Sensex, Nifty add gains in late morning session

Indian equity benchmarks added some gains in late morning session, with both Sensex and Nifty trading in green terrain, despite negative cues from other Asian markets. Traders were positive, as Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal called upon stakeholders in the innovation ecosystem to strive to take India to the top 25 in the Global Innovation Index from the 46th position recorded in 2021. Besides, issues such as addressing the large trade deficit, greater market access and non-tariff barriers faced by Indian exporters will figure in the meeting of trade ministers of India and Korea on Tuesday.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red, even after South Korea had a current account surplus of $7.16 billion in November, the Bank of Korea said on Tuesday - up from $6.95 billion in October. The goods account surplus decreased to $5.95 billion, compared to the $9.95 billion figure in November 2020. The services account deficit fell to $0.14 billion, from $0.98 billion in November last year, owing to an improvement in the transport account.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 60580.84, up by 185.21 points or 0.31% after trading in a range of 60281.52 and 60621.37. There were 15 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.23%, while Small cap index was up by 0.59%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.31%, IT up by 1.02%, Energy up by 0.79%, TECK up by 0.70% and Utilities up by 0.58%, while Metal down by 1.45%, Telecom down by 0.93%, Basic Materials down by 0.28%, FMCG down by 0.16% and PSU down by 0.04% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were HCL Tech up by 3.81%, HDFC up by 1.52%, Sun Pharma up by 1.13%, Reliance Industries up by 1.10% and NTPC up by 0.99%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 1.78%, Asian Paints down by 1.28%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.25%, Bajaj Finance down by 1.15% and Bajaj Finserv down by 0.55% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, The Quarterly Employment Survey (QES) report released by Union Labour Minister Bhupender Yadav said that total employment in nine select sectors stood at 3.10 crore in the July-September 2021 quarter (Q2FY22), which is 2 lakh more than that of the April-June period.

The minister noted that these nine sectors are Manufacturing, Construction, Trade, Transport, Education, Health, Accommodation and Restaurant, IT/ BPO and Financial Services, accounting for a majority of the total employment in the non-farm establishments. He also pointed out that the rise shows improvement in economic activities after lifting of lockdown restrictions by states to curb the spread of deadly virus after the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic hit the country in April 2021.

He further stated that the study covers establishment with 10 or more employees and these studies will aid government to achieve its mission of last-mile delivery and evidence-based policy making for workers. He also expressed hope that India will soon be able to come out of the third wave of the pandemic.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 18050.85, up by 47.55 points or 0.26% after trading in a range of 17964.40 and 18059.15. There were 25 stocks advancing against 25 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were HCL Tech. up by 3.84%, HDFC up by 1.55%, Divi's Lab up by 1.21%, Reliance Industries up by 1.11% and Sun Pharma up by 1.08%. On the flip side, JSW Steel down by 2.34%, Tata Steel down by 1.80%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.26%, Asian Paints down by 1.20% and Bajaj Finance down by 1.19% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Nikkei 225 slipped 254.70 points or 0.89% to 28,223.86, Taiwan Weighted dropped 29.10 points or 0.16% to 18,210.28, Jakarta Composite lost 17.07 points or 0.26% to 6,674.05, Shanghai Composite declined 2.70 points or 0.08% to 3,590.82 and KOSPI fell 0.89 points or 0.03% to 2,925.83. On the flip side, Straits Times advanced 13.82 points or 0.43% to 3,240.87 and Hang Seng increased 87.03 points or 0.37% to 23,833.57.