Key indices keep head above water in afternoon deals

Local equity benchmarks managed to keep their head above water in afternoon deals with Sensex and Nifty gaining by 50 points and 30 points, respectively. Some solace came in as government allowed import of 17 medical devices for three months with mandatory declarations immediately after custom clearance and before sale of such products in the domestic market. To meet rising demand in the ongoing pandemic, the government has allowed import of medical devices like nebulizer, oxygen concentrators, oxygen cannister, oxygen cylinders, oxygen generators and ventilators. On the sectoral front, AMC stocks were in lime light as SEBI rule that top executives of asset management companies will now be paid 20% of their compensation in units of the schemes that they have a role in or oversight of with a lock-in period of 3 years. This way the goals of the Mutual fund Investors and the Investment managers will be aligned and help India to further deepen the Mutual fund Investor base.

On the global front, Asian shares were trading mixed after the Federal Reserve states that it was too early to consider rolling back emergency support for the economy, and U.S. President Joe Biden proposed an $1.8 trillion stimulus package. Back on street, the BSE Sensex is currently trading at 49784.31, up by 50.47 points or 0.10% after trading in a range of 49535.98 and 50375.77. There were 17 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.09%, while Small cap index was up by 0.22%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 3.12%, Basic Materials up by 1.40%, Energy up by 0.96%, Oil & Gas up by 0.57% and Healthcare was up by 0.51%, while Telecom down by 0.91%, Auto down by 0.39%, FMCG down by 0.36%, Capital Goods down by 0.27%, Consumer Discretionary was down by 0.26% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bajaj Finserv up by 5.11%, Bajaj Finance up by 2.99%, Reliance Industries up by 1.18%, Dr. Reddys Lab up by 1.14% and Axis Bank was up by 0.95%. On the flip side, HCL Tech down by 1.22%, SBI down by 1.18%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.11%, HDFC down by 0.83% and Larsen & Toubro was down by 0.82% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in order to guard domestic players from cheap shipments, India has imposed anti-dumping duty on imports of a chemical used in foam making from four regions, including the EU and Saudi Arabia, for five years. The duty was imposed following recommendation of the commerce ministry’s investigation arm Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR), which conducted a probe into alleged dumping of ‘Toluene Di-Isocynate’ from the EU, Saudi Arabia, Chinese Taipei and the UAE.

According to a notification of the Department of Revenue, the anti-dumping duty imposed under this notification shall be levied for a period of five years (unless revoked, superseded or amended earlier) from the date of imposition of the provisional anti-dumping duty, that is, the December 02, 2020. The duty imposed ranged between $102.05 and $368.2 per tonne.

Toluene Di-Isocyanate (TDI) is a chemical used primarily for flexible foam applications, including furniture, bedding and carpet underlay, as well as packaging. Countries carry out anti-dumping probes to determine whether their domestic industries have been hurt because of a surge in cheap imports. As a counter measure, they impose duties under the multilateral regime of the World Trade Organization (WTO). The duty is aimed at ensuring fair trade practices and creating a level-playing field for domestic producers.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 14895.35, up by 30.80 points or 0.21% after trading in a range of 14814.45 and 15044.35. There were 23 stocks advancing against 27 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were JSW Steel up by 6.65%, Bajaj Finserv up by 5.01%, Tata Steel up by 4.69%, Bajaj Finance up by 3.08% and Hindalco was up by 1.78%. On the flip side, Hero MotoCorp down by 1.41%, HCL Tech down by 1.26%, Eicher Motors down by 1.22%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.21% and SBI was down by 1.20% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; Hang Seng increased 194.15 points or 0.67% to 29,265.49, Shanghai Composite gained 11.62 points or 0.34% to 3,468.69 and Jakarta Composite was up by 37.76 points or 0.63% to 6,012.24. On the flip side; Taiwan Weighted dropped 0.87 points or 0% to 17,566.66 and KOSPI was down by 7.40 points or 0.23% to 3,174.07.