Benchmarks remain in green in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks trimmed some gains but continued to trade in green in morning deals, amid positive cues from global markets. Traders took some support with Engineering Export Promotion Council (EEPC) chairman Mahesh Desai stating that exports of engineering goods have crossed $9 billion in September 2021, while 22 out of 25 top export destinations such as China, the UK, and UAE have recorded positive growth. It said share of engineering goods in overall merchandise exports stood at 26.65 percent in September. Some support also came with report indicating that hiring activities in the country are rising in the current quarter, reflecting improvement in the job market and signs of resilience. However, gains got trimmed as some cautiousness came with report that Foreign Institutional Investors (FII) have been net sellers of domestic stocks for 5 consecutive days now. FIIs sold Rs 2,459 crore worth of equities on Monday. Domestic Institutional Investors, however, were net buyers of stocks worth Rs 2,390 crore.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green on the back of earnings optimism and progress on U.S. President Joe Biden's economic agenda likely to help underpin investor sentiment.  Back home, on the sectoral front, power stocks remained in watch as a press release by CRISIL Ratings stated that solar tariffs might rise to Rs 2.6 per unit to Rs 2.7 per unit from an all-time low of Rs 2 unit over next fiscal year in the wake of the recent increase in the goods and services tax (GST) on renewable energy equipment, and the proposed customs duty on imported solar modules.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 61133.98, up by 166.93 points or 0.27% after trading in a range of 60997.90 and 61404.87. There were 21 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 1.38%, while Small cap index was up by 1.65%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 2.17%, Consumer Durables up by 2.09%, Basic Materials up by 1.56%, Metal up by 1.44% and Consumer discretionary up by 1.40%, while Bankex down by 0.39% was the lone losing index on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tech Mahindra up by 5.68%, Tata Steel up by 2.13%, Titan Company up by 2.03%, Bajaj Finance up by 2.01% and Ultratech Cement up by 1.47%. On the flip side, ICICI Bank down by 1.56%, Axis Bank down by 1.28%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.97%, Power Grid Corporation down by 0.91% and Hindustan Unilever down by 0.82% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Engineering Export Promotion Council (EEPC) chairman Mahesh Desai has said that exports of engineering goods have crossed $9 billion in September 2021, while 22 out of 25 top export destinations such as China, the UK, and UAE have recorded positive growth. It said share of engineering goods in overall merchandise exports stood at 26.65 percent in September.

EEPC chairman has stated that India's engineering cumulative engineering exports increased from $32.4 billion in April to September in 2020 to $52.3 billion during the same period this year. On an annualized basis, this would translate to $105 billion in 2021-22. In the first six months, 49 percent of the target has been achieved. Among other countries which recorded positive growth included Germany, Turkey, Italy, the UK, Mexico, Vietnam, and Singapore,

Welcoming the move to fast-track FTAs with as many as six countries and trading blocs, Desai said the government should take lessons from earlier such agreements. He said the FTAs signed earlier led to increased imports for some items in ferrous and non-ferrous sectors from countries like Korea and Japan. Hence, he said there is a need to take a cautious stance while signing new FTAs.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 18208.65, up by 83.25 points or 0.46% after trading in a range of 18148.45 and 18265.20. There were 40 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tech Mahindra up by 5.85%, Tata Motors up by 4.34%, Tata Steel up by 2.52%, Bajaj Finance up by 2.46% and UPL up by 2.33%. On the flip side, ICICI Bank down by 1.44%, Axis Bank down by 1.08%, Power Grid Corporation down by 0.93%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.86% and Hindustan Unilever down by 0.85% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 surged 529.16 points or 1.85% to 29,129.57, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 145.39 points or 0.86% to 17,039.63, Jakarta Composite soared 38.03 points or 0.57% to 6,663.73, KOSPI rose 24.38 points or 0.81% to 3,044.92 and Shanghai Composite gained 3.02 points or 0.08% to 3,612.88.

On the flip side, Straits Times trembled 6.03 points or 0.19% to 3,195.83 and Hang Seng decreased 103.09 points or 0.39% to 26,028.94.