Key indices add gains in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks regained momentum and traded around half a percent higher in Wednesday's morning deals, led by gains in index majors Titan Company, Bajaj Finserv and Infosys amid a largely positive trend in Asian markets. Traders took some encouragement with Industry chamber -- Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) stating that healthy flow of foreign direct investments (FDI) into the country corroborates India’s status as a preferred investment destination among global investors. FDI into the country grew 19 per cent to $59.64 billion during 2020-21. Traders overlooked SBI research report 'Ecowrap' stating that India’s Gross domestic product (GDP) is likely to grow at 1.3 percent (with downward bias) in the fourth quarter of 2020-21 as against NSO (National Statistical Office) projection of a negative (-)1 percent. It also expects GDP decline for the full year (FY 2020-21) to be around 7.3 percent as compared to its earlier prediction of minus 7.4 percent.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green after U.S. Federal Reserve officials reaffirmed a dovish monetary policy stance, providing yet more assurance to investors worried about the inflation outlook. Back home, on the sectoral front, there was some reaction in agriculture related industry stocks as the agriculture ministry said India's foodgrain production is estimated to rise 2.66 per cent to a new record of 305.43 million tonnes in the current crop year 2020-21, on better output of rice, wheat and pulses amid good monsoon rains last year.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 50858.30, up by 220.77 points or 0.44% after trading in a range of 50620.45 and 50901.18. There were 24 stocks advancing against 6 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.15%, while Small cap index was up by 0.86%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.50%, IT up by 0.97%, TECK up by 0.94%, Consumer Durables up by 0.84% and Consumer discretionary up by 0.79%, while Power down by 1.55%, Metal down by 1.11% and Utilities down by 1.08% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Titan Company up by 2.41%, Bajaj Finserv up by 1.57%, Infosys up by 1.19%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.17% and Sun Pharma up by 1.06%. On the flip side, Power Grid down by 2.10%, Nestle down by 0.58%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.29%, HDFC Bank down by 0.25% and NTPC down by 0.09% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, SBI research report 'Ecowrap' has said that India’s Gross domestic product (GDP) is likely to grow at 1.3 percent (with downward bias) in the fourth quarter of 2020-21 as against NSO (National Statistical Office) projection of a negative (-)1 percent. It also expects GDP decline for the full year (FY 2020-21) to be around 7.3 percent as compared to its earlier prediction of minus 7.4 percent.

According to the report, going by the estimate of 1.3 percent GDP growth, India would still be the fifth-fastest-growing country among 25 nations that have released their GDP numbers so far. It said one likely consequence of any upward revision in FY21 estimates is a concomitant decline in FY22 GDP estimates. Its estimates now indicate that there might be nominal GDP loss of up to Rs 6 lakh crore during Q1 FY22 as compared to loss of Rs 11 lakh crore in Q1 FY21.

The research report further said Real GDP loss would be in the range of Rs 4-4.5 lakh crore and, hence, real GDP growth would be in the range of 10-15 percent (as against RBI forecast of 26.2 per cent).

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 15279.15, up by 70.70 points or 0.46% after trading in a range of 15194.95 and 15280.00. There were 38 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining, while 1 stock remain unchanged on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Grasim Industries up by 3.13%, Titan Company up by 2.47%, UPL up by 1.66%, Bajaj Finserv up by 1.53% and Indian Oil Corp. up by 1.31%. On the flip side, JSW Steel down by 2.12%, Power Grid down by 2.02%, Tata Steel down by 1.56%, Hindalco down by 0.60% and Nestle down by 0.43% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 surged 95.23 points or 0.33% to 28,649.21, Shanghai Composite gained 10.34 points or 0.29% to 3,591.68 and Hang Seng increased 206.32 points or 0.71% to 29,117.18.

On the flip side, Taiwan Weighted dropped 2.88 points or 0.02% to 16,592.79 and KOSPI fell 2.99 points or 0.09% to 3,168.33.