Markets trade in green territory in late afternoon session

Indian equity markets trimmed some of their gains in late afternoon session but managed to trade in green territory. Sentiments remained upbeat after Reserve Bank of India (RBI's) Deposits with Scheduled Commercial Banks - March 2021 data showed that bank deposits grew 11.9 per cent year-on-year during 2020-21 compared to 8.8 per cent in 2019-20 on the back of high growth in current account and savings account (CASA) deposits. The share of CASA deposits increased to 43.7 per cent in March 2021 compared to 41.7 per cent a year ago. Some support also came, as Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari has said that India is becoming a global investment destination and the government is committed to providing a favourable policy framework. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed amid concerns over troubled Chinese real estate developer Evergrande and the pandemic. European markets were trading lower as worries about troubled property developer China Evergrande and weak German business confidence data prompted investors to book some profit after a mid-week rally.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 60041.28, up by 155.92 points or 0.26% after trading in a range of 59946.55 and 60333.00. There were 16 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index declined 1.25%, while Small cap index was down by 0.59%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 2.53%, TECK up by 1.40%, IT up by 1.23%, Realty up by 0.64% and Consumer Discretionary was up by 0.08%, while Metal down by 2.97%, PSU down by 1.60%, Basic Materials down by 1.46%, Utilities down by 1.43% and Healthcare was down by 1.42% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Asian Paints up by 3.62%, HCL Techup by 2.72%, HDFC Bank up by 1.92%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.80% and Bharti Airtel up by 1.77%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 4.20%, Indusind Bank down by 2.03%, SBI down by 1.88%, Axis Bank down by 1.72% and Hindustan Unilever down by 1.51% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, highlighting that competition is the life force of markets that creates the best incentives for businesses to increase efficiency, drives their productivity and fuels innovation, Ashok Kumar Gupta, Chairperson, Competition Commission of India (CCI) has said that regulatory oversight should be regularly fine-tuned with changing times to suit the dynamic business environment, especially in the present digital world.

Gupta also said “Despite its all-encompassing benefits, healthy competition may not emerge on its own. Even the most ardent votaries of a market economy recognise that liberalised markets cannot be presumed to be competitive and efficient”.

Besides, Gupta explained that without oversight and necessary intervention, we could witness a chaotic environment, where dominant firms misuse their market power to fence out competition, cartels drive up prices or anti-competitive mergers weaken the competitive structure of markets, resulting in businesses getting affected and consumers being deprived of value for money. He said “The objective of CCI is to bring about market corrections where fair competition is found to be hindered due to anti-competitive conduct”.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17850.30, up by 27.35 points or 0.15% after trading in a range of 17819.40 and 17947.65. There were 20 stocks advancing against 30 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Asian Paints up by 3.53%, HCL Tech up by 2.75%, HDFC Bank up by 2.04%, Grasim Industries up by 1.82% and Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.82%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 4.15%, JSW Steel down by 3.39%, Coal India down by 2.12%, ONGC down by 2.00% and Indusind Bank down by 1.96% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed, Nikkei 225 surged 609.41 points or 2.06% to 30,248.81, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 181.97 points or 1.07% to 17,260.19 and Jakarta Composite was up by 2.11 points or 0.03% to 6,144.82. On the flip side, KOSPI fell 2.34 points or 0.07% to 3,125.24, Straits Times trembled 14.68 points or 0.48% to 3,061.76, Shanghai Composite declined 29.15 points or 0.8% to 3,613.07 and Hang Seng was down by 318.82 points or 1.3% to 24,192.16.

European markets were trading lower, UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 19.85 points or 0.28% to 7,058.50, France’s CAC decreased 55.98 points or 0.84% to 6,646.00 and Germany’s DAX was down by 98.78 points or 0.63% to 15,545.19.