Indian markets maintain upward momentum

Indian equity markets maintained their upward momentum in afternoon session following gains in Energy, TECK and IT stocks. Healthy buying was observed in blue-chip stocks like HCL Tech, Reliance Industries and Kotak Mahindra Bank. Sentiments were upbeat as foreign portfolio investors (FPI) have pumped in a net sum of Rs 5,319 crore in Indian capital markets despite a massive correction seen in equities. In October, they were net sellers to the tune of Rs 12,437 crore. In another positive development, Minister Piyush Goyal stated that bilateral trade between India and Canada stands at $10 billion currently and there is tremendous potential to take it to much higher levels. On the global front; Asian markets were trading mostly lower after the omicron variant of the coronavirus was found in more countries and governments imposed travel controls.

Back home, in scrip specific developments, Indigo Paints hit 52-week low on the BSE in Monday’s intra-day trade on concerns of weak operational performance, while Gujarat Alkalies and Chemicals surged after its Ortho Phosphoric Acid gets license from BIS. Currently, BSE Sensex is trading at 57554.27, up by 447.12 points or 0.78% after trading in a range of 56382.93 and 57616.67. There were 22 stocks advancing against 8 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index lost 0.25%, while Small cap index was down by 1.29%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Energy up by 1.34%, TECK up by 1.08%, IT up by 1.07%, Metal up by 1.04% and Bankex was up by 0.53%, while Power down by 1.71%, Utilities down by 1.53%, Realty down by 0.88%, Consumer Discretionary down by 0.61% and Oil & Gas was down by 0.54% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were HCL Tech up by 3.16%, Reliance Industries up by 2.41%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 2.30%, Bajaj Finserv up by 1.88% and TCS was up by 1.87%. On the flip side, Nestle down by 0.93%, ITC down by 0.67%, HDFC down by 0.67%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.55% and Axis Bank was down by 0.51% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation in its report has said that as many as 438 infrastructure projects, each worth Rs 150 crore or more, have been hit by cost overruns totalling more than Rs 4.34 lakh crore. Total original cost of implementation of the 1,680 projects was Rs 21,74,182.86 crore and their anticipated completion cost is likely to be Rs 26,08,330.02 crore, which reflects overall cost overruns of Rs 4,34,147.16 crore (19.97 per cent of original cost).

According to the report, the expenditure incurred on these projects till October 2021 is Rs 12,64,545.31 crore, which is 48.48 per cent of the anticipated cost of the projects. However, it said that the number of delayed projects decreases to 377 if delay is calculated on the basis of the latest schedule of completion. Further, for 837 projects neither the year of commissioning nor the tentative gestation period has been reported. It pointed out that reasons for time overruns as reported by various project implementing agencies include delay in land acquisition, delay in obtaining forest and environment clearances, and lack of infrastructure support and linkages. Delay in tie-up for project financing, delay in finalisation of detailed engineering, change in scope, delay in tendering, ordering and equipment supply, and law and order problems are among the other reasons.

The report also cited state-wise lockdowns due to COVID-19 as a reason for the delay in implementation of these projects. It has also been observed that project agencies are not reporting revised cost estimates and commissioning schedules for many projects, which suggests that time/cost overrun figures are under-reported.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17152.00, up by 125.55 points or 0.74% after trading in a range of 16782.40 and 17160.70. There were 34 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Hindalco up by 3.37%, HCL Tech up by 2.95%, Reliance Industries up by 2.42%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 2.28% and TCS was up by 1.98%. On the flip side, ONGC down by 2.07%, Hero MotoCorp down by 1.90%, Adani Ports down by 1.78%, UPL down by 1.36% and BPCL was down by 1.34% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly lower; Hang Seng decreased 242.80 points or 1.01% to 23,837.72, Nikkei 225 slipped 467.70 points or 1.63% to 28,283.92, Taiwan Weighted dropped 41.30 points or 0.24% to 17,328.09, Shanghai Composite declined 12.34 points or 0.35% to 3,551.75, Straits Times trembled 29.91 points or 0.94% to 3,136.36 and KOSPI was down by 26.04 points or 0.89% to 2,910.40.

On the other hand, Jakarta Composite was by 28.59 points or 0.44% to 6,590.14.