Key indices trade flat with positive bias in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks traded flat with a positive bias in Tuesday's morning deals, in the absence of sufficient cues from the global markets. Traders took some support with private report that business resumption activity continued to increase for the sixth straight week after the second wave-induced lockdowns started getting lifted. It noted that the Nomura India Business Resumption Index (NIBRI) rose up to 91.3 for the week ended June 4, from 86.3 the previous week, and is only 8.7 percentage points (pp) below pre-pandemic levels and 3.6 pp below pre-second wave level. Traders also took a note of the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) statement that the first purchase of government securities for an aggregate amount of Rs 20,000 crore under the G-sec Acquisition Programme (G-SAP 2.0) will be conducted on July 8, 2021. The RBI will purchase five government securities of different maturities through a multi-security auction using the multiple price method.  Meanwhile, the government has decided not to impose anti-dumping on imports of certain copper products, used in the electrical industry, from China, Thailand, Korea and three other countries.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green ahead of a key decision by Australia's central bank on its quantitative easing programme and despite ongoing concerns over the future regulation of China's powerful technology sector. Back home, on the sectoral front, stocks related to telecom sector remained in focus as Telecom department's apex body the Digital Communications Commission (DCC) has cleared a provision of using satellite connectivity in telecom networks to provide services in remote areas where it is difficult to lay optical fibre network.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 52896.68, up by 16.68 points or 0.03% after trading in a range of 52805.88 and 52984.71. There were 13 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.74%, while Small cap index was up by 0.55%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Basic Materials up by 0.99%, Power up by 0.95%, Industrials up by 0.78%, Oil & Gas up by 0.75% and Consumer Durables up by 0.66%, while IT down by 0.48%, TECK down by 0.39%, Energy down by 0.33%, Metal down by 0.28% and FMCG down by 0.14% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Ultratech Cement up by 3.47%, HDFC Bank up by 1.20%, Titan Company up by 0.96%, Indusind Bank up by 0.76% and Bajaj Finance up by 0.56%. On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 1.47%, NTPC down by 0.72%, Nestle down by 0.70%, Reliance Industries down by 0.70% and TCS down by 0.69% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has said that the first purchase of government securities for an aggregate amount of Rs 20,000 crore under the G-sec Acquisition Programme (G-SAP 2.0) will be conducted on July 8, 2021. The RBI will purchase five government securities of different maturities through a multi-security auction using the multiple price method.

The RBI said it reserves the right to decide on the quantum of purchase of individual securities, and purchase marginally higher/lower than the aggregate amount due to rounding-off. The result of the auctions will be announced on the same day. The next purchase under G-SAP 2.0 will be conducted on July 22 for Rs 20,000 crore.

The RBI had conducted open market purchase of government securities of Rs 1 lakh crore under the G-SAP 1.0 in first quarter of the financial year 2021-22. On June 4, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das had announced that the central bank will conduct open market purchase of government securities of Rs 1.2 lakh crore under the G-SAP 2.0 in the second quarter of 2021-22 to support the market.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 15853.75, up by 19.40 points or 0.12% after trading in a range of 15808.70 and 15875.60. There were 27 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Ultratech Cement up by 3.42%, Shree Cement up by 3.06%, Adani Ports &SEZ up by 2.14%, Grasim Industries up by 1.84% and ONGC up by 1.82%. On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 1.48%, Tata Consumer Product down by 0.89%, Wipro down by 0.80%, NTPC down by 0.76% and Nestle down by 0.72% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 surged 80.84 points or 0.28% to 28,679.03, Straits Times advanced 37.11 points or 1.18% to 3,178.13, Jakarta Composite soared 30.71 points or 0.51% to 6,036.32, KOSPI rose 12.81 points or 0.39% to 3,306.02 and Taiwan Weighted strengthened 6.70 points or 0.04% to 17,926.03.

On the flip side, Shanghai Composite declined 18.68 points or 0.53% to 3,515.64 and Hang Seng decreased 163.27 points or 0.58% to 27,980.23.