Benchmarks trade firm in early deals ahead of Union Budget 2022-23

Indian equity benchmarks made gap-up opening on Tuesday following gains in global markets and ahead of the Budget. Markets are trading firm in early deals with gains of over a percent each in early deals on account of buying in Bankex, Realty and Capital Goods stocks. All eyes today are on the Union Budget, which will be presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Parliament at 11 AM. This year's Union Budget will be presented in paperless form. Sentiments got a boost as GST collection in January crossed Rs 1.38 lakh crore in January, a growth of 15 per cent over the year-ago period. Some support also came in as India’s eight core sectors grew by 3.8 percent in December 2021 compared to 3.4 percent in November 2021. Meanwhile, data released by the Controller General of Accounts showed that the Centre's fiscal deficit rose to 50.4 percent of the FY22 target in April-December 2021, with a huge increase seen in tax collections as well as capital expenditure for the month of December 2021.

On the global front, the Japanese stock market is notably higher, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. Traders are also relived after Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said he is not yet considering declaring a state of emergency for Tokyo. Besides, the manufacturing sector in Japan continued to expand in January, and at a faster pace, the latest survey from Jibun Bank showed a manufacturing PMI score of 55.4. Elsewhere in Asia, most of the regional bourses are closed on Tuesday for the Lunar New Year, including South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, China, Hong Kong and Indonesia.

Back home, according to the latest data from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), banks' non-food credit growth accelerated to 9.3 percent in December from 6.6 per cent in the same period of the last year. On the sectoral front, auto companies are in focus as they are releasing their respective January auto sales numbers. In scrip specific development, Sun Pharma traded higher as it posted a 11 per cent YoY rise in consolidated revenues to Rs 9,814.2 crore in Q3FY22, riding on strong growth in its key markets - India and the US.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 58743.52, up by 729.35 points or 1.26% after trading in a range of 58493.63 and 58766.19. There were 29 stocks advancing against 1 stock declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.59%, while Small cap index was up by 0.82%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Bankex up by 1.89%, Realty up by 1.51%, Capital Goods up by 1.13%, IT up by 0.96%, Utilities up by 0.93%, while Oil & Gas down by 0.28% was the sole losing index on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Indusind Bank up by 3.13%, ICICI Bank up by 2.73%, Axis Bank up by 2.19%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.95% and HDFC up by 1.94%. On the flip side, Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 0.49% was the only loser.

Meanwhile, Indian economy contracted by 6.6% in 2020-21 as against the earlier estimate of 7.3% decline, showing that the COVID-19 pandemic hit economy did not perform as badly as was initially worked out. As per the provisional estimates released in May 2021, the GDP had contracted by 7.3 per cent during 2020-21 on account of the outbreak of COVID-19 and subsequent nationwide lockdown to contain the pandemic. The National Statistical Office (NSO) has also revised downward the real GDP growth number for 2019-20 to 3.7 per cent as against the earlier estimate of 4 per cent.

The NSO under Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation in its first revised estimates showed that Real GDP or GDP at constant (2011-12) prices for the years 2020-21 and 2019-20 stood at Rs 135.58 lakh crore and Rs 145.16 lakh crore, respectively, showing a contraction of 6.6 per cent during 2020-21 as compared to growth of 3.7 per cent during 2019-20. In terms of real GVA (gross value added), i.e., GVA at constant (2011-12) basic prices, there has been a contraction of 4.8 per cent in 2020-21, as against growth of 3.8 per cent in 2019-20.

During 2020-21, the growth rates of the primary sector (comprising agriculture, forestry, fishing and mining & quarrying), secondary sector (comprising manufacturing, electricity, gas, water supply & other utility services, and construction) and tertiary sector (services) have been estimated as 1.6 per cent, (-)2.8 per cent and (-) 7.8 per cent as against a growth of 1.9 per cent, (-) 6.8 per cent and (-) 8.4 per cent, respectively, in the previous year.

Nominal Net National Income (NNI) or NNI at current prices for the year 2020-21 stands at Rs 171.94 lakh crore as against Rs 177.17 lakh crore in 2019-20, showing a contraction of 2.9 per cent during 2020-21 as against growth of 6 per cent in the previous year. Per Capita Income i.e. Per Capita Net National Income at current prices is estimated at Rs 1,32,115 and Rs 1,26,855 respectively for the years 2019-20 and 2020-21. Private Final Consumption Expenditure (PFCE) at current prices is estimated at Rs 120.33 lakh crore for the year 2020-21 as against Rs 122.37 lakh crore in 2019-20. Government Final Consumption Expenditure (GFCE) at current prices is estimated at Rs 23.93 lakh crore for the year 2020-21 as against Rs 22.01 lakh crore during 2019-20.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17533.90, up by 194.05 points or 1.12% after trading in a range of 17468.50 and 17549.30. There were 43 stocks advancing against 7 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Britannia Industries up by 4.55%, Indusind Bank up by 2.99%, ICICI Bank up by 2.71%, Sun Pharma up by 2.22% and HDFC Life Insurance up by 2.18%. On the flip side, BPCL down by 2.44%, IOC down by 2.44%, Tata Motors down by 2.10%, ONGC down by 0.81% and Bajaj Auto down by 0.46% were the top losers.

In the Asian markets, Nikkei 225 rose 30.61 points or 0.11% to 27,032.59.