Key gauges remain in green in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks remained in green in morning deals, aided by Telecom, Realty and Utilities shares. Traders took some support with India Ratings and Research’s (Ind-Ra) report stated that the average collections across its rated securitization transactions have inched up to 79 percent in September 2021 from 70 percent in May 2021 as the economy started to open up due to acceleration in vaccine rollout. Some support also came with Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s statement that the money taken away from the banks will be taken back as the government is actively pursuing the cases of loan defaulters and will not let them go scot-free, particularly those who have fled the country. Traders also took a note of report that the Winter Session will consider cryptocurrency and regulation of digital currency bill, banking amendment bill, repeal of farm laws, IBC amendment bill.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red following a mixed close on Wall Street, with investors sceptical about a US-led plan for a coordinated release by several countries of strategic oil reserves. Back home, on the sectoral front, stocks related to IT services sector remained in watch with private report stated that Indian IT services sector is expected to see a gross employee addition of about 4.5 lakh in the second half of the fiscal ended March 2022.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 58834.15, up by 169.82 points or 0.29% after trading in a range of 58564.75 and 58885.35. There were 19 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.32%, while Small cap index was up by 1.16%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 2.08%, Realty up by 1.61%, Utilities up by 1.58%, PSU up by 1.28% and Oil & Gas up by 1.24%, while Auto down by 0.20%, IT down by 0.19% and FMCG down by 0.06% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel up by 2.17%, Power Grid Corporation up by 1.46%, NTPC up by 1.42%, ICICI Bank up by 1.30% and HDFC Bank up by 1.14%. On the flip side, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.55%, Bajaj Finserv down by 0.85%, Infosys down by 0.76%, Tech Mahindra down by 0.72% and Titan Company down by 0.44% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and US Trade Representative Katherine Tai have relaunched the Trade Policy Forum (TPF) and agreed to engage on issues which are affecting the trade between the two countries. The bilateral commerce between India and the US is expected to cross $100 billion this year.

Both the ministers directed the TPF Working Groups to develop, by March 2022, plans of action for making substantive progress, including identification of a set of specific trade outcomes that could be finalised for an inter-sessional TPF meeting to be held by mid-2022. Further, both sides expressed satisfaction over the robust rebound in bilateral merchandise trade this year (January-September 2021), which showed almost 50 per cent growth over the same period in the previous year.

Besides, the commerce ministry said the TPF could be the major platform for collaboration and cooperation in trade matters, resolving bilateral trade concerns and exploring important, emerging trade policy issues. India highlighted the importance of cooperation in health sector, and expressed interest in partnering with the US and allies in developing a secure pharmaceutical manufacturing base for augmenting global supply chains.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17563.20, up by 59.85 points or 0.34% after trading in a range of 17485.05 and 17575.55. There were 31 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Adani Ports &SEZ up by 4.62%, ONGC up by 4.09%, Bharti Airtel up by 2.25%, Coal India up by 2.18% and Power Grid Corporation up by 1.54%. On the flip side, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.71%, Infosys down by 1.06%, Bajaj Finserv down by 1.00%, Divi's Lab down by 0.95% and Eicher Motors down by 0.72% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Nikkei 225 slipped 530.99 points or 1.78% to 29,243.12, Taiwan Weighted dropped 47.01 points or 0.27% to 17,619.11, Hang Seng decreased 15.72 points or 0.06% to 24,635.86, KOSPI fell 8.69 points or 0.29% to 2,988.64, Shanghai Composite declined 3.44 points or 0.1% to 3,585.65 and Jakarta Composite lost 1.73 points or 0.03% to 6,676.15.

On the flip side, Straits Times advanced 4.77 points or 0.15% to 3,232.30.