Markets cut some gains in late morning session

Indian equity benchmarks cut some of their gains in late morning session but remained higher, with both Sensex and Nifty trading in green terrain, despite negative cues from other Asian markets. Sentiments were positive, after the Ministry of Health said that more than 51.66 crore vaccine doses have been provided to states and union territories so far, through all sources and a further 55,52,070 doses are in the pipeline. Out of the 51.66 crore doses, over 2.29 crore balance and unutilised Covid-19 vaccine doses are still available with the states and union territories and private hospitals to be administered, the ministry said. Besides, to develop and strengthen the corporate bond segment, regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is contemplating the creation of a set of ‘market makers’.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red, after consumer prices in China were up 1.0 percent on year in July, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Monday. That exceeded expectations for an increase of 0.8 percent and was down from 1.1 percent in June. On a monthly basis, consumer prices rose 0.3 percent - again topping forecasts for 0.2 percent following the 0.4 percent contraction in the previous month.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 54402.92, up by 125.20 points or 0.23% after trading in a range of 54326.28 and 54584.73. There were 22 stocks advancing against 8 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.68%, while Small cap index was down by 0.38%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Bankex up by 0.50%, FMCG up by 0.17%, IT up by 0.15%, TECK up by 0.12% and Consumer discretionary up by 0.07%, while Oil & Gas down by 0.83%, Power down by 0.77%, Utilities down by 0.71%, Energy down by 0.68% and Telecom down by 0.63% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.47%, Bajaj Finserv up by 1.94%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.52%, Axis Bank up by 1.36% and Indusind Bank up by 1.07%. On the flip side, Reliance Industries down by 0.70%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.70%, Bajaj Finance down by 0.37%, Ultratech Cement down by 0.31% and HDFC down by 0.29% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Services Export Promotion Council (SEPC) has 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. The council also seek incentives from the government. SEPC Chairman Maneck Davar said that in the first quarter of 2021, the exports stood at $54 billion.

He said the increased growth can be attributed to the promising growth figures by sectors such as professional and management consulting services, audio visual and related services, freight transport services, telecommunications, computer and information services during the time of pandemic. Davar said ‘This performance would be better and sustainable if the government continues to incentivise the sector’.

He suggested for notification of SEIS (services exports from India scheme) 2019-20 and announcement of new foreign trade policy without further delay to remove the uncertainties in the minds of exporters. He added ‘The government would need to focus on access and cost of capital, giving industry recognition for few of the sectors, and provide preferential market development grants to expand into new verticals such as charges for intellectual property rights, financial services, entertainment services education, and healthcare’.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 16266.60, up by 28.40 points or 0.17% after trading in a range of 16246.45 and 16320.75. There were 28 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.58%, Bajaj Finserv up by 2.01%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.74%, Axis Bank up by 1.51% and Britannia up by 1.08%. On the flip side, Tata Consumer Products down by 1.28%, SBI Life Insurance down by 0.94%, Hindalco down by 0.93%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.81% and ONGC down by 0.77% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; KOSPI fell 5.67 points or 0.17% to 3,264.69, Jakarta Composite lost 8.87 points or 0.14% to 6,194.56 and Taiwan Weighted dropped 75.51 points or 0.43% to 17,450.77. On the flip side, Hang Seng increased 245.01 points or 0.94% to 26,424.41 and Shanghai Composite gained 32.68 points or 0.94% to 3,490.91.