Bourses manage to keep heads in green terrain

Indian equity benchmarks managed to keep heads in green terrain in morning session, tracking gains in index majors Tech Mahindra, HCL Technologies and Mahindra & Mahindra. Sentiments remained positive with Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry Secretary Durga Shanker Mishra’s statement that the real estate sector which has been stressed for quite some time now has started showing signs of improvement since the first quarter of the current fiscal (Q1FY22) and its contribution to the country's Gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to reach 10 percent by 2025 from the current 7 percent. Some support also came with private report stated that the easing of restrictions on economic activity coupled with the increasing focus on ramping up operations and sales by businesses is having a positive impact on the hiring of freshers. Meanwhile, Parliament informed that around 1.09 crore MSME borrowers have been provided with guarantee support of Rs 1.65 lakh crore under Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS).

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red, ignoring the broadly positive cues overnight from Wall Street, as traders are concerned about the continued restrictions in economic activity amid the spike in the recent fresh wave of COVID-19 infections. Back home, on the sectoral front, Auto component industry’s stocks remained in watch ICRA said the Indian auto component industry is expected to report 20 to 23 per cent revenue growth in FY2022, supported by strong exports demand, and recovery in domestic original equipment and aftermarket segments.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 52707.21, up by 54.14 points or 0.10% after trading in a range of 52555.39 and 52799.67. There were 16 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.46%, while Small cap index was up by 0.78%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Auto up by 1.76%, Utilities up by 1.24%, Power up by 1.07%, Industrials up by 0.95% and IT up by 0.83%, while Bankex down by 0.59% and Telecom down by 0.53% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tech Mahindra up by 9.20%, HCL Technologies up by 3.10%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.97%, Power Grid Corporation up by 2.84% and Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 1.65%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finserv down by 2.37%, SBI down by 1.71%, Bajaj Finance down by 1.32%, ICICI Bank down by 1.09% and Bharti Airtel down by 1.07% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry Secretary Durga Shanker Mishra has said that the real estate sector which has been stressed for quite some time now has started showing signs of improvement since the first quarter of the current fiscal (Q1FY22) and its contribution to the country's Gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to reach 10 percent by 2025 from the current 7 percent.

The Secretary has stated that the sector in India is set to be valued at $1 trillion in the next few years as the country aims at $5 trillion economy. He also said that the National Urban Digital Mission has taken up steps to connect nearly 2,535 cities across India to improve connectivity.

Mishra said that construction of 725 kilometres of metro railway tracks has been completed while 1,060 kilometres of tracks are being constructed in 18 cities. He noted that one lakh houses in urban areas were constructed last year to provide rental accommodation to poor street vendors and migrant workers.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 15807.55, up by 29.10 points or 0.18% after trading in a range of 15744.85 and 15823.25. There were 33 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tech Mahindra up by 9.12%, HCL Technologies up by 3.18%, Power Grid Corporation up by 2.87%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.76% and Tata Motors up by 2.27%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finserv down by 2.30%, SBI Life Insurance down by 1.88%, SBI down by 1.65%, Bajaj Finance down by 1.37% and ICICI Bank down by 1.09% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Hang Seng decreased 577.71 points or 2.2% to 25,737.61, Nikkei 225 slipped 488.01 points or 1.76% to 27,294.41, Taiwan Weighted dropped 92.95 points or 0.53% to 17,309.86, KOSPI fell 37.17 points or 1.15% to 3,205.48 and Shanghai Composite declined 21.83 points or 0.64% to 3,389.89.

On the flip side, Straits Times advanced 2.05 points or 0.06% to 3,182.66 and Jakarta Composite soared 14.84 points or 0.24% to 6,135.57.