Markets trade higher in early deals; Energy, Telecom stocks lead

Indian equity benchmarks made positive start on Tuesday mirroring overnight gains on Wall Street and firm trend in Asian peers. Markets are trading higher with gains of around one third of a percent each in early deals on the back of buying in Energy, Telecom and TECK stocks. Traders took encouragement with report that Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the government is taking steps to carefully monitor the fiscal deficit, which is estimated at 9.5 percent of the GDP for the current financial year. Some support also came in with a report that US President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have agreed to work together on the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, renew partnership on climate change, rebuild the global economy in a way that benefits the people of both countries and stand together against the scourge of global terrorism. Meanwhile, India recorded 8,947 fresh Covid-19 cases of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19). The total number of active cases in the country has fallen to 145,690, while the caseload tally stands at 10,803,533.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading higher as U.S. lawmakers edged closer to a new stimulus for the world's top economy and Japan Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga's Cabinet decided to disburse 1.14 trillion yen ($11 billion) from reserve funds for fiscal 2020. The country hopes to begin vaccinating selected healthcare workers against Covid-19 next week. Back home, telecom industry stocks were buzzing with report that the government expects that the roll-out of 5G services will begin in early-2022 after another round of spectrum auction that is planned to be held after six month. In scrip specific development, BPCL gained as its net profit in Q3FY21 rose 23.6 percent to Rs 2,778 crore from Rs 2,248 crore, while revenue increased 33.1 percent to Rs 66,731.5 crore from Rs 50,146.4 crore, Q-o-Q.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 51532.21, up by 183.44 points or 0.36% after trading in a range of 51392.84 and 51606.25. 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 0.12%, while Small cap index was up by 0.36%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Energy up by 1.43%, Telecom up by 1.32%, TECK up by 1.11%, IT up by 1.10%, Consumer Durables up by 0.94%, while Bankex down by 0.58%, Auto down by 0.46%, PSU down by 0.15%, Industrials down by 0.07% were the few losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Titan Company up by 1.76%, ONGC up by 1.76%, Infosys up by 1.65%, Asian Paints up by 1.61% and Reliance Industries up by 1.56%. On the flip side, SBI down by 1.47%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.21%, Axis Bank down by 1.15%, Bajaj Finserv down by 1.11% and Bajaj Finance down by 1.01% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that the government is taking steps to carefully monitor the fiscal deficit, which is estimated at 9.5 percent of the Gross domestic product (GDP) for the current financial year. She said the 'mool mantra' now is that fiscal deficit is something that one cannot escape, but at the same time, it needs to be carefully tackled.

Emphasising that the government has made the Union Budget transparent, Sitharaman said there was nothing under wraps or swept under the carpet. She also said whatever the government is borrowing or spending is open for everyone to see and the government has spent big on those areas that provide a big multiplier effect.

India has exceeded its fiscal deficit target of 3.5 percent in the current fiscal by a wide margin, due to higher spending to stimulate the economy amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The fiscal deficit -- the excess of government expenditure over its revenues -- has been pegged at 9.5 percent of the GDP in the current fiscal ending March 31, as per the revised estimate. For the next fiscal, the deficit has been pegged at 6.8 percent of GDP, which will be further lowered to 4.5 percent by fiscal 2025-26.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 15164.65, up by 48.85 points or 0.32% after trading in a range of 15137.25 and 15197.80. There were 30 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining, while 1 stock remain unchanged on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Wipro up by 3.20%, BPCL up by 3.09%, UPL up by 2.42%, HDFC Life Insurance up by 2.30% and Titan Company up by 1.85%. On the flip side, IOC down by 4.61%, Tata Motors down by 2.52%, SBI down by 1.69%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.30% and JSW Steel down by 1.20% were the top losers.

All the Asian markets were trading in green; Nikkei surged 45.26 points or 0.15% to 29,433.76, Straits Times added 5.52 points or 0.19% to 2,936.92, Hang Seng rose 117.96 points or 0.40% to 29,437.43, KOSPI gained 8.26 points or 0.27% to 3,099.50, Jakarta Composite expanded 32.88 points or 0.53% to 6,241.75 and Shanghai Composite was up by 43.21points or 1.22% to 3,575.66.