Markets trade higher in early deals; Oil & Gas, Metal lead

Indian equity benchmarks made optimistic start following gains in Asian peers. Markets are trading firm in early deals with gains of around half a percent each on account of buying in all the sector indies led by Oil & Gas, Metal and Telecom stocks. Traders are eyeing the RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das’ unscheduled speech as the nation faces an unrelenting second wave of Covid-19 pandemic. Upbeat earning from several companies added support to the markets. Some support came in with report that Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) received a fresh stock of one lakh COVID vaccine doses and it will resume vaccination of people above 45 years at government vaccination centres. Meanwhile, India reported 382,691 fresh Covid-19 cases. With this, the cumulative caseload stands at 20,658,234, Worldometer showed. Market participants largely overlooked S&P Global Ratings’ statement that an ongoing second wave of COVID-19 infections in India could hurt its near-term economic recovery and possibly diminish growth for the full year. It added that India's COVID wave will inevitably hit the recovery and could push growth below 10%.

Most of the Asian markets were trading in green in thin holiday trading, following the mixed cues overnight from Wall Street, as traders are refraining from making major moves amid the continued surge in coronavirus cases in most of the markets in the region, particularly in India and Japan. Major markets in China, Japan and South Korea are also closed for holidays. Back home, telecom stocks were in focus as the Department of Telecom approved applications of telecom companies -- Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and MTNL -- for conducting 5G trials but none of them will be using technologies of Chinese entities. In scrip specific development, Hikal touched roof after the company signed multi-year contract with a leading global pharmaceutical company.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 48474.85, up by 221.34 points or 0.46% after trading in a range of 48362.16 and 48620.51. There were 24 stocks advancing against 6 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index jumped 0.76%, while Small cap index was up by 0.75%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 1.50%, Metal up by 1.38%, Telecom up by 1.33%, Basic Materials up by 1.25%, PSU up by 1.19%, while there was no loser.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ONGC up by 2.96%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.54%, NTPC up by 1.45%, Titan Company up by 1.40% and Indusind Bank up by 1.31%. On the flip side, HDFC down by 0.41%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.22%, Maruti Suzuki down by 0.15%, Nestle down by 0.12% and Bajaj Auto down by 0.11% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, S&P Global Ratings has said an ongoing second wave of COVID-19 infections in India could hurt its near-term economic recovery and possibly diminish growth for the full year. Shaun Roache, chief economist, Asia Pacific at S&P, said India's COVID wave will inevitably hit the recovery and could push growth below 10%. The longer it takes to regain control, the greater the permanent damage, especially as policy space is limited.

S&P currently has a ‘BBB-' rating on India with a stable outlook, the lowest investment grade and expects India's economy to grow 11% in the year that started April 1 following a projected record contraction of 8% in the previous year. Roche said the shock of the first quarter is likely to carry on through the rest of the year and the impact on the GDP could be around one to three percentage points.

The rating agency said India had been showing strong recovery momentum since September last year and until March/April of 2021 before the massive surge in cases prompted localised lockdowns and mobility restrictions.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 14572.10, up by 75.60 points or 0.52% after trading in a range of 14533.60 and 14608.20. There were 43 stocks advancing against 7 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were UPL up by 3.51%, ONGC up by 2.92%, Grasim Industries up by 2.20%, SBI Life Insurance up by 2.13% and Wipro up by 2.05%. On the flip side, Adani Ports & SEZ down by 3.32%, HDFC down by 0.46%, Bajaj Auto down by 0.22%, Nestle down by 0.20% and Bajaj Finance down by 0.16% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly higher; Hang Seng added 5.71 points or 0.02% to 28,562.85, Taiwan Weighted surged 71.94 points or 0.42% to 17,005.72 and Jakarta Composite rose 13.85 points or 0.23% to 5,977.67, while Straits Times declined 26.82 points or 0.84% to 3,152.31.