Sensex, Nifty add gains in late morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks continued their gaining rally in late morning deals, with both Sensex and Nifty adding more gains to trade near their intraday high points. Positive cues from other Asian markets were helping key indices to maintain their gaining momentum. Traders were seen taking a note of reports that securitisation volumes halved to Rs 24,400 crore during the December quarter compared to the year-ago period, but showed a healthy 61 per cent rise over the preceding September quarter. Domestic ratings agency Icra said it maintains that overall volumes of securitization, where a lender sells down its loan portfolio or future receivables to investors at a discount for upfront payment, will come at up to Rs 90,000 crore in FY2020-21, as against nearly Rs 1.90 lakh crore in FY2019-20.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading higher, after Malaysia's industrial production recovered in December and unemployment rate rose marginally. The data from the Department of Statistics showed that industrial production accelerated 1.7 percent year-on-year in December, after a 2.2 percent decrease in November. The growth in production was mainly driven by a rise in production of manufacturing industry.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 51681.83, up by 333.06 points or 0.65% after trading in a range of 51377.70 and 51747.50. There were 25 stocks advancing against 5 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.30%, while Small cap index was up by 0.47%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 2.04%, Consumer Durables up by 1.78%, Energy up by 1.24%, Utilities up by 1.03% and Oil & Gas up by 0.91%, while Auto down by 0.95% was the only losing index on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Asian Paints up by 3.78%, ONGC up by 3.21%, Titan Company up by 2.28%, Power Grid up by 1.95% and Bharti Airtel up by 1.57%. On the flip side, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 2.59%, Bajaj Auto down by 1.28%, Bajaj Finance down by 0.93%, Bajaj Finserv down by 0.57% and HDFC down by 0.34% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Chemical and Fertiliser Minister D V Sadananda Gowda stated that the Indian pharmaceutical industry has proved to be a dependable supplier of quality drugs in a time of global need on account of the COVID-19 pandemic, and is expected to reach a size of $130 billion by 2030. He added that following the onset of the pandemic, the Indian pharma industry has shown its role as a reliable supplier of drugs and medical devices in a time of need.

Gowda said ‘the total market size of the Indian pharma industry is expected to reach $130 billion by 2030. The medical devices industry in India has the potential to grow at 28 per cent per annum to reach $50 billion by 2025’. He also said ‘India has been serving more than 200 countries with its pharma products and will continue to discharge its responsibilities. We intend tocontinue formulating plans that are based on sound science, technology, business sense, and ethics’.

He noted that pharmaceuticals are one of the top-10 attractive sectors for foreign investment in India. FDI inflows in the pharmaceuticals sector reached Rs 3,650 crore in 2019-20, recording a growth of 98 per cent year-on-year. He said ‘While India will continue to strive to achieve and maintain a leadership position in the manufacturing and supply of high-quality generic medicines and medical devices, we also need to look at how to improve access to medical care’.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 15225.40, up by 109.60 points or 0.73% after trading in a range of 15133.80 and 15237.90. There were 42 stocks advancing against 8 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Asian Paints up by 3.81%, ONGC up by 3.26%, SBI Life Insurance up by 3.25%, HDFC Life Insurance up by 2.97% and Titan Company up by 2.33%. On the flip side, Indian Oil Corporation down by 5.04%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 2.66%, Tata Motors down by 2.05%, Bajaj Auto down by 1.31% and Bajaj Finance down by 0.86% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading higher; Nikkei 225 surged 38.24 points or 0.13% to 29,426.74, Hang Seng increased 113.45 points or 0.39% to 29,432.92, Jakarta Composite soared 15.22 points or 0.25% to 6,224.09, KOSPI rose 9.46 points or 0.31% to 3,100.70, Straits Times advanced 4.87 points or 0.17% to 2,936.27 and Shanghai Composite gained 43.21 points or 1.22% to 3,575.66.