Indian markets maintain upward momentum

Indian equity markets maintained their upward momentum in the afternoon session following gains in auto, power and utilities stocks. Healthy buying was observed in blue-chip stocks like Power Grid, Bajaj Auto and Bajaj Finance. Sentiments perked up as Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) data showed 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. Traders were also getting comfort as the Union health ministry said that more than two crore covid-19 vaccine doses are still available with the states and Union territories, while nearly three lakh doses are in the pipeline and will be received by them within the next three days. On the global front; Asian markets were trading mostly in green amid most of the regions are restarting lockdowns to contain the continued spike in novel coronavirus infections.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 50258.21, up by 677.48 points or 1.37% after trading in a range of 49959.20 and 50295.08. 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 1.82%, while Small cap index was up by 1.34%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Auto up by 2.81%, Power up by 2.59%, Utilities up by 2.21%, Metal up by 2.05% and Consumer Discretionary was up by 1.95%, while Telecom down by 0.89% and FMCG was down by 0.31% were the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Power Grid up by 4.16%, Bajaj Auto up by 4.09%, Bajaj Finance up by 3.81%, Titan Company up by 3.78% and Mahindra & Mahindra was up by 3.26%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 1.68% and ITC was down by 0.78% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, article on the state of economy authored by RBI Deputy Governor M D Patra and other officials said that the resurgence of COVID-19 has dented but not debilitated economic activities in the first half of Q1 of the current fiscal even though caseload of infections is much higher than before. It said the ferocity of the second COVID-19 wave has overwhelmed India and the world and added that war efforts have been mounted to stop the surge in its tracks.

The article has stated that the impact of the second wave on the real economy seems to be limited so far in comparison with the first wave. Evidently, it said the localised nature of lockdowns, better adaptation of people to work from home protocols, online delivery models, e-commerce and digital payments are at work.

As per the article, real economy indicators moderated in April and May, as many states imposed restrictions to arrest the renewed surge in infections. The second wave has intensified in metros/ cities, and relative to the first wave, it has spread rapidly across states, regions, and into rural pockets.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 15120.45, up by 197.30 points or 1.32% after trading in a range of 15043.70 and 15134.40. There were 41 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bajaj Auto up by 4.16%, Power Grid up by 4.03%, Tata Motors up by 3.88%, Bajaj Finance up by 3.74% and Titan Company was up by 3.74%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 1.61%, ITC down by 0.89%, UPL down by 0.82%, Coal India down by 0.47% and Grasim Industries was down by 0.29% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly higher; Taiwan Weighted strengthened 792.09 points or 5.16% to 16,145.98, Nikkei 225 surged 582.01 points or 2.09% to 28,406.84, KOSPI rose 38.53 points or 1.23% to 3,173.05, Hang Seng increased 360.66 points or 1.28% to 28,554.75, Shanghai Composite gained 1.72 points or 0.05% to 3,519.34 and Straits Times was up by 50.49 points or 1.64% to 3,130.18. On the flip side; Jakarta Composite was down by 31.61 points or 0.54% to 5,802.25.