Markets trade firm in early deals; Auto, Bankex lead

Indian equity benchmarks made optimistic start on Monday amid mixed global cues. Markets are trading firm in early deals with gains of around half a percent each on account of buying in Auto, Bankex and Consumer discretionary stocks. Sentiments got a boost as referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's target of $400 billion in exports this year, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) called it attainable, given the current global situation of post-pandemic economic recovery and rising competitiveness of Indian goods. More optimism came in as easing more Covid-19 restrictions, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said Mumbai's local trains will be open from August 15 to fully vaccinated people 14 days after their second jab. Besides, seeking incentives from the government, the Services Export Promotion Council (SEPC) said services exports have been recording healthy growth rate consistently and are expected to grow by 28 per cent in 2021-22 to take the exports to nearly $ 266 billion.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed following the mixed cues from Wall Street on Friday as traders are optimistic about a faster pace of the global economic recovery on better than expected US jobs data. However, the upside is limited amid continued concerns about the rapid spread of the highly contagious coronavirus variants in the region. Meanwhile, China and Singapore markets are closed for holiday.

Back home, power stocks were in focus as according to power ministry data India's power consumption grew 9.3 per cent in the first week of August to 28.08 billion units (BU) due to improved economic activities after easing of lockdown curbs by states. In scrip specific development, Bank of Baroda traded higher as it reported a net profit of Rs 1,280.6 crore in Q1FY22 against a loss of Rs 864.3 crore in Q1FY21. Net interest income rose to Rs 7,891.9 crore from Rs 6,816.1 crore, YoY. Besides, Rolex Rings, whose Rs 731-crore IPO got over 130 times subscription, will make its stock market debut on August 9, 2021.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 54532.17, up by 254.45 points or 0.47% after trading in a range of 54336.86 and 54540.90. There were 26 stocks advancing against 4 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index lost 0.21%, while Small cap index was up by 0.21%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Auto up by 0.75%, Bankex up by 0.72%, Consumer discretionary up by 0.63%, Telecom up by 0.55%, TECK up by 0.47%, while Metal down by 0.73%, Energy down by 0.47%, Power down by 0.38%, Oil & Gas down by 0.31%, Utilities down by 0.24% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.41%, Bajaj Finserv up by 1.60%, Indusind Bank up by 1.59%, Asian Paints up by 1.49% and Tech Mahindra up by 1.46%. On the flip side, Reliance Industries down by 0.51%, Tata Steel down by 0.35%, Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 0.28% and Sun Pharma down by 0.16% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's target of $400 billion in exports this year, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has called it 'attainable', given the current global situation of post-pandemic economic recovery and rising competitiveness of Indian goods. CII said the strategy for exports along with taking all players on board would yield notable outcomes with the comprehensive policy announcements and will help India take a winning leap forward as a $5 trillion economy in the near future.

Director-General of CII -- Chandrajit Banerjee said the PM has set an aspirational, but very much attainable target of $400 billion in exports for the year. At the current juncture when global value chains are in flux, the multifold strategies to promote exports coupled with a whole-of-government approach make this a moment for India to seize. The draft National Logistic Policy, boost for project exports and enhancing export insurance cover offer significant encouragement to catalyse exports to new peaks.

Besides, lauding the Central government for its efforts to foster globally competitive firms, he said ‘Over the recent few years, the Government of India has been at the forefront in creating a conducive regulatory environment that fosters globally competitive firms. Several reform initiatives have been introduced in the domain of trade and investment which have been the key to enhance the export potential of the Indian economy. The Government has been very proactive during the lockdown period and has extended all possible help and support to the industry as a whole and exporters in particular. Industry concerns were resolved on an almost real-time basis.’

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 16303.15, up by 64.95 points or 0.40% after trading in a range of 16246.45 and 16308.70. There were 38 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.63%, Bajaj Finserv up by 1.99%, Indusind Bank up by 1.61%, Asian Paints up by 1.50% and Tech Mahindra up by 1.49%. On the flip side, Hindalco down by 2.35%, JSW Steel down by 1.12%, Cipla down by 0.83%, Divi's Lab down by 0.77% and Tata Consumer Products down by 0.62% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; Hang Seng surged 243.24 points or 0.93% to 26,422.64, KOSPI added 2.42 points or 0.07% to 3,272.78 and Shanghai Composite was up by 32.68 points or 0.94% to 3,490.91. On the other hand, Taiwan Weighted lost 46.20 points or 0.26% to 17,480.08 and Jakarta Composite fell 1.32 points or 0.02% to 6,202.11