Sensex, Nifty hold notable gains in late morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks continued their trade in green terrain in late morning session, with both Sensex and Nifty holding notable gains to remain higher. Positive cues from other Asian markets helped key indices to remain in green. Traders were positive, amid a private report stating that calibrated reopening of the economy by states as the number of fresh COVID-19 cases subside increased mobility and aided in a fast-paced increase in an index of business resumption last week. The Nomura India Business Resumption Index rebounded to 76 for the week ended June 13, up from the preceding week's 67.9, a note from the brokerage said. Besides, the finance ministry has asked all ministries and departments to assess the government guarantee requirement for the current fiscal and submit a prioritised list.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green, after Japan's industrial production increased more than estimated in April. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said that industrial production rose a seasonally adjusted 2.9 percent month-on-month in April. In the initial estimate, output increased 2.5 percent. Shipment grew 3.1 percent monthly in April. According to the initial estimate, shipment rose 2.6 percent.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 52785.82, up by 234.29 points or 0.45% after trading in a range of 52671.29 and 52869.51. There were 24 stocks advancing against 6 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.58%, while Small cap index was up by 0.73%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.30%, Oil & Gas up by 1.06%, Consumer discretionary up by 0.98%, Basic Materials up by 0.73% and Bankex up by 0.68%, while Power down by 0.38%, Utilities down by 0.12% and Healthcare down by 0.08% were the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Asian Paints up by 2.39%, ONGC up by 1.96%, Axis Bank up by 1.37%, Indusind Bank up by 1.33% and Tech Mahindra up by 0.85%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finserv down by 0.49%, Bajaj Finance down by 0.19%, Bajaj Auto down by 0.07%, Maruti Suzuki down by 0.07% and HDFC down by 0.01% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, with rising prices of edible oils and protein rich items, India’s retail inflation jumped to a six-month high of 6.3 per cent in May from 4.23 per cent in April. The inflation has breached the comfort level of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The government has asked the Reserve Bank to keep the retail inflation at 4 per cent with a margin of 2 per cent on either side. CPI inflation has breached the upper band of the inflation target about 10 times since the first meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), which decides the key interest rate, in October 2016. Besides, food inflation soared from 1.96 per cent to 5.01 per cent in May.

The National Statistical Office (NSO) under Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation in its data has showed that the Rural CPI (General) in May 2021 stood at 6.48 per cent as against 3.75 per cent in April. The Urban CPI (General) stood at 6.04 per cent in May as against 4.71 per cent in April. The index value for Rural, Urban and Combined CPI (General) stood at 161.0, 159.7 and 160.4, respectively, in May 2021.

As per the data on CPI, the steepest price rise was witnessed in the 'oils and fat' segment, which on an annual basis showed an increase of 30.84 per cent. The May CPI data released by the NSO further revealed that the rate of price rise in 'meat and fish', 'egg', 'fruits', and 'pulses and products' stood at 9.03 per cent, 15.16 per cent, 11.98 per cent, and 9.39 per cent, respectively. The rate of price rise in the 'fuel and light' category quickened to 11.58 per cent.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 15875.90, up by 64.05 points or 0.41% after trading in a range of 15842.40 and 15901.60. There were 39 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Asian Paints up by 2.31%, ONGC up by 2.04%, Axis Bank up by 1.32%, Indusind Bank up by 1.27% and Tata Steel up by 1.18%. On the flip side, Divis Lab down by 1.21%, Coal India down by 0.78%, Bajaj Finserv down by 0.67%, Adani Ports & SEZ down by 0.42% and Cipla down by 0.40% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Taiwan Weighted strengthened 146.14 points or 0.85% to 17,359.66, KOSPI rose 4.42 points or 0.14% to 3,256.55, Nikkei 225 surged 289.64 points or 0.99% to 29,451.44 and Straits Times advanced 23.66 points or 0.75% to 3,176.80. On the flip side, Jakarta Composite lost 6.71 points or 0.11% to 6,073.67, Shanghai Composite declined 35.52 points or 0.99% to 3,554.23 and Hang Seng decreased 220.56 points or 0.76% to 28,621.57.