Domestic indices trade firm in early deals; Nifty nears 15,700 mark

Indian equity benchmarks made optimistic start on Thursday tracking gains in Asian peers. Markets add some gains and trading higher around 0.40% each in early deals on account of buying in all the sector indices led by Metal, Utilities and Healthcare. The third straight day of daily Covid cases below 100,000 gave support to investor sentiment. The country reported 93,896 new infections, taking the total number of confirmed infections in India to 29,182,072 and deaths to 359,695. Adding more optimism, Finance Ministry report stated that faster vaccine coverage and frontloading of fiscal measures announced in this year's budget would be the major factors in boosting the investment and consumption cycles and, in turn, reviving the economy, as economic activities have slowed down amid the second wave of Covid-19 and lockdowns across states.

Global cues remained supportive with all the Asian markets were trading higher ignoring the negative cues overnight from Wall Street, as traders continued to be optimistic about strong economic rebound from the pandemic following increased Covid-19 vaccination rates. Back home, insurance industry stocks were in focus as non-life insurers reported an 11.35 per cent rise in gross direct premium income in May, over the same period last year, which was marred by a nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of the coronavirus. In scrip specific development, Bata India gained despite reporting a 23.3 per cent YoY fall in consolidated net profit at Rs 29.47 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2021.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 52135.66, up by 194.02 points or 0.37% after trading in a range of 51957.92 and 52146.96. There were 24 stocks advancing against 5 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index jumped 0.99%, while Small cap index was up by 1.36%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 1.48%, Utilities up by 1.46%, Healthcare up by 1.15%, Basic Materials up by 1.11%, Power up by 1.10%, while there was no loser.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bajaj Finance up by 1.65%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.42%, Power Grid up by 1.40%, Indusind Bank up by 1.02% and NTPC up by 0.97%. On the flip side, ITC down by 1.46%, Bajaj Auto down by 0.55%, Asian Paints down by 0.54%, Maruti Suzuki down by 0.19% and Axis Bank down by 0.08% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Finance Ministry said it has released third monthly instalment of revenue deficit grant of Rs 9,871 crore to 17 states. With the release of this instalment, total Rs 29,613 crore has been released in the first three months of the current financial year as Post Devolution Revenue Deficit (PDRD) Grant to states.

The Centre provides PDRD grant to states under Article 275 of the Constitution. The grants are released as per the recommendations of the Finance Commission in monthly instalments to meet the gap in Revenue Accounts of states post devolution. The 15th Finance Commission has recommended PDRD grants to 17 states Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttarakhand and West Bengal.

The eligibility of states to receive this grant and the quantum of grant was decided by the Commission based on the gap between assessment of revenue and expenditure of the state. Assessed devolution for financial year 2021-22 was also taken into account by the Commission. The 15th Finance Commission has recommended total PDRD grant of Rs 1,18,452 crore to 17 states in 2021-22. The grant is released to states in 12 monthly instalments.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 15699.90, up by 64.55 points or 0.41% after trading in a range of 15648.50 and 15708.65. There were 40 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Divis Lab up by 2.47%, JSW Steel up by 2.17%, Tata Consumer Products up by 1.69%, Shree Cement up by 1.66% and Tech Mahindra up by 1.53%. On the flip side, ITC down by 1.62%, Bajaj Auto down by 0.66%, Asian Paints down by 0.60%, Eicher Motors down by 0.53% and Adani Ports & SEZ down by 0.39% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading in green; Nikkei 225 surged 108.74 points or 0.38% to 28,969.54, Straits Times rose 16.97 points or 0.54% to 3,170.44, Hang Seng gained 77.13 points or 0.27% to 28,819.76, Taiwan Weighted jumped 104.86 points or 0.62% to 17,071.08, KOSPI added 12.83 points or 0.40% to 3,229.01, Jakarta Composite increased 46.24 points or 0.76% to 6,093.72 and Shanghai Composite was up by 29.32 points or 0.82% to 3,620.72.