Benchmarks trade flat with positive bias after negative start

Indian equity benchmarks halted two-day rally and made negative start on Wednesday following weakness in global peers. But, soon markets wiped out losses and are trading in green with marginal gains in early deals. Buying in Realty, Power and Utilities supporting the indices, whereas selling in Auto, Energy and Metal kept upside in check. Early, cautiousness came as India reported 267,174 fresh Covid-19 cases to take total infections past 26.7 million, according to Worldometer. The country also logged a record 4,525 deaths in the last 24 hours. However, markets erased losses taking support with report that Union Finance Ministry, on the recommendation of the Panchayati Raj Ministry, released Rs 8,923.8 crore to 25 states for providing grant to rural local bodies. The spread of COVID-19 pandemic in different parts of the country has recently assumed serious proportions. The vulnerabilities of the rural communities need to be especially addressed.

On the global front, most of the Asian markets were trading lower following the negative cues overnight from Wall Street, reflecting concerns about acceleration in the rate of inflation and potential monetary policy tightening by the U.S. Federal Reserve. Traders are also cautious and refraining from making major moves amid the continued surge in coronavirus cases in most markets in the region, particularly in India and Japan. The markets in South Korea and Hong Kong are closed for Buddha's birthday and National Day, respectively.

Back home, aviation stocks were in limelight reacting to the Indian aviation regulator DGCA’s data showing that around 57.25 lakh domestic passengers travelled by air in April, which is 26.8 per cent lower than 78.22 lakh who travelled in March. In scrip specific development, Tata Motors plunged after it reported a surprise consolidated net loss of Rs 7,605 crore for the March quarter. Axis Bank edged up slightly amid report that the Specified Undertaking of the Unit Trust of India is selling a little more than half its shareholding in the private sector lender through an offer for sale.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 50232.80, up by 39.47 points or 0.08% after trading in a range of 50015.57 and 50279.01. There were 18 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.70%, while Small cap index was up by 0.63%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.60%, Power up by 1.56%, Utilities up by 1.20%, IT up by 0.86%, Consumer Durables up by 0.83%, while Auto down by 0.67%, Energy down by 0.48%, Metal down by 0.44%, Oil & Gas down by 0.41%, Telecom down by 0.29% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were SBI up by 1.46%, Power Grid up by 1.33%, Ultratech Cement up by 1.16%, Tech Mahindra up by 0.99% and Infosys up by 0.88%. On the flip side, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.54%, ONGC down by 1.25%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.69%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.62% and Bajaj Finserv down by 0.59% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Union Finance Ministry, on the recommendation of the Panchayati Raj Ministry, has released Rs 8,923.8 crore to 25 states for providing grant to rural local bodies. The spread of COVID-19 pandemic in different parts of the country has recently assumed serious proportions. The vulnerabilities of the rural communities need to be especially addressed. The amount released is the first installment of the Basic (Untied) Grants and may be utilized among other things for various prevention and mitigation measures needed to combat the Covid pandemic. The Ministry has also issued advisory for the guidance of Panchayats as regards the action for combating the COVID-19 pandemic, which inter alia includes the following areas.

Intensive communication campaign for the awareness of rural communities on the nature of the COVID-19 infection, and preventive and mitigative measures, in accordance with the advice of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), doctors and medical institutions etc, while especially taking care to dispel false notions and beliefs. The background material and creatives for this awareness campaign may be drawn suitably from the digital repository of health ministry. Providing suitable facilities with necessary protective equipment like finger oxy-meters, N-95 masks, infrared thermal scanning instruments, sanitisers etc.

Display of the information on availability of testing/vaccination centers, doctors, hospital beds etc on real-time basis to facilitate effective utilization of available infrastructure by the rural citizens. To leverage the available IT infrastructure in the Panchayat offices, Schools, Common Service Centers etc. may be leveraged for tracking and information display. To activate the Panchayats to provide the necessary institutional village level support catering to their respective locations. Wherever possible, they may improvise households as home quarantine locations, where maximum of the asymptomatic Covid positive cases can be managed. Additionally they may also set up specific quarantine/isolation centers for the needy and returning migrant labourers. In consultation with the Health Dept, the Panchayats may be designated to facilitate vaccination drives to ensure maximum coverage of eligible population.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 15112.10, up by 4.00 points or 0.03% after trading in a range of 15049.65 and 15133.40. There were 30 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were UPL up by 3.33%, SBI up by 1.47%, Grasim Industries up by 1.34%, Wipro up by 1.24% and Ultratech Cement up by 1.20%. On the flip side, Tata Motors down by 4.84%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.45%, ONGC down by 1.12%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.77% and Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.76% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Nikkei 225 declined 391.56 points or 1.38% to 28,015.28, Straits Times fell 22.07 points or 0.70% to 3,120.56, Jakarta Composite lost 46.49 points or 0.80% to 5,787.90 and Shanghai Composite was up by 14.63 points or 0.41% to 3,514.38, while Taiwan Weighted rose 60.48 points or 0.37% to 16,206.46.