Indian markets continue positive momentum in morning session

Indian stock markets continued their positive momentum in morning session, tracking similar firm trend in their Asian peers. Besides, another day of dip in daily Covid-19 cases also supported investor sentiment. The strength in the markets was also being supported by the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) data showing that India Inc's foreign investment in the first month of current fiscal (FY22) jumped by more than two-times year-on-year to $2.51 billion. Indian investors had committed $1.21 billion worth of outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) in April 2020. Traders also took a note of an RBI article stating that the double-digit growth registered by non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) during the second and third quarters of 2020-21 amid the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic reflects the 'resilience' of these entities. On the sectoral front, Power industry stocks were in focus as government data showed India's electricity use fell 6.2 per cent during the first half of May compared with the second half of April, as coronavirus lockdowns imposed by states across the country stifled power demand. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green, shrugging off worries about an increase in regional coronavirus infections and a subdued session on Wall Street, while inflation jitters helped push gold prices to three-month highs.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 50070.31, up by 489.58 points or 0.99% after trading in a range of 49959.20 and 50240.10. There were 28 stocks advancing against 2 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 1.45%, while Small cap index was up by 1.15%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Power up by 3.15%, Utilities up by 2.77%, Metal up by 2.52%, PSU up by 1.67% and Capital Goods up by 1.67%, while Telecom down by 0.80% was the lone losing index on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Power Grid up by 4.97%, Bajaj Finance up by 3.66%, Titan Company up by 3.33%, Bajaj Auto up by 2.58% and Bajaj Finserv up by 2.30%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 1.44% and Maruti Suzuki down by 0.02% were the few losers.

Meanwhile, even as new COVID-19 infections have shown a declining trend, Credit rating agency Crisil in its latest report has said that it is ‘too early’ to say that the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic has peaked and flagged concerns over the vaccination drive. It also acknowledged that the new cases have fallen without a dip in testing numbers. It said new cases touched 4.14 lakh on May 6, and have now declined to an average of 3.6 lakh a day for the week ended May 16.

According to the report, while vaccination was opened to all adults two weeks back to battle the fierce second wave, vaccine availability has become a national bottleneck. As a result of this, it said some states have announced a temporary halt to their vaccination drive for the 18-44 age group and prioritised those in the 45 plus bracket, especially the second doses.

On the economic front, the agency said high-frequency indicators have continued to soften and the mobility indicators, in particular, have fallen to June 2020 level.
The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 15083.20, up by 160.05 points or 1.07% after trading in a range of 15043.70 and 15124.50. There were 46 stocks advancing against 4 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Power Grid up by 4.77%, Bajaj Finance up by 3.86%, Titan Company up by 3.45%, Hindalco up by 3.33% and Tata Steel up by 3.26%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 1.14%, Shree Cement down by 0.14%, Tata Consumer Product down by 0.07% and Britannia down by 0.06% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Hang Seng increased 351.11 points or 1.25% to 28,545.20, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 676.48 points or 4.41% to 16,030.37, Shanghai Composite gained 2.86 points or 0.08% to 3,520.48, KOSPI rose 34.82 points or 1.11% to 3,169.34, Straits Times advanced 44.84 points or 1.46% to 3,124.53 and Nikkei 225 surged 627.63 points or 2.26% to 28,452.46.

On the flip side, Jakarta Composite lost 45.18 points or 0.77% to 5,788.68.