Markets add gains in late afternoon session

Indian equity markets added some gains in late afternoon session, with the Sensex and the Nifty gaining above 200 and 50 points, respectively. Traders found support with private report that employees in India will see bigger pay rises next fiscal year as firms expect to emerge from lockdowns and the supply of applicants lags demand. Besides, India has significantly improved its ranking in terms of trade facilitation due to various reforms undertaken by various departments especially customs under the Central Board of Indirect Taxes (CBIC). A finance ministry statement said India has scored 90.32 per cent in United Nation's Economic and Social Commission for Asia Pacific's (UNESCAP) latest Global Survey on Digital and Sustainable Trade Facilitation. On the global front, Asian markets were trading in red, as investors struggled to maintain a global rally into a third day despite another batch of healthy corporate earnings, with the Delta variant continuing to cast a shadow across trading floors. However, European markets were trading higher, helped by a supportive tone from the European Central Bank and more positive quarterly corporate earnings.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 53046.15, up by 208.94 points or 0.40% after trading in a range of 52653.77 and 53114.70. There were 22 stocks advancing against 8 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.05%, while Small cap index was up by 0.22%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.11%, Bankex up by 0.93%, FMCG up by 0.80%, IT up by 0.58% and TECK was up by 0.49%, while Capital Goods down by 0.62%, Industrials down by 0.51%, Consumer Durables down by 0.48%, Telecom down by 0.47% and Auto was down by 0.24% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ITC up by 2.78%, ICICI Bank up by 2.39%, Axis Bank up by 1.75%, HCL Tech up by 1.57% and Sun Pharma up by 1.16%. On the flip side, Larsen & Toubro down by 1.68%, Tech Mahindra down by 0.98%, Indusind Bank down by 0.74%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.59% and Asian Paints down by 0.49% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, India has significantly improved its ranking in terms of trade facilitation due to various reforms undertaken by various departments especially customs under the Central Board of Indirect Taxes (CBIC). A finance ministry statement said India has scored 90.32 per cent in United Nation's Economic and Social Commission for Asia Pacific's (UNESCAP) latest Global Survey on Digital and Sustainable Trade Facilitation.

The survey hails this as a remarkable jump from 78.49 per cent in 2019. The Global Survey on Digital and Sustainable Trade Facilitation is conducted every two years by UNESCAP. The 2021 survey includes an assessment of 58 trade facilitation measures covered by the WTO's Trade Facilitation Agreement. After evaluation of 143 economies, the 2021 survey has highlighted India's significant improvement in the scores on all five key indicators... Transparency improved to 100 per cent in 2021 from 93.33 per cent in 2019, formalities rose to 95.83 per cent in 2021 from 87.5 per cent in 2019 while institutional arrangement and cooperation jumped improved to 88.89 per cent in 2021 from 66.67 per cent in 2019.

CBIC has been at forefront of path breaking reforms under the umbrella of 'Turant' Customs to usher in a faceless, paperless and contactless customs by way of a series of reforms. This has had a direct impact in terms of the improvement in the UNESCAP rankings on digital and sustainable trade facilitation.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 15875.85, up by 51.80 points or 0.33% after trading in a range of 15768.40 and 15899.80. There were 30 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ITC up by 2.75%, ICICI Bank up by 2.42%, Wipro up by 2.35%, SBI Life up by 2.16% and Axis Bank up by 1.70%. On the flip side, Tata Motors down by 2.25%, Larsen & Toubro down by 1.61%, Adani Ports down by 1.21%, Grasim Industries down by 1.14% and UPL down by 1.02% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading in red, Hang Seng decreased 401.86 points or 1.45% to 27,321.98, Jakarta Composite lost 35.86 points or 0.58% to 6,101.69, Shanghai Composite declined 24.33 points or 0.68% to 3,550.40 and Straits Times was down by 3.48 points or 0.11% to 3,155.78. On the flip side,Taiwan Weighted strengthened 0.59 points or 0% to 17,572.92 and KOSPI was up by 4.21 points or 0.13% to 3,254.42.

European markets were trading higher, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 52.79 points or 0.76% to 7,021.09, France’s CAC increased 46.91 points or 0.72% to 6,528.50 and Germany’s DAX was up by 93.73 points or 0.6% to 15,608.27.