Key indices continue to trade higher in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade higher in morning deals, tracking gains in index-heavyweights Axis Bank, Bharti Airtel and ICICI Bank amid positive trend in global markets. Sentiments remained up-beat with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s statement that the government, undeterred by the COVID-19 pandemic, has been pursuing reforms for achieving sustained long-term growth in a bid to make India one of the top economies of the world in the coming decades. She also said that the Prime Minister did not lose any opportunity to continue with the reforms and this Budget has set the pace for India to become self-reliant or Aatmanirbhar. Some support also as with PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI) said expectations that the country's GDP would record growth in the third and fourth quarters of 2020-21 (Q3, Q4 of FY21) are getting stronger on account of various reforms undertaken by the government in the last ten months. On the global front, Asian markets were trading higher following the positive cues from Wall Street Friday and as a slowdown in the rate of coronavirus infections as well as accelerated vaccine rollout globally boosted optimism about the economic recovery.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 52061.22, up by 516.92 points or 1.00% after trading in a range of 51886.46 and 52110.74. There were 24 stocks advancing against 6 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 1.20%, while Small cap index up by 0.81%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 1.78%, Bankex up by 1.71%, Realty up by 1.60%, Power up by 0.99% and Healthcare up by 0.77%, while Oil & Gas down by 0.14% and Consumer Durables down by 0.10% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Axis Bank up by 2.43%, Bharti Airtel up by 2.28%, ICICI Bank up by 2.12%, Indusind Bank up by 2.05% and HDFC up by 1.95%. On the flip side, Dr. Reddys Lab down by 0.94%, TCS down by 0.56%, ONGC down by 0.46%, HCL Technologies down by 0.37% and Tech Mahindra down by 0.34% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI) said expectations that the country's GDP would record growth in the third and fourth quarters of 2020-21 (Q3, Q4 of FY21) are getting stronger on account of various reforms undertaken by the government in the last ten months. It said out of the 10 indicators of QET (Quick Economic Trends) of economic and business activity tracked by PHDCCI, nine have performed positive.

The Indian economy shrunk by a record 23.9 per cent in June quarter and saw a contraction of 7.5 per cent in second quarter. It added on the back of various reforms undertaken by the government in last 10 months along with a demand boosting and investment inducing Budget, the expectations of a positive GDP growth in Q3 and in Q4 FY 2020-21 are becoming strong.

Besides, it said that economic and business indicators such as unemployment rate, stock market, GST collections, manufacturing PMI, forex reserves, railway freight, merchandise exports, exchange rate and passenger vehicle sales have shown positive sequential growth in January as compared with December 2020.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 15306.05, up by 142.75 points or 0.94% after trading in a range of 15243.40 and 15314.30. There were 38 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Axis Bank up by 2.52%, Bajaj Finance up by 2.45%, Bharti Airtel up by 2.37%, Bajaj Finserv up by 2.33% and ICICI Bank up by 2.07%. On the flip side, SBI Life Insurance down by 1.11%, Hero MotoCorp down by 1.02%, Grasim Industries down by 0.91%, Dr. Reddys Lab down by 0.74% and Indian Oil Corporation down by 0.68% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading higher; Nikkei 225 surged 514.51 points or 1.74% to 30,034.58, Jakarta Composite soared 51.31 points or 0.82% to 6,273.83, KOSPI rose 49.70 points or 1.6% to 3,150.28 and Straits Times advanced 12.52 points or 0.43% to 2,938.00.