Equity markets add gains in late afternoon session

Indian equity markets extended their gains in late afternoon session on account of buying in front line counters. Local investors cheered after private report stated that India will make up the biggest share of energy demand growth at 25 percent over the next two decades, as it overtakes the European Union as the world's third-biggest energy consumer by 2030. Some support also came 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. Sector wise, power sector remained in focus, as rating agency Moody's has upgraded the outlook on the power sector to stable from negative, citing the fifth consecutive month of generation growth in January. The Central Electricity Authority last week reported a 3.1 per cent year-on-year growth in power generation in January, making it the fifth consecutive month of generation growth after six months of decline driven by coronavirus pandemic.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed following a recent rally, although optimism remains among investors as vaccinations are rolled out, infections fall and Joe Biden tries to push through his massive stimulus. European markets were trading mostly in green bucking a positive trend seen in Asia and the US at the start of the trading week.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 51783.77, up by 435.00 points or 0.85% after trading in a range of 51377.70 and 51820.54. There were 22 stocks advancing against 8 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.48%, while Small cap index was up by 0.38%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 1.96%, Telecom up by 1.86%, Energy up by 1.10%, Bankex up by 1.02% and Basic Materials was up by 0.80%, while Auto down by 0.72% and Power was down by 0.08% were the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Asian Paints up by 4.16%, ONGC up by 3.26%, Titan Company up by 1.79%, ICICI Bank up by 1.77% and HDFC up by 1.52%. On the flip side, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 3.15%, Bajaj Finance down by 1.32%, Bajaj Auto down by 1.12%, ITC down by 0.56% and Bajaj Finserv down by 0.53% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, credit rating agency, India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) in its latest report has said that the health insurance segment, which expanded at a remarkable CAGR of 20% over FY15-FY20, to continue witnessing strong growth, supported by low penetration.

As per the report, the sector is expected to grow at higher double-digits in the medium term, with private players growing even faster as they have been gaining market share over public sector firms and also because of the increase in premium prices due to medical inflation.

Ind-Ra further noted that within the health segment, as firm achieves adequate size and scale, with adequate control on claim volatility, profitability can be consistent. This has resulted in adequate growth capital support coming from investors. The volatility in the claim ratio has been within a specific range, thereby enabling insurers to make the necessary predictions while designing policies.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 15253.35, up by 137.55 points or 0.91% after trading in a range of 15133.80 and 15257.10. There were 36 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index, while 1 stock remains unchanged.

The top gainers on Nifty were Asian Paints up by 4.34%, HDFC Life Insurance up by 3.78%, SBI Life up by 3.72%, ONGC up by 3.26% and ICICI Bank up by 2.12%. On the flip side, Indian Oil down by 5.14%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 2.96%, Tata Motors down by 2.01%, JSW Steel down by 1.74% and Bajaj Finance down by 1.14% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed, Hang Seng increased 156.72 points or 0.53% to 29,476.19, Nikkei 225 surged 117.43 points or 0.4% to 29,505.93 and Shanghai Composite was up by 71.04 points or 2.01% to 3,603.49. On the flip side, Straits Times trembled 3.40 points or 0.12% to 2,928.00, KOSPI fell 6.57 points or 0.21% to 3,084.67 and Jakarta Composite was down by 27.20 points or 0.44% to 6,181.67.

European markets were trading mostly in green, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 2.56 points or 0.04% to 6,526.09 and France’s CAC was up by 13.21 points or 0.23% to 5,699.24. On the flip side, Germany’s DAX was down by 4.65 points or 0.03% to 14,055.26.