Bourses continue firm trade in late afternoon session

Indian equity benchmarks continued their firm trade in the late afternoon session on account of buying in front line counters. Buying interest in Energy, Bankex and Metal shares pushed the headline indices higher. Indusind Bank, Axis Bank, Tech Mahindra, SBI and Reliance Industries were among the top gainers during the late afternoon deals on the Sensex. The broader indices were trading mixed with the midcap index up by 0.20% but the smallcap gauge down 0.14%. Sentiments remained upbeat after Controller General of Accounts (CGA) in its latest data has said that the Union government's fiscal deficit works out to be Rs 5.47 lakh crore or 36.3% of the budget estimates at the end of October 2021 on the back of improvement in revenue collection. For the current financial year, the government expects the deficit at 6.8% of GDP or Rs 15.06 lakh crore. Sector wise, coal sector remained in limelight with Coal production having 10.33 per cent weight increased by 14.6 per cent in October, 2021 over October, 2020 and its cumulative index increased by 12.2 per cent during April to October, 2021-22 over corresponding period of the previous year.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green while oil prices bounced as traders assessed the outlook for the global economy after top drugs makers offered differing opinions on their vaccines' efficacy against Omicron and the Federal Reserve took a hawkish pivot on monetary policy. European markets were trading higher after struggling to regain ground amid fears around the new omicron Covid variant.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 57,641.19, up by 576.32 points or 1.01% after trading in a range of 57346.78 and 57846.45. There were 15 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.20%, while Small cap index was down by 0.14%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Energy up by 1.18%, Bankex up by 0.96%, Metal up by 0.92%, Auto up by 0.70% and Industrials was up by 0.56%, while Healthcare down by 1.42%, Telecom down by 0.81%, Consumer Durables down by 0.71%, Utilities down by 0.19% and FMCG was down by 0.12% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Indusind Bank up by 4.33%, Axis Bank up by 2.65%, Tech Mahindra up by 2.37%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.80% and SBI up by 1.78%. On the flip side, Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 1.82%, Ultratech Cement down by 1.63%, Sun Pharma down by 1.25%, Titan Company down by 1.10% and Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.06% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Chief Economic Adviser (CEA) K V Subramanian has exuded confidence that India would achieve double-digit growth in the current financial year (FY22) on the back of policy initiatives and continuing reforms. He also said the country is well poised to meet the fiscal deficit target of 6.8 per cent of Gross domestic product (GDP).  The overall growth for the first half has been 13.7 per cent, so even a little more than 6 per cent growth in the subsequent quarters should be able to deliver double-digit growth for this year.'

With regard to the impact of the new coronavirus variant Omicron, Subramanian said the impact would be less than the first wave as the government already has experience of handling two waves of the pandemic. He said ‘given that we are still amidst pandemic and the Omicron variant seems to have actually created some concern, we are all waiting for evidence to come on how infectious would it be, and how debilitating would it be as well compared to the Delta variant.’

Talking about the impact of repeal of three farm laws on the reforms process, the CEA said it should not affect reforms in other sectors. He said ‘In a democracy like ours, political economy matters a lot and I think it is a fact that the way agriculture generates emotion other sectors do not. Therefore, extrapolating anything that you are seeing in agriculture, be it reforms or otherwise, on to other sectors...I would not recommend, because the dynamics are quite different’.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17,151.50, up by 168.30 points or 0.99% after trading in a range of 17064.25 and 17213.05. There were 27 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Indusind Bank up by 4.43%, Axis Bank up by 3.19%, JSW Steel up by 2.89%, Tech Mahindra up by 2.46% and Eicher Motors up by 2.14%. On the flip side, Cipla down by 2.75%, Divi's Lab down by 2.09%, Indian Oil down by 1.72%, Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 1.62% and Ultratech Cement down by 1.60% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green, Hang Seng increased 183.66 points or 0.78% to 23,658.92, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 158.23 points or 0.91% to 17,585.99, Nikkei 225 surged 113.86 points or 0.41% to 27,935.62, KOSPI rose 60.71 points or 2.14% to 2,899.72, Straits Times advanced 56.03 points or 1.84% to 3,097.32 and Shanghai Composite was up by 13.00 points or 0.36% to 3,576.89. On the flip side, Jakarta Composite was down by 26.25 points or 0.4% to 6,507.68.

European markets were trading higher, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 71.32 points or 1.01% to 7,130.77, France’s CAC increased 41.17 points or 0.61% to 6,762.33 and Germany’s DAX was up by 106.81 points or 0.71% to 15,206.94.