Bourses add gains in late afternoon session

Indian equity markets added gains in the late afternoon session on account of buying in front line counters. The broader indices, BSE Mid cap index and BSE Mid cap index are also trading in green. Traders remained optimistic despite Fitch Solutions said that India is likely to breach its fiscal deficit target in the financial year to March 2022 mainly due to revenue shortfall. The government is targeting a deficit between revenue it earns and what it spends at 6.8 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP) in FY22 (April 2021 to March 2022). Fitch Solutions forecasts the Indian central government deficit to come in at 8.3 per cent of GDP in FY22. Meanwhile, in order to support economic growth amid the re-emergence of COVID-19 cases, Industry Chamber PHDCCI has suggested the government to announce a substantial stimulus package including banning steel exports to China.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed even as positive Chinese data boosted optimism about the global economic outlook. European markets were trading mostly in green as strong economic data from Germany and other major economies as well as upbeat earnings underpinned hopes of a swift economic recovery from the pandemic shock.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 49246.22, up by 296.46 points or 0.61% after trading in a range of 49036.38 and 49417.64. There were 24 stocks advancing against 6 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.07%, while Small cap index was up by 0.40%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 5.10%, Basic Materials up by 2.02%, Telecom up by 1.29%, Utilities up by 1.03% and Power was up by 0.97%, while Capital Goods down by 0.26% and Consumer Durables was down by 0.06% were the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.59%, Bharti Airtel up by 2.27%, NTPC up by 2.23%, HDFC up by 2.22% and ITC up by 1.41%. On the flip side, Bajaj Auto down by 1.24%, Bajaj Finance down by 0.70%, Infosys down by 0.43%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.22% and ICICI Bank down by 0.16% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, amid revenue shortfall, Fitch Solutions in its latest report has said that India is likely to breach its fiscal deficit target in the financial year to March 2022. The government is targeting a deficit between revenue it earns and what it spends at 6.8 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP) in FY22 (April 2021 to March 2022). Fitch Solutions forecasts the Indian central government deficit to come in at 8.3 per cent of GDP in FY22. It had previously projected a fiscal deficit of 8 per cent.

As per the report, central government expenditure is likely to be around the project of Rs 34.8 lakh crore as it looks to maintain its high pandemic-period spending so as to bolster pace of economic recovery. Against this, revenue are likely to come in at Rs 16.5 lakh crore, down from government estimate of Rs 17.8 lakh crore on the back of an impaired outlook for India's economic recovery in FY22 as a result of the ongoing health crisis. It did not expect the government to significantly expand spending beyond what has been budgeted.

Besides, Fitch Solutions noted that its less optimistic view on the Indian economy was also reflected in its real GDP growth forecast of 9.5 per cent in FY22, a full percentage point below the government's 10.5 per cent projection.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 14833.80, up by 109.00 points or 0.74% after trading in a range of 14765.50 and 14863.05. There were 37 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Steel up by 6.65%, Adani Ports up by 4.44%, Hindalco up by 4.16%, JSW Steel up by 3.30% and SBI Life up by 3.01%. On the flip side, Tata Consumer down by 2.96%, Hero MotoCorp down by 1.54%, Bajaj Auto down by 1.27%, Bajaj Finance down by 0.74% and Eicher Motors down by 0.63% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 290.64 points or 1.71% to 17,285.00, Straits Times advanced 28.60 points or 0.9% to 3,201.60, Nikkei 225 surged 26.45 points or 0.09% to 29,357.82 and KOSPI was up by 18.46 points or 0.58% to 3,197.20. On the flip side, Shanghai Composite declined 22.41 points or 0.65% to 3,418.87, Hang Seng decreased 26.81 points or 0.09% to 28,610.65 and Jakarta Composite was down by 41.93 points or 0.7% to 5,928.31.

European markets were trading mostly in green, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 29.33 points or 0.41% to 7,105.50 and Germany’s DAX was up by 135.59 points or 0.89% to 15,332.33. On the flip side, France’s CAC was down by 1.27 points or 0.02% to 6,355.82.