Sensex, Nifty remain higher in late morning session

Indian equity benchmarks remained higher in late morning session, with both Sensex and Nifty trading in green terrain. Positive cues from other Asian markets helped key indices to remain higher. Domestic sentiments were optimistic, after a quarterly employment survey by the labour ministry released that total employment generated by nine select sectors stood at 3.10 crore in the July-September 2021 quarter, which is 2 lakh more than that of the April-June period.

However, some gains got cut, as owners of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) said they have been financially hit by the restrictions imposed by the government even though their workforce is vaccinated against COVID-19 and their workers have become unemployed, so they have urged the government to allow them to operate with certain conditions. Industry owners said the government has done little to help them during these harsh circumstances and has imposed restrictions without looking at the MSMEs from their perspective.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green, even after Taiwan's exports rose less than expected in December. The figures from the Ministry of Finance revealed that exports gained 23.4 percent year-on-year in December, after a 30.2 percent growth in November. Exports of parts of electronic product, information, communication and audio-video products, base metals and articles of base metal, plastics & rubber and articles thereof, machinery increased in December.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 60056.10, up by 311.45 points or 0.52% after trading in a range of 59987.18 and 60308.31. There were 16 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.56%, while Small cap index was up by 1.03%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Auto up by 1.67%, Realty up by 1.27%, IT up by 1.24%, TECK up by 1.20% and Industrials up by 1.09%, while Energy down by 0.19% and Consumer Durables down by 0.03% were the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Maruti Suzuki up by 3.45%, Infosys up by 2.74%, ITC up by 1.85%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.76% and HDFC up by 1.32%. On the flip side, Wipro down by 2.15%, Asian Paints down by 1.11%, Nestle down by 0.81%, Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 0.78% and Reliance Industries down by 0.45% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has reviewed public sector banks (PSBs) readiness to tackle any possible disruptions due to the Omicron variant and asked lenders to support sectors, besides farm, retail and MSMEs, that face interruption due to COVID. She also reviewed various steps taken by PSBs in implementing pandemic-related measures initiated by the government and RBI.

While appreciating the success of Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS), the Finance Minister said ‘it is not time yet to rest on our achievements, and that our collective efforts must strive towards supporting sectors that face interruption due to the continued onslaught of the COVID-19 pandemic’. She also conveyed to the bankers to continue supporting the agriculture sector, farmers, retail sector and MSMEs. She noted that business outlook is progressively improving despite the headwinds from global development and Omicron spread.

Sitharaman underlined that contact intensive sectors may require more support to help them fight against the pandemic. She also said that credit demand is expected to pick up on account of growth in retail segments, improvement in overall macroeconomic prospects and improving financial health of borrowers.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17909.35, up by 96.65 points or 0.54% after trading in a range of 17879.15 and 17978.15. There were 30 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining, while 1 stock remained unchanged on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Maruti Suzuki up by 3.43%, UPL up by 2.95%, Hero MotoCorp up by 2.73%, Infosys up by 2.59% and Tata Motors up by 2.05%. On the flip side, Wipro down by 2.31%, Asian Paints down by 1.21%, Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 0.77%, Nestle down by 0.70% and Reliance Industries down by 0.47% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Hang Seng increased 193.72 points or 0.82% to 23,687.10, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 61.33 points or 0.34% to 18,231.09, Straits Times advanced 23.79 points or 0.74% to 3,229.05, Jakarta Composite soared 15.56 points or 0.23% to 6,716.88 and Shanghai Composite gained 8.86 points or 0.25% to 3,588.40. On the flip side, Nikkei 225 slipped 9.31 points or 0.03% to 28,478.56 and KOSPI fell 27.22 points or 0.92% to 2,927.67.