Domestic indices trade in fine-fettle; Nifty surpasses 17,800 mark

Recouping losses seen in the previous session, Indian equity benchmarks once again come back to gaining path with gap-up start on Thursday, following firm trade in global peers. Markets are trading in fine-fettle with gains of around a percent each in early deals with buying in all the sector indices led by Consumer Durables, Auto and Realty counters. Sentiments got  boost as Moody's Investors Service said it will upgrade India rating if there is an increase in growth potential and sustained decline in government debt. Additionally, World Bank has said the increasing pace of vaccinations will determine India’s economic prospects this year and beyond while leaving the growth projection for the country unchanged at 8.3% from its June forecast. Meanwhile, SEBI has tweaked the norms pertaining to minimum percentages of monthly trades to be carried out by mutual funds on the Request For Quote (RFQ) platform of stock exchanges.

Global cues remained optimistic with most of the Asian markets are trading higher following the positive cues overnight from Wall Street, as US lawmakers are set to reach a deal to avoid a government debt default and shutdown. Traders also looked to snap up stocks at a bargain following the recent sell-off. Back home, textile industry stocks were buzzing as the Union Cabinet approved the setting up of 7 Mega Integrated Textile Region and Apparel parks with a total outlay of Rs 4,445 crore for five years to position India strongly on the global textiles map. In scrip specific development, Macrotech Developers traded higher as it reported an 88 per cent growth in its sales bookings to Rs 2,003 crore for the September 2021 quarter.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 59756.03, up by 566.30 points or 0.96% after trading in a range of 59597.06 and 59810.66. All the 30 stocks were advancing on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 1.06%, while Small cap index was up by 1.22%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 3.94%, Auto up by 2.75%, Realty up by 2.72%, Consumer discretionary up by 2.04%, Industrials up by 1.61%, while there was no loser.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Titan Company up by 7.33%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.17%, Indusind Bank up by 2.15%, Maruti Suzuki up by 2.07% and Asian Paints up by 1.76%.

Meanwhile, expressing optimism over India’s rating, Moody's Investors Service has said it will upgrade the country’s rating if there is an increase in growth potential and sustained decline in government debt. The rating agency had raised India's sovereign rating outlook to 'stable', from 'negative', while affirming the 'Baa3' rating - which is the lowest investment grade, just a notch above junk status. Moody's Investors Service Senior Vice President, Sovereign Risk Group, Christian de Guzman said that the 'stable' outlook reflects the view that it would take about 12-18 months for Moody's to upgrade India's sovereign rating.

Guzman said ‘We have stated that an increase in India's growth potential - which has eroded in recent years - and a sustained decline in the government debt burden along with a concurrent improvement in debt affordability could lead to an upgrade. Our stable outlook reflects the view that these triggers will not be met over the next 12 to 18 months’. While affirming sovereign rating, Moody's had said that a recovery is underway in the Asia's third-largest economy with downside risks to growth from subsequent coronavirus infection waves getting mitigated by rising vaccination rates.

Moody's expects India's real GDP to surpass 2019 levels this fiscal year (April 2021 to March 2022), rebounding to a growth rate of 9.3 per cent followed by 7.9 per cent in the next financial year. The Indian economy contracted 7.3 per cent in last fiscal ended March 31, 2021. The US-based rating firm had in 2020 lowered India's rating from 'Baa2', with a 'negative' outlook saying there would be challenges in policy implementation amid low growth and deteriorating fiscal position.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17817.70, up by 171.70 points or 0.97% after trading in a range of 17763.80 and 17828.40. There were 47 stocks advancing against 3 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Motors up by 8.18%, Titan Company up by 8.02%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.69%, Maruti Suzuki up by 2.37% and Eicher Motors up by 2.28%. On the flip side, ONGC down by 1.31%, Coal India down by 1.22% and Divi's Lab down by 0.20% were the few losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 jumped 281.53 points or 1.02% to 27,810.40, Straits Times rose 29.19 points or 0.95% to 3,113.07, Hang Seng surged 543.10 points or 2.27% to 24,509.59, Taiwan Weighted advanced 298.47 points or 1.82% to 16,691.63 and KOSPI added 51.27 points or 1.76% to 2,959.58, while Jakarta Composite was down by 5.57 points or 0.09% to 6,411.75.