Sensex continue trade in positive territory

The Indian equity benchmark -- Sensex continued its trade in positive territory in late afternoon session. The broader indices, BSE Mid cap index and Small cap index are also trading in green. The cash and futures markets of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) shut following a technical glitch. However, on the BSE some buying seen in the PSU, Bankex and Energy sectors. Sentiments remained upbeat with a private report that India's GDP may turn positive at 1.3 percent in the third quarter of 2020-21, having witnessed contraction in the previous two quarters due to the coronavirus pandemic, as the number of cases is falling and public spending has started rising. Sector wise, agriculture sector remained in focus, as agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar has said to boost agriculture production and farmers' income, the government has taken several measures in the last six-and-a-half years. He added that the provision of Rs 16.5 lakh crore for the farm loan in the general budget will help in solving the cash crunch of farmers.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red, as recent climb in US bond yields put high valuations of growth stocks under pressure. European markets were trading mostly in green as markets digest remarks from U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and promising German data.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 49984.09, up by 232.68 points or 0.47% after trading in a range of 49736.97 and 50248.81. There were 18 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.45%, while Small cap index was up by 0.61%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were PSU up by 1.17%, Bankex up by 0.99%, Energy up by 0.97%, Telecom up by 0.89% and Consumer Durables was up by 0.88%, while IT down by 0.74%, TECK down by 0.44%, Healthcare down by 0.17%, Utilities down by 0.15% and Metal was down by 0.13% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were SBI up by 2.05%, HDFC Bank up by 2.05%, Bajaj Finserv up by 1.92%, Axis Bank up by 1.75% and Bajaj Finance up by 1.54%. On the flip side, TCS down by 1.28%, Sun Pharma down by 1.00%, Infosys down by 0.88%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.78% and NTPC down by 0.72% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the commerce ministry in its latest report has showed that India's exports to China has increased by 16.15 per cent to $20.87 billion in 2020 from $17.9 billion in the previous year on account of healthy growth in the shipments of ores, iron and steel, aluminum and copper.

As per the report, trade deficit with China has declined 19.39 per cent from $56.95 billion in 2019 to $45.91 billion in 2020 as the country's imports from the neighbouring country contracted 10.87 per cent to $66.78 billion from $74.92 billion in 2019.

The report further said that in the agriculture sector, the main export commodities which recorded healthy growth includes cane sugar, soybean oil, and vegetables fats and oils. However, the exports of mangoes, fish oil, tea, and fresh grapes declined.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red, Hang Seng decreased 914.40 points or 2.99% to 29,718.24, Nikkei 225 slipped 484.33 points or 1.61% to 29,671.70, Taiwan Weighted dropped 230.87 points or 1.4% to 16,212.53, KOSPI fell 75.11 points or 2.45% to 2,994.98, Shanghai Composite declined 72.28 points or 1.99% to 3,564.08 and Jakarta Composite was down by 21.76 points or 0.35% to 6,251.05. On the flip side, Straits Times was up by 37.59 points or 1.3% to 2,928.29.

European markets were trading mostly in green, France’s CAC increased 5.41 points or 0.09% to 5,785.25 and Germany’s DAX was up by 68.83 points or 0.5% to 13,933.64. On the flip side, UK’s FTSE 100 was down by 41.96 points or 0.63% to 6,583.98.