Bourses continue firm trade in late afternoon session

Indian equity markets continued their fine fettle trade in late afternoon session on account of buying in front line counters. The broader indices, BSE Mid cap index and Small cap index were also trading in green. Traders ignored report that S&P Global Ratings has slashed India's Gross domestic product (GDP) growth forecast to 9.5 percent for the current fiscal (FY21), from 11 percent earlier, and warned of risk to the outlook from further waves of COVID pandemic. It lowered the growth outlook saying that a severe second COVID-19 outbreak in April and May led to lockdowns imposed by states and sharp contraction in economic activity. Sector wise, tours and travel industry remained in focused, as ratings agency Crisil has said the tours and travel industry, which was beginning to recover before the second wave of Covid-19 infections began, will now see revenue this fiscal reaching only 35%-40% of the pre-pandemic levels.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green as investors took a breather after the latest rally, while they try to assess when the Federal Reserve will begin to wind down its vast monetary easing programme. European markets were trading higher as investors focused on an economic rebound against the backdrop of fears of a tapering in global monetary stimulus, while Carrefour rose on plans to potentially restructure its foreign units.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 52,668.99, up by 362.91 points or 0.69% after trading in a range of 52385.05 and 52797.76. There were 21 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index declined 0.38%, while Small cap index was down by 0.11%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 2.48%, TECK up by 2.13%, Metal up by 1.01%, Bankex up by 0.98% and Capital Goods was up by 0.46%, while Power down by 1.34%, Oil & Gas down by 1.30%, Utilities down by 1.27%, Energy down by 0.84% and Telecom was down by 0.63% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Infosys up by 3.05%, TCS up by 2.97%, HDFC Bank up by 1.84%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.73% and HCL Tech up by 1.69%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 0.93%, NTPC down by 0.90%, Power Grid down by 0.58%, ITC down by 0.54% and Reliance Industries down by 0.50% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in a big relief, the government has notified the accounting standards for small and medium companies that revise the turnover and borrowing limits as well as help in making disclosure requirements less onerous.

Besides, the definition of Small and Medium Sized Companies (SMCs) under the standards has been revised. The Companies (Accounting Standards) Rules, 2021 have been notified by the corporate affairs ministry under the Companies Act, 2013.

Under the revised SMC definition, the turnover limit has been increased from Rs 50 crore to not exceeding Rs 250 crore and with enhanced borrowing limits. This is in addition to the requirements that such entities should be unlisted companies, which are not banks, financial institutions or insurance companies.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 15,768.30, up by 81.35 points or 0.52% after trading in a range of 15702.70 and 15814.50. There were 28 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Infosys up by 3.24%, TCS up by 3.14%, JSW Steel up by 2.21%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.86% and HDFC Bank up by 1.82%. On the flip side, Adani Ports down by 1.56%, Indian Oil down by 1.24%, Coal India down by 1.18%, Hero MotoCorp down by 1.14% and Reliance Industries down by 1.08% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green, Hang Seng increased 65.39 points or 0.23% to 28,882.46, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 71.25 points or 0.41% to 17,407.96, Straits Times advanced 0.66 points or 0.02% to 3,119.28, KOSPI rose 9.91 points or 0.3% to 3,286.10, Shanghai Composite gained 0.43 points or 0.01% to 3,566.65 and Nikkei 225 was up by 0.34 points or 0% to 28,875.23. On the flip side, Jakarta Composite was down by 22.48 points or 0.37% to 6,012.06.

European markets were trading higher, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 18.11 points or 0.26% to 7,092.17, France’s CAC increased 46.19 points or 0.71% to 6,597.26 and Germany’s DAX was up by 89.92 points or 0.58% to 15,546.31.