Markets maintain gains in late afternoon session

Indian equity markets maintained their gains in late afternoon session. Traders were seen piling up positions in Telecom, Consumer Durables and FMCG sectors while selling was witnessed in Realty, Utilities and Oil & Gas sectors’ stocks. Traders took support, as sales growth (y-o-y) of information technology (IT) sector companies, which remained in the positive terrain throughout the pandemic, accelerated to 17.5 per cent in first three months period of 2021-22 from 6.4 per cent in the previous quarter. In absolute term, the sales were worth about Rs 1,13,807 crore. Sector wise, Automobile sector remained in focus, as Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) has said that retail sales of passenger vehicles (PV) in August increased by 39 per cent year-on-year to 2,53,363 units. PV sales stood at 1,82,651 units in August 2020.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed on optimism about the global outlook, though rising Delta coronavirus cases and worries about a slowdown in the economic recovery continue to cast a shadow. European markets were trading lower as investors awaited updates on when European and other central banks might wound down their stimulus.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index declined 0.02%, while Small cap index was down by 0.27%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 2.70%, Consumer Durables up by 1.21%, FMCG up by 0.68%, Energy up by 0.37% and Consumer discretionary was up by 0.18%, while Realty down by 1.92%, Oil & Gas down by 0.81%, Utilities down by 0.70%, IT down by 0.69% and Power was down by 0.67% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were HDFC up by 3.00%, Bharti Airtel up by 2.41%, ITC up by 1.62%, Indusind Bank up by 1.30% and Reliance Industries up by 0.82%. On the flip side, Sun Pharma down by 1.19%, Axis Bank down by 1.12%, Infosys down by 0.91%, SBI down by 0.73% and Tech Mahindra down by 0.70% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Union minister for Road transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari has said that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, road infrastructure is being developed faster, safer and more sustainable than ever before.

Union minister said “it is our collective mission to give the country, road infrastructure of global standard.” The minister emphasised on safety-first approach for Road design and construction, construction of environment-friendly roads, industry-friendly approach, new technology for safe, faster and economic roads and faster construction.

Besides, Gadkari said with an investment of Rs 11,000 crore the 313 km long highway will transform the road infrastructure of Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan. He said 80% of the corridor has been completed and is scheduled to open to public by March 2022.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17,397.30, up by 19.50 points or 0.11% after trading in a range of 17287.00 and 17436.50. There were 21 stocks advancing against 28 stocks declining on the index, while 1 stock remain unchanged.

The top gainers on Nifty were HDFC up by 2.97%, Bharti Airtel up by 2.49%, ITC up by 1.55%, Indusind Bank up by 1.20% and HDFC Bank up by 0.79%. On the flip side, Sun Pharma down by 1.29%, Axis Bank down by 1.24%, Wipro down by 1.14%, SBI Life down by 1.08% and Hindalco down by 1.05% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed, Nikkei 225 surged 256.25 points or 0.86% to 29,916.14, Hang Seng increased 190.00 points or 0.73% to 26,353.63, Shanghai Composite gained 54.73 points or 1.51% to 3,676.59 and Straits Times was up by 4.97 points or 0.16% to 3,106.05. On the flip side, Jakarta Composite lost 14.54 points or 0.24% to 6,112.40, KOSPI fell 15.91 points or 0.5% to 3,187.42 and Taiwan Weighted was down by 66.43 points or 0.38% to 17,428.87.

European markets were trading lower, UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 12.37 points or 0.17% to 7,174.81, France’s CAC decreased 2.95 points or 0.04% to 6,740.55 and Germany’s DAX was down by 24.99 points or 0.16% to 15,907.13.