Bourses maintain upward momentum in the late afternoon session

Indian equity markets maintained their upward momentum in the late afternoon session, following gains in Capital Goods, IT and Industrials stocks. Sentiments remained upbeat after ICRA Ratings in its latest survey has said that around 42 percent of non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) expect a growth of more than 15 per cent in their asset under management (AUM) in fiscal 2021-22. It said NBFCs growth expectations have moderated vis-a-vis the expectations six months earlier. This follows the possible impact of Covid 2.0 on business in Q1 FY2022. Sector wise, shipping sector remained in focus, as Union Cabinet has approved a scheme to provide Rs 1,624 crore over five years as subsidy to Indian shipping companies in global tenders floated by ministries and Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) for import of government cargo.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green after China released a raft of key data indicating solid but slowing growth while the Federal Reserve chief said the US central bank would maintain its stimulus until the recovery was well under way. European markets were trading mostly in red as lower crude prices hit oil stocks, while Siemens Energy’s margin outlook weighed on wind energy companies.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 53,247.95, up by 343.90 points or 0.65% after trading in a range of 52948.43 and 53253.20. There were 16 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.32%, while Small cap index was up by 0.44%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Capital Goods up by 1.97%, IT up by 1.38%, Industrials up by 1.04%, Metal up by 1.01% and Realty was up by 0.92%, while Oil & Gas down by 0.73%, Telecom down by 0.55%, PSU down by 0.36%, Auto down by 0.31% and Healthcare was down by 0.21% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were HCL Tech up by 5.53%, Larsen & Toubro up by 4.18%, Tech Mahindra up by 3.52%, HDFC Bank up by 1.76% and ITC up by 1.49%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 0.62%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.55%, Asian Paints down by 0.53%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.47% and Sun Pharma down by 0.39% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Union Cabinet has approved a scheme to provide Rs 1,624 crore over five years as subsidy to Indian shipping companies in global tenders floated by ministries and Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) for import of government cargo. Registration shall be done online within 72 hours like the world's best ships registries and this will make it easy and attractive to register ships in India and thereby aid in boosting the Indian tonnage.

In addition to this, it is intended to provide 30 days to any in-flagging vessel to replace the crew on board with Indian crew. In order to address the cost disadvantage suffered by Indian flag ships, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has in her Union Budget for 2021-22 speech had announced a scheme providing Rs 1,624 crore over five years to promote flagging of merchant ships in India by providing subsidy support to Indian shipping companies in global tenders floated by ministries and CPSEs.

The steps are also being taken to rationalize the manning requirements on the ships by aligning them with international standards. It pointed out that despite having a 7,500 km long coastline, a significant national exim trade that is steadily growing on an annual basis, a policy of 100 per cent FDI in shipping since 1997 and Indian shipping industry and India's national fleet is proportionately small when compared with its global counterparts.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 15946.10, up by 92.15 points or 0.58% after trading in a range of 15855.00 and 15951.25. There were 27 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were HCL Tech up by 5.35%, Larsen & Toubro up by 4.16%, Tech Mahindra up by 3.57%, Hindalco up by 2.48% and Wipro up by 2.16%. On the flip side, ONGC down by 3.31%, Eicher Motors down by 1.17%, Coal India down by 1.11%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.65% and Indian Oil down by 0.61% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green, Hang Seng increased 208.81 points or 0.75% to 27,996.27, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 188.44 points or 1.06% to 18,034.19, Jakarta Composite soared 67.53 points or 1.13% to 6,046.75, Shanghai Composite gained 36.09 points or 1.02% to 3,564.59 and KOSPI was up by 21.41 points or 0.66% to 3,286.22. On the flip side, Straits Times trembled 14.85 points or 0.47% to 3,138.30 and Nikkei 225 was down by 329.40 points or 1.15% to 28,279.09.

European markets were trading mostly in red, France’s CAC decreased 7.07 points or 0.11% to 6,551.31 and Germany’s DAX was down by 74.57 points or 0.47% to 15,714.41. On the flip side, UK’s FTSE 100 was up by 15.06 points or 0.21% to 7,106.25.