Markets trim some gains in late afternoon session

Indian equity markets trimmed some of their gains in late afternoon session, but continued to show a positive trend and traded with gains of around one percent. Buying in Metal and Consumer Durables counters mainly helped markets to maintain gains. Traders took a note of private report stated daily e-way bill generation under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) system came in at 22.85 lakh for the week-ended December 19, 2.6% higher than the daily average for the previous week, showing a steady increase in goods transportation. Sector wise, automotive industry remain in focused, as credit rating agency, India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) in its latest report has showed the 28.4% sequential decline in the domestic auto sales volumes (excluding CVs) in November 2021. The overall production and sales volumes decreased 26% yoy and 32% yoy, respectively, in November 2021. On the global front, all Asian markets were trading higher shrugging off a bruising Wall Street session, as Chinese markets cheered Beijing's move to help troubled property firms, although surging cases of the Omicron coronavirus variant remain a worry for investors. European markets were trading higher after a bruising sell-off in the previous session, with a jump in commodity stocks offsetting concerns about the Omicron coronavirus variant.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 56314.14, up by 492.13 points or 0.88% after trading in a range of 56197.08 and 56900.74. There were 20 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 1.16%, while Small cap index was up by 1.14%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 2.68%, Consumer Durables up by 2.05%, Basic Materials up by 1.95%, IT up by 1.74% and TECK was up by 1.73%, while there were no losers on sectoral indices on the BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were HCL Tech up by 3.73%, Wipro up by 3.48%, Tata Steel up by 3.08%, Tech Mahindra up by 2.13% and Sun Pharma up by 1.98%. On the flip side, Power Grid down by 2.07%, Axis Bank down by 1.17%, Bajaj Finance down by 0.86%, HDFC down by 0.43% and Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.42% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in order to improve urban services in India, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) will provide $350 million loan. ADB will provide loan to improve access to urban services in India by accelerating policy actions and reforms to enhance service delivery and promote performance-based central fiscal transfers to urban local bodies (ULBs).  The ADB will provide knowledge and advisory support to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs in programme implementation, including monitoring and evaluation.

Further, it will also support urban local bodies particularly in select low-income states to implement policy reforms, prepare investment plans, and provide recommendations on cross-cutting issues like climate change, environmental and social safeguards assessment, and gender equality and social inclusion. Rajat Kumar Mishra, Additional Secretary in the finance ministry signed the loan agreement for the first sub-programme of $350 million under Sustainable Urban Development and Service Delivery Programme while Takeo Konishi, Country Director of ADB's India Resident Mission, signed for ADB. The first sub-programme will establish essential policies and guidelines for urban reforms at the national level followed by specific reform actions and programme proposals at the state and ULB-level under second sub-programme.

After signing the agreement, Mishra stated that the programme is aligned with the government national flagship programmes that promote cities as engines of economic growth by improving the quality of urban life through the creation of high-quality urban infrastructure, assured service provisions, and efficient governance. Besides, Takeo Konishi said the programme builds upon ADB’s long engagement with India in the urban sector with continued support to the central and state governments to undertake reforms to ensure universal and improved access to basic urban services such as water supply, sanitation, and affordable rental housing, especially for the poor most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 16765.30, up by 151.10 points or 0.91% after trading in a range of 16722.95 and 16936.40. There were 36 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were HCL Tech up by 3.77%, Wipro up by 3.54%, Tata Steel up by 3.11%, UPL up by 3.08% and Hindalco up by 2.75%. On the flip side, Power Grid down by 2.03%, Axis Bank down by 1.15%, Cipla down by 0.87%, Bajaj Finance down by 0.87% and HDFC down by 0.53% were the top losers.

All Asian markets were trading higher, Nikkei 225 surged 579.78 points or 2.08% to 28,517.59, Hang Seng increased 226.47 points or 1% to 22,971.33, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 120.16 points or 0.68% to 17,789.27, Shanghai Composite gained 31.53 points or 0.88% to 3,625.13, KOSPI rose 12.03 points or 0.41% to 2,975.03, Straits Times advanced 9.03 points or 0.29% to 3,082.00 and Jakarta Composite was up by 7.20 points or 0.11% to 6,554.31.

European markets were trading higher, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 58.55 points or 0.81% to 7,256.58, France’s CAC increased 51.58 points or 0.75% to 6,921.68 and Germany’s DAX was up by 99.20 points or 0.65% to 15,338.87.