Equity indices continue to trade in fine fettle

Equity benchmark indices continued to trade in fine fettle in the afternoon session on the back of heavy buying in industrials, power and telecom sectors. Sentiments were upbeat as Commerce and Industry Ministry in its latest data has showed that foreign direct investment (FDI) equity inflows into the country grew by 28 percent to $54.18 billion during April-January 2020-21. FDI inflows stood at $42.34 billion during April-January 2019-20. Traders also remain energized as Finance Ministry report has exuded confidence in the Indian economy and termed the economic recovery as resilient citing improvement in high frequency indicators. The Monthly Economic Review for March 2021 released by the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) said that the agricultural sector remains the bright spot of Indian economy with foodgrains production touching 303.3 million tonnes in 2020-21 beating record production levels for the fifth consecutive year in a row.  Among blue chip stocks, Asian Paints was top gainer trading up by 3.28%, while Reliance Industries was top loser down by 0.57%.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed after a Wall Street rally that reflected some optimism about the economy recovering from the pandemic. Back home, in scrip specific developments Burger King India gained as ICRA upgrades long-term rating and Tilaknagar Industries zooms on entering into agreement with PRIPL.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 49389.41, up by 230.09 points or 0.47% after trading in a range of 48936.35 and 49582.26. There were 23 stocks advancing against 7 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 1.03%, while Small cap index was up by 0.97%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Industrials up by 1.53%, Power up by 1.40%, Telecom up by 1.15%, Realty up by 1.12% and Healthcare was up by 1.03%, while there were no losing sectoral indices on the BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Asian Paints up by 3.28%, Dr. Reddys Lab up by 1.52%, Sun Pharma up by 1.36%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.32% and Hindustan Unilever was up by 1.14%. On the flip side, Reliance Industries down by 0.57%, HCL Tech down by 0.34%, Ultratech Cement down by 0.26%, Indusind Bank down by 0.25% and ICICI Bank was down by 0.12% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Ministry of Finance in its latest report has said that Financial Year (FY) 2020-21 witnessed strong Foreign Portfolio Investment (FPI) inflows into the Indian equity markets of Rs 2,74,034 crore, thus, reflecting steadfast confidence of foreign investors in the fundamentals of the Indian Economy. As per the report, the robust FPI flows came on the back of faster than expected economic recovery supported by multiple tranches of innovatively designed stimulus packages.

The Ministry of Finance further noted that the Government and regulators had also undertaken major policy initiatives directed at improving ease of access and investment climate for FPIs in the recent past. These include simplification and rationalisation of the FPI regulatory regime, operationalisation of the online Common Application Form (CAF) for the purpose of registration with SEBI, allotment of PAN and opening of bank and Demat accounts etc.

According to the report, the increase in aggregate FPI investment limit in Indian companies from 24% to the sectoral cap has been a catalyst for increase in weightage of Indian securities in major equity indices, thus mobilising massive equity inflows, both passive and active, into Indian capital markets.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 14722.50, up by 84.70 points or 0.58% after trading in a range of 14573.90 and 14779.10. There were 38 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Adani Ports up by 9.43%, Asian Paints up by 3.31%, UPL up by 3.21%, Tata Consumer Products up by 2.83% and JSW Steel was up by 2.22%. On the flip side, Grasim Industries down by 0.68%, Hero MotoCorp down by 0.45%, Ultratech Cement down by 0.37%, HCL Tech down by 0.35% and Tata Steel was down by 0.32% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; Taiwan Weighted strengthened 168.59 points or 1.02% to 16,739.87, Jakarta Composite soared 27.72 points or 0.46% to 5,998.01 and KOSPI was up by 6.25 points or 0.2% to 3,127.08.

On the other side, Shanghai Composite declined 2.55 points or 0.07% to 3,481.84, Nikkei 225 slipped 392.62 points or 1.3% to 29,696.63 and Straits Times was down by 11.57 points or 0.36% to 3,198.17.