Key gauges trade in green terrain in morning deals

Fluctuating between gains and losses in volatile session, Indian equity benchmarks were now trading in green in Monday’s morning deals, as the nationwide decline in Covid cases raised hopes of gradual unlocking by the state governments. Traders took some support with RBI data showed the country's foreign exchange reserves rose by $563 million to reach $590.028 billion in the week ended May 14. Traders also took a note of report that the GST Council is its upcoming meeting, scheduled to be held on May 28, is likely to take a call on levy of 12 per cent tax on import of oxygen concentrators for personal use. However, gains remain capped as some concern came with rating agency ICRA stating that slackening economic momentum driven by the second wave of Covid-19 infections in India has emerged as a concern with bruised sentiment, high healthcare costs and fuel expenses likely to limit discretionary purchases in the immediate term. On the stock-specific front, shares of Natco Pharma rallied over 10 percent after the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) approved the application of five companies including Natco Pharma to begin production of antifungal drug Amphotericin B liposomal injection, used for the treatment of Mucormycosis, also called 'Black Fungus. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green, as investors anxiously awaited a key read on U.S. inflation this week for guidance on monetary policy.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 50712.32, up by 171.84 points or 0.34% after trading in a range of 50465.90 and 50855.32. There were 16 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.51%, while Small cap index was up by 0.61%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Capital Goods up by 1.72%, Power up by 1.67%, Utilities up by 1.09%, Realty up by 1.07% and PSU up by 0.97%, while Metal down by 1.60%, Basic Materials down by 0.80%, Telecom down by 0.52%, Consumer Durables down by 0.45% and FMCG down by 0.34% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were SBI up by 2.69%, Larsen & Toubro up by 2.11%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.74%, Power Grid up by 1.71% and HDFC up by 1.09%. On the flip side, Titan Company down by 1.85%, ONGC down by 1.38%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.95%, Indusind Bank down by 0.92% and Bajaj Finserv down by 0.90% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has approved the transfer of Rs 99,122 crore as surplus to the central government for the accounting period of nine months ended March 31, 2021 (July 2020 to March 2021). The decision to transfer the surplus to the central government was taken at the meeting of the Central Board of Directors of RBI. It has also decided to maintain the Contingency Risk Buffer at 5.50 per cent.

As the manager of government finances, the RBI pays a dividend every year from its surplus profit. Last year, it transferred 44 per cent of its surplus to the Central government at Rs 57,128 crore. With the change in the Reserve Bank's accounting year to April-March (earlier July-June), the Board discussed the working of the RBI during the transition period of nine months (July 2020-March 2021).

The RBI Board also reviewed the current economic situation, global and domestic challenges and recent policy measures taken by the Reserve Bank to mitigate the adverse impact of the second wave of COVID-19 on the economy.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 15213.00, up by 37.70 points or 0.25% after trading in a range of 15145.45 and 15251.90. There were 25 stocks advancing against 25 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Hero MotoCorp up by 2.48%, SBI up by 2.48%, Larsen & Toubro up by 2.17%, Indian Oil Corporation up by 1.97% and Power Grid up by 1.82%. On the flip side, JSW Steel down by 2.84%, Shree Cement down by 2.58%, Titan Co down by 1.84%, Tata Steel down by 1.81% and ONGC down by 1.37% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 surged 82.51 points or 0.29% to 28,400.34, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 27.74 points or 0.17% to 16,329.80, Straits Times advanced 11.13 points or 0.36% to 3,129.02, Shanghai Composite gained 5.48 points or 0.16% to 3,492.04 and Jakarta Composite soared 4.04 points or 0.07% to 5,777.16.

On the flip side, KOSPI fell 6.21 points or 0.2% to 3,150.21 and Hang Seng decreased 116.34 points or 0.41% to 28,342.10.