Benchmarks trade firm in early deals

Indian equity benchmarks made optimistic start, after coming back from long weekend holiday, on Tuesday tracking gains in Asian peers. Markets are trading firm with gains of over a percent each in early deals on account of buying in almost all the sectors except Realty. Sentiments got a boost with IMF’s statement that India's economy is on the path of gradual recovery, real GDP growth, return to positive territory in fourth quarter of 2020. And that's for the first time actually since the start of the pandemic and it's supported by a pickup in gross, fixed capital formation. Besides, US Trade Representative Katherine Tai, after meeting Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal, said India and the United States will look at ways to expand its trade relations and cooperate on pending bilateral issues. Meanwhile, with 56,119 cases recorded in the last 24 hours, India tally has soared to 12,095,329, Worldometer showed. With active cases hitting 542,353, India is now the 6th-worst hit country. The death toll from the deadly infection jumped to 162,147.

On the global front, most of the Asian markets were trading higher as Wall Street pared earlier losses driven by the banking sector on fears that issues with a defaulting hedge fund could spread throughout the banking sector. Back home, banking stocks were in focus with report that the government is unlikely to take zero-coupon bond route to further recapitalise public sector banks after the Reserve Bank expressed some concerns in this regard. In scrip specific development, JSW Steel rallied 3 percent on reports the company has submitted an expression of interest for Neelachal Ispat Nigam.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 49590.31, up by 581.81 points or 1.19% after trading in a range of 49331.68 and 49628.74. There were 29 stocks advancing against 1 stock declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.92%, while Small cap index was up by 0.86%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 2.27%, Utilities up by 2.08%, Metal up by 1.97%, Healthcare up by 1.82%, FMCG up by 1.65%, while Realty down by 0.61% was the sole losing index on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Titan Company up by 3.28%, Hindustan Unilever up by 3.15%, ONGC up by 2.74%, NTPC up by 2.69% and Power Grid up by 2.42%. On the flip side, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.99% was the sole loser.

Meanwhile, a joint report by consultancy firm EY and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) stated after a tough calendar year 2020, the domestic media and entertainment industry is set to rebound in 2021.

The media and entertainment industry would grow 25 per cent this year to reach Rs 1.73 trillion, covering up for the loss suffered in 2020, when the market shrank 24 per cent due to disruptions induced by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Besides, it said the market would cross the Rs 2.2-trillion-mark by 2023, growing at a compounded annual growth rate of 17 per cent. TV remained the largest segment, while the digital media had overtaken print, and online gaming had overtaken film entertainment.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 14688.15, up by 180.85 points or 1.25% after trading in a range of 14617.60 and 14701.50. There were 48 stocks advancing against 2 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Titan Company up by 3.46%, JSW Steel up by 3.34%, GAIL India up by 3.22%, Hindustan Unilever up by 2.90% and Tata Steel up by 2.88%. On the flip side, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.71% and BPCL down by 0.31% were the only losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 added 3.90 points or 0.01% to 29,388.42, Straits Times rose 21.87 points or 0.69% to 3,197.44, Hang Seng surged 333.04 points or 1.18% to 28,671.34, Taiwan Weighted gained 9.60 points or 0.06% to 16,485.57, KOSPI advanced 34.88 points or 1.15% to 3,070.92, and Shanghai Composite was up by 20.14 points or 0.59% to 3,455.44, while Jakarta Composite lost 77.46 points or 1.26% to 6,089.36.