Benchmarks trade with marginal gains

Indian equity benchmarks traded with marginal gains in late afternoon session. Traders were seen piling up positions in Power, Energy and Capital Goods sectors while selling was witnessed in Telecom, Metal and PSU sectors’ stocks. Traders took note of report that Heavy Industries Minister Mahendra Nath Pandey has urged the domestic industry to work in the direction of increasing the manufacturing sector's share in the country's GDP. He said steps like the production-linked incentive (PLI) schemes would help in boosting domestic manufacturing. He noted that share of manufacturing in GDP should be increased to 20-25 per cent. Sector wise, Sugar industry remained in focus, as the Centre hiked the minimum price that mills have to pay to sugarcane growers, also known as the Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP), by Rs 5 per quintal to Rs 290 a quintal for 2021-22 (October-September) sugar season while ruling out any immediate commensurate increase in the sale price of sugar.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed as hopes for the global recovery and signs of a possible slowdown in new virus infections play off against China’s regulatory clampdown and the prospect of an end to Federal Reserve largesse. European markets were trading lower hurt by deteriorating German economic confidence as Covid cases continue to rise ahead of a key meeting of policymakers from the Federal Reserve and other central banks.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 55975.30, up by 31.09 points or 0.06% after trading in a range of 55854.07 and 56112.39. There were 13 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.26%, while Small cap index was up by 0.36%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Power up by 0.87%, Energy up by 0.87%, Capital Goods up by 0.60%, Industrials up by 0.46% and FMCG was up by 0.42%, while Telecom down by 2.90%, Metal down by 1.28%, PSU down by 0.79%, Basic Materials down by 0.72% and TECK was down by 0.54% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ICICI Bank up by 1.22%, HCL Tech up by 1.21%, Reliance Industries up by 1.03%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 0.89% and Axis Bank up by 0.62%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 3.49%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.48%, Power Grid down by 1.45%, Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 1.34% and Tata Steel down by 1.06% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, calling for a long-term stable and technology agnostic roadmap to allow localisation of technologies, Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India (ACMA) has said that it is critical for the survival and competitiveness of the industry amid dropping vehicle sales.

ACMA President Deepak Jain highlighted that factors such as high domestic taxation, increasing fuel costs, steep rise in commodity prices are adversely impacting affordability of vehicles, and in turn the viability of the component sector.

Besides, he said in FY2021, the industry witnessed the second consecutive year of contraction in vehicle sales in India as overall vehicle sales fell by 13.6 per cent. Given the volatility in the environment, Jain said it was for the industry to find answers on how to ''strive to survive, piece ourselves together to revive and explore the opportunities for growth''.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 16644.60, up by 9.95 points or 0.06% after trading in a range of 16603.40 and 16683.70. There were 19 stocks advancing against 31 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Britannia up by 2.41%, HDFC Life Insurance up by 1.51%, HCL Tech up by 1.33%, ICICI Bank up by 1.24% and Reliance Industries up by 1.13%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 3.58%, Hindalco down by 1.68%, Power Grid down by 1.54%, Coal India down by 1.44% and Maruti Suzuki down by 1.38% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed, Hang Seng decreased 278.26 points or 1.08% to 25,415.69, Jakarta Composite lost 55.16 points or 0.9% to 6,058.08, Shanghai Composite declined 38.72 points or 1.09% to 3,501.66 and KOSPI was down by18.28 points or 0.58% to 3,128.53. On the flip side, Straits Times advanced 0.15 points or 0% to 3,107.64, Nikkei 225 surged 17.49 points or 0.06% to 27,742.29 and Taiwan Weighted was up by 21.10 points or 0.12% to 17,066.96.

European markets were trading lower, UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 26.14 points or 0.37% to 7,123.98, France’s CAC decreased 12.59 points or 0.19% to 6,663.89 and Germany’s DAX was down by 38.88 points or 0.25% to 15,821.78.