Markets trade higher in early deals; Oil & Gas, Metal lead

Indian equity benchmarks extend their previous session’s gaining momentum with optimistic start on Tuesday tracking firm global cues. Markets are trading higher with notable gains in early deals on account of buying in Oil & Gas, Metal and Utilities counters. Sentiments got a boost as Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said foreign direct investments into the country is on the rise, jumping to $12.1 billion in May this year. He also said the government is working on a mission mode to achieve exports target of $400 billion in 2021-22. Adding more optimism, Icra Ratings’ report stated that with the easing of COVID-19-related restrictions by the states, the roots of the economic recovery deepened in July 2021. The report said the unlocking in the country has manifested itself in improving performance across various high frequency industrial and service sector indicators, mobility and toll collections in July 2021. Meanwhile, India record 11,359 new Covid-19 cases and 266 deaths in the past 24 hours, taking its tally to 32,460,328 and the death toll to 434,784.

Global cues remained supportive with most of the Asian markets are trading higher following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, with continuing bargain hunting after last week's sell-off and firm commodity prices contributing to the uptick in the markets. Concerns remain as the Delta variant of the coronavirus continues to spread across the globe, forcing countries to impose nationwide as well as local lockdown.

Back home, infrastructure industry stocks were in focus as Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a Rs 6 lakh crore National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP) that will look to unlock value in infrastructure assets across sectors ranging from power to road and railways. In scrip specific development, JSW Steel traded higher as ICRA upgraded the rating of long-term bank facilities and non-convertible debentures to AA with stable outlook.  However, Maruti Suzuki India came under pressure as the Competition Commission of India (CCI) imposed a fine of Rs 200 crore on the country for anti-competitive practices related to how it forced dealers to discount cars.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 55657.13, up by 101.34 points or 0.18% after trading in a range of 55583.52 and 55816.70. There were 19 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.78%, while Small cap index was up by 0.71%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 2.06%, Metal up by 1.93%, Utilities up by 1.69%, Power up by 1.48%, PSU up by 1.40%, while Consumer Durables down by 0.39%, FMCG down by 0.08% were the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Steel up by 2.46%, Tech Mahindra up by 2.43%, NTPC up by 2.34%, Power Grid up by 1.14% and Ultratech Cement up by 1.11%. On the flip side, Asian Paints down by 1.09%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.92%, HDFC down by 0.72%, Titan Company down by 0.69% and Maruti Suzuki down by 0.64% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has said foreign direct investments into the country is on the rise, jumping to $12.1 billion in May this year. He said ‘India has received the highest ever foreign direct investment (FDI) inflow in 2020-21. It surged by 10 per cent to $81.72 billion and FDI during May 2021 is $12.1 billion, i.e. 203 per cent higher than May 2020.’ He also said the government is working on a mission mode to achieve exports target of $400 billion in 2021-22.

He said that exports are recording healthy growth and during August 1-14, the outbound shipments grew 71 per cent over 2020-21 and 23 per cent over 2019-20. According to the minister, India's average applied import tariff (duty) has dropped to 15 per cent in 2020 from 17.6 per cent in 2019, and the country's applied tariffs are way below the bound rate of 50.8 per cent (permissible limit under the World Trade Organization).

Talking about employment, he said more than 54,000 startups were providing about 5.5 lakh jobs and over 20 lakh jobs will be created by 50,000 new startups in the next five years. “It is time for our industry to expand our capacity, capability and commitment to develop resilient global supply chains,' he said, adding that the Centre expects that the Indian industry should suggest areas for intervention through research, handholding of exporters/ manufacturers, and deeper engagement with states and Missions.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 16533.00, up by 36.55 points or 0.22% after trading in a range of 16512.55 and 16585.25. There were 33 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining, while 1 stock remained unchanged on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Hindalco up by 2.68%, Tech Mahindra up by 2.39%, Tata Steel up by 2.31%, NTPC up by 2.16% and IOC up by 1.99%. On the flip side, Asian Paints down by 1.18%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.17%, HDFC down by 0.75%, Maruti Suzuki down by 0.67% and Titan Company down by 0.65% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 surged 261.23 points or 0.95% to 27,755.47, Straits Times rose 21.74 points or 0.70% to 3,109.30, Hang Seng jumped 420.70 points or 1.68% to 25,530.29, Taiwan Weighted gained 79.41 points or 0.47% to 16,821.25, KOSPI soared 42.29 points or 1.37% to 3,132.50 and Shanghai Composite added 34.84 points or 1.00% to 3,511.97, while Jakarta Composite was down by 29.63 points or 0.48% to 6,080.20.