Markets trade in fine fettle in late trade

Indian equity benchmarks pared some of their initial gains but managed to trade in fine fettle in last leg of trade as traders continued to buy fundamentally strong stocks, taking support from Minister of State for Finance Anurag Thakur’s statement that the government is confident of achieving growth close to 11.5 per cent or even higher in FY2022. He added that while the new fiscal consolidation roadmap looked challenging, the government had a proven track record of fiscal discipline. Traders also took encouragement with the Reserve Bank of India’s projection of a GDP growth rate of 10.5 per cent for the financial year beginning April 1, on the back of recovery in economic activities. Positive opening in European counters too aided domestic sentiments, with upbeat U.S. economic data released overnight and the prospect of further fiscal stimulus helping underpin sentiment. Back home, banking stocks remained in focus with Global rating agency Moody’s statement that the Indian government's support measures for bank borrowers have softened growth in non-performing loans (NPLs), averting the risk of a sharp deterioration in asset quality.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 50,746.47, up by 132.18 points or 0.26% after trading in a range of 50,565.29 and 51,073.27. There were 16 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index declined 0.93%, while Small cap index was down by 0.12%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were PSU up by 2.04%, Healthcare up by 1.03%, Bankex up by 0.97%, Realty up by 0.60% and FMCG was up by 0.60%, while Telecom down by 2.50%, TECK down by 1.42%, Auto down by 1.42%, Oil & Gas down by 0.97% and IT down by 0.81% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were SBI up by 10.73%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 3.88%, Ultratech Cement up by 3.16%, Dr. Reddys Lab up by 2.93% and ITC up by 2.00%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 3.16%, Axis Bank down by 2.57%, ICICI Bank down by 2.19%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.96% and HCL Tech down by 1.41% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has kept the policy repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) unchanged at 4.0 per cent. Consequently, the reverse repo rate under the LAF remains unchanged at 3.35 per cent and the marginal standing facility (MSF) rate and the Bank Rate at 4.25 per cent.

The monetary policy committee (MPC) of RBI also decided to continue with the accommodative stance as long as necessary - at least during the current financial year and into the next financial year - to revive growth on a durable basis and mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on the economy, while ensuring that inflation remains within the target going forward.

On the inflation front, the projection for CPI inflation has been revised to 5.2 per cent in Q4:2020-21, 5.2 per cent to 5.0 per cent in H1:2021-22 and 4.3 per cent in Q3: 2021-22, with risks broadly balanced.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 14907.75, up by 12.10 points or 0.08% after trading in a range of 14864.75 and 15014.65. There were 21 stocks advancing against 29 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were SBI up by 10.31%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 3.77%, Divis Lab up by 3.43%, Tata Steel up by 3.21% and Ultratech Cement up by 2.96%. On the flip side, Tata Motors down by 3.83%, Bharti Airtel down by 3.29%, Axis Bank down by 3.21%, ICICI Bank down by 2.68% and Maruti Suzuki down by 2.04% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 surged 437.24 points or 1.54% to 28,779.19, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 96.18 points or 0.61% to 15,802.40, KOSPI rose 33.08 points or 1.07% to 3,120.63, Hang Seng increased 175.18 points or 0.60% to 29,288.68, and Jakarta Composite was up by 44.51 points or 0.73% to 6,151.73. However, Shanghai Composite lost 5.53 points or 0.16% to 3,496.33 and Straits Times advanced 0.92 points or 0.03% to 2,904.66.

European markets were trading mostly higher, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 2.64 points or 0.04% to 6,506.36, France’s CAC gained 41.64 points or 0.74% to 5,650.18, while Germany’s DAX was up by 1.32 points or 0.01% to 14,058.97.