Benchmarks trade near highest points in late afternoon session

The Indian equity benchmarks extended their upward rally in late afternoon session, with the Sensex and Nifty gaining above 450 and 130 points, respectively. Markets were hovering near the highest points of the day. Traders took encouragement after SBI research report Ecowrap has showed that country's gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to grow at around 18.5 percent with an upward bias in the first quarter of the current financial year. Higher growth in the second quarter of 2022, or Q1 FY22 is mainly on account of a low base. Sector wise, power sector remained in focus, as government aims to garner over Rs 45,200 crore through monetising power transmission assets by FY 2025 as part of its ambitious asset monetisation plan.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green, cheered by positive U.S. vaccination news and easing worries about an imminent tapering of stimulus by the Federal Reserve. European markets were trading higher after a full US approval of a COVID-19 vaccine boosted Wall Street to record highs, while latest data showed a stronger-than-expected economic recovery in Germany.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 1.15%, while Small cap index was up by 1.39%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 2.57%, Oil & Gas up by 1.95%, Basic Materials up by 1.85%, PSU up by 1.51% and Energy was up by 1.43%, while FMCG down by 0.50%, IT down by 0.23%, TECK down by 0.19%, Consumer Durables down by 0.18% were the few losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bajaj Finserv up by 7.42%, Tata Steel up by 3.79%, Bajaj Finance up by 3.62%, Tech Mahindra up by 2.77% and HDFC Bank up by 2.38%. On the flip side, HDFC down by 1.29%, Nestle down by 0.99%, Infosys down by 0.87%, Asian Paints down by 0.84% and Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.68% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the SBI research report Ecowrap has showed that the country's gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to grow at around 18.5 percent with an upward bias in the first quarter of the current financial year (Q1FY22). The report also expects gross value added (GVA) to be at 15 percent in Q1FY22.

According to the report, the corporate GVA of 4,069 companies registered a growth of 28.4 percent in Q1 FY22. However, this is lower than growth in Q4 FY21, thereby corroborating the lower GDP estimate than what was thought earlier.

The report further said it is globally noted that lower mobility leads to lower GDP and higher mobility to higher GDP, but the response is asymmetric. It said that with the decline in mobility, the economic activity declines and thus GDP growth, however, with an increase in mobility the GDP growth does not increase in the same proportion.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 16,635.35, up by 138.90 points or 0.84% after trading in a range of 16495.30 and 16626.15. There were 34 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bajaj Finserv up by 7.45%, Tata Steel up by 3.78%, Bajaj Finance up by 3.69%, Hindalco up by 3.36% and Tech Mahindra up by 2.76%. On the flip side, Britannia down by 1.68%, HDFC down by 1.33%, Nestle down by 0.98%, Asian Paints down by 0.97% and Infosys down by 0.83% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green, Hang Seng increased 618.33 points or 2.46% to 25,727.92, Nikkei 225 surged 237.86 points or 0.87% to 27,732.10, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 76.89 points or 0.46% to 16,818.73, KOSPI rose 48.09 points or 1.56% to 3,138.30, Shanghai Composite gained 37.34 points or 1.07% to 3,514.47 and Straits Times was up by 21.66 points or 0.7% to 3,109.22. On the flip side, Jakarta Composite was down by 20.33 points or 0.33% to 6,089.50.

European markets were trading higher, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 5.63 points or 0.08% to 7,114.65, France’s CAC increased 0.71 points or 0.01% to 6,683.81 and Germany’s DAX was up by 42.03 points or 0.27% to 15,894.82.