to 2,918.74. On the flip side, Shanghai Composite gained 8.19 points or 0.23% to 3,513.37 and Hang Seng increased 101.35 points or 0.35% to 28,652.12.