Markets trade in fine-fettle in early deals

Indian equity benchmarks extended their previous session’s gains with gap-up opening on Friday tacking firm global cues. markets are trading in fine-fettle with gains of around a percent each in early deals on account of upbeat earning from many companies. Buying in all the sector indices led by Metal, Basic Materials and Bankex also added support to the domestic indices. Traders took encouragement as Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said the Centre decided to increase production of anti-viral drug Remdesivir and it will be provided to people at government's price. Adding more optimism, secretary ministry of Earth Sciences, M Rajeevan said India’s southwest monsoon is expected to arrive over the Kerala coast on June 1, its normal onset date. Though the India Meteorological Department (IMD) will officially announce the 2021 monsoon onset date on May 15. Investors shrugged off concerns that the second wave of coronavirus in the country may delay economic recovery. The International Monetary Fund said the recent jump in COVID-19 cases in India posed downside risks to the Fund's April forecast for 12.5% growth in India's economic output in fiscal years 2021 and 2022. Meanwhile, India reported a record 414,433 new infections and 3,920 deaths on Thursday, according to Worldometer.

Most of the Asian markets were trading higher following the broadly positive cues overnight from Wall Street on better-than-expected weekly labor market data and the ongoing surge in commodity prices. The mood is quite cautious in most of the markets in the region amid doubts about an early economic rebound due to the continuing surge in daily coronavirus in the region and the possibility of lockdowns in several areas.

Back home, power stocks were in limelight as Ind-Ra said restrictions following the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic could impact energy demand growth recovery in the first quarter of this financial year. In scrip specific development, Muthoot Finance advanced after it partnered with fintech NIRA as part of its strategy to strengthen its digital footprint.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 49399.65, up by 449.89 points or 0.92% after trading in a range of 49169.14 and 49417.64. There were 27 stocks advancing against 3 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.17%, while Small cap index was up by 0.58%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 3.11%, Basic Materials up by 1.57%, Bankex up by 1.06%, Energy up by 0.92%, Realty up by 0.77%, while there was no loser.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Indusind Bank up by 2.04%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.64%, Asian Paints up by 1.59%, HDFC up by 1.41% and TCS up by 1.38%. On the flip side, Bajaj Auto down by 0.96%, Power Grid down by 0.39% and Nestle down by 0.10% were the few losers.

Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said the recent jump in COVID-19 cases in India posed downside risks to the Fund's April forecast for 12.5% growth in India's economic output in fiscal years 2021 and 2022. IMF spokesman Gerry Rice said the IMF will revisit that forecast when it issued a fresh World Economic Outlook in July.

He said the developments in India, the world's second most populous nation, would have spillover effects for the region and the global economy, depending on how long the crisis lasted, but it was too soon to give specifics. Rice said ‘We are all watching what is happening in India with concern.’

India, with a population of 1.3 billion people, reported a record 412,262 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday and a record 3,980 deaths, as a second wave of infections swamped its healthcare system. COVID-19 infections in India have surged past 21 million, with a death toll of 230,168.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 14856.45, up by 131.65 points or 0.89% after trading in a range of 14808.10 and 14863.05. There were 42 stocks advancing against 7 stocks declining, while 1 stock  remain unchanged on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Steel up by 3.82%, SBI Life Insurance up by 3.26%, JSW Steel up by 2.63%, Indusind Bank up by 2.04% and Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.69%. On the flip side, Tata Consumer Product down by 5.22%, Hero MotoCorp down by 1.31%, Bajaj Auto down by 0.89%, Power Grid down by 0.35% and BPCL down by 0.29% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 added 21.65 points or 0.07% to 29,353.02, Straits Times jumped 23.84 points or 0.75% to 3,196.84, Hang Seng rose 143.46 points or 0.50% to 28,780.92, Taiwan Weighted surged 180.65 points or 1.06% to 17,175.01, KOSPI advanced 17.64 points or 0.55% to 3,196.38 and Shanghai Composite was up by 14.51 points or 0.42% to 3,455.79, while Jakarta Composite fell 22.53 points or 0.38% to 5,947.71.