Indian markets maintain upward momentum

Indian equity markets maintained their upward momentum in the noon session and continued to trade in positive territory, following gains in auto, banking and realty stocks. Healthy buying was observed in blue-chip stocks like Bajaj Finserv, Axis Bank and ICICI Bank. Sentiments were upbeat as Finance Ministry said that Goods and Services Tax (GST) revenues grew 13 per cent to over Rs 1.29 lakh crore in December 2021, as compared to Rs 1.15 lakh crore GST revenues in the same month last year, mainly due to pickup in economic activity and anti-evasion steps. However, traders overlooked report that India’s manufacturing activity lost some momentum in December easing to a three month low after hitting a 10 month high in November, amid fears that the rapidly spreading third wave of the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic may hit consumer sentiment and output. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly higher following a healthy run-up at the end of last week, with some cheer provided by data suggesting regional economies improved last month. Back home, in scrip specific development, D-Mart jumped on reporting 21.96% increase in revenue at Rs 9,065.02 cr in Q3.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 58939.66, up by 685.84 points or 1.18% after trading in a range of 58306.45 and 58950.34. There were 25 stocks advancing against 5 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 1.01%, while Small cap index was up by 1.26%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Auto up by 1.60%, Bankex up by 1.57%, Realty up by 1.46%, Energy up by 1.21% and Capital Goods was up by 1.19%, while Healthcare was down by 0.03% was the only losing index on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bajaj Finserv up by 2.56%, Axis Bank up by 2.23%, ICICI Bank up by 2.02%, HDFC Bank up by 1.97% and TCS was up by 1.96%. On the flip side, Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 0.71%, Titan Company down by 0.41%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.32%, Ultratech Cement down by 0.12% and Tech Mahindra was down by 0.05% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, growth of eight core infrastructure industries grew 3.1 percent in November 2021 as against 1.1 percent contraction in same month last year. In October 2021, these core sectors' output had grown by 8.4 percent. The Eight Core Industries - coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilizers, steel, cement and electricity - comprise 40.27 percent of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP).     

Coal production having 10.33 percent weight increased by 8.2 percent in November, 2021 over November, 2020 and its cumulative index increased by 11.6 percent during April to November, 2021-22 over corresponding period of the previous year. Natural Gas having 6.88 percent weight increased by 23.7 percent in November, 2021 over November, 2020 and its cumulative index increased by 22.8 per cent during April to November, 2021-22 over the corresponding period of previous year. Petroleum Refinery production having 28.04 percent weight increased by 4.3 percent in November, 2021 over November, 2020 and its cumulative index increased by 10.6 percent during April to November, 2021-22 over the corresponding period of previous year.

Fertilizers production having 2.63 percent weight increased by 2.5 percent in November, 2021 over November, 2020 and its cumulative index decreased by 0.6 percent during April to November, 2021-22 over the corresponding period of previous year. Steel production having 17.92 per cent weight increased by 0.8 percent in November, 2021 over November, 2020 and its cumulative index increased by 25.3 per cent during April to November, 2021-22 over the corresponding period of previous year. Cement production having 5.37 percent weight decreased by 3.2 percent in November, 2021 over November, 2020 and its cumulative index increased by 28.3 percent during April to November, 2021-22 over the corresponding period of previous year.

Electricity generation having 19.85 percent weight increased by 1.5 percent in November, 2021 over November, 2020 and its cumulative index increased by 10.2 percent during April to November, 2021-22 over the corresponding period of previous year. However, Crude Oil production having 8.98 weight declined by 2.2 percent in November, 2021 over November, 2020 and its cumulative index declined by 2.7 percent during April to November, 2021-22 over the corresponding period of previous year.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17550.75, up by 196.70 points or 1.13% after trading in a range of 17383.30 and 17556.80. There were 42 stocks advancing against 8 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Eicher Motors up by 5.13%, Coal India up by 4.69%, Tata Motors up by 2.77%, Bajaj Finserv up by 2.46% and Axis Bank was up by 2.13%. On the flip side, Cipla down by 1.59%, Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 0.66%, Titan Co down by 0.39%, Divi's Lab down by 0.39% and Mahindra & Mahindra was down by 0.32% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly higher, Jakarta Composite soared 76.44 points or 1.16% to 6,657.92, KOSPI rose 11.12 points or 0.37% to 2,988.77, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 51.67 points or 0.28% to 18,270.51 and Straits Times was up by 9.12 points or 0.29% to 3,132.80. On the other hand, Hang Seng was down by 137.17 points or 0.59% to 23,260.50.