Bourses continue firm trade in late afternoon session

Key benchmark indices continued their firm trade in late afternoon session. Bajaj Finance, NTPC, SBI and Indusind Bank were top gainers. Traders took support after Retailers Association of India (RAI) in its latest survey has said that retail businesses across India grew 23 per cent in April 2022 in terms of sales as compared to pre-pandemic levels of the same month in 2019 with customers coming back to stores. Besides, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said that the comprehensive trade agreement between India and the UAE will help in creating huge job opportunities and boost growth of the domestic economy. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed due to fears of surging inflation and supply chain woes inflicted by Beijing’s punishing zero-Covid policy. European markets were trading mostly in red as alarmingly weak economic data from China fanned global recession fears.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 53102.47, up by 308.85 points or 0.59% after trading in a range of 52632.48 and 53428.28. There were 19 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 1.45%, while Small cap index was up by 0.90%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 2.82%, Telecom up by 2.52%, Auto up by 2.15%, Utilities up by 1.86% and Power was up by 1.80%, while IT down by 0.34%, TECK down by 0.27%, FMCG down by 0.17% and Oil & Gas was down by 0.03% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bajaj Finance up by 3.22%, NTPC up by 3.05%, SBI up by 2.81%, Indusind Bank up by 2.53% and Maruti Suzuki up by 2.46%. On the flip side, Ultratech Cement down by 2.80%, Asian Paints down by 1.94%, ITC down by 1.60%, Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 1.15% and Nestle down by 1.11% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, underlining a number of steps being taken by the government to address the rising inflation, Principal Economic Advisor to Government of India Sanjeev Sanyal has said that India has broadly come out of the turbulence that occured due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sanyal said that a speed up in the economic recovery can be seen. On the economic recovery post-COVID-19 pandemic front, Sanyal also highlighted a number of steps taken by the government, saying that a lot of sectors, like tourism, which were shut down, are coming back.

Besides, Sanyal said ‘this year, according to IMF, our economy might see economic growth of 8.2 per cent, it is the fastest in the world and I would say that it means that broadly we are now out of the turbulence that occured due to the pandemic.’

Further, on the government's course of action, if the COVID-19 situation worsens in the country and the possibility of another nationwide lockdown, Sanyal said ‘We are always alert that if a new wave comes, we will have to do something.’

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 15878.35, up by 96.20 points or 0.61% after trading in a range of 15739.65 and 15977.95. There were 32 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Eicher Motors up by 6.84%, Apollo Hospital up by 3.85%, Bajaj Finance up by 3.14%, NTPC up by 2.91% and SBI up by 2.90%. On the flip side, Ultratech Cement down by 2.82%, Shree Cement down by 2.37%, Asian Paints down by 1.93%, ITC down by 1.59% and Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 1.21% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed, Nikkei 225 surged 119.40 points or 0.45% to 26,547.05, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 68.50 points or 0.43% to 15,901.04 and Hang Seng was up by 51.44 points or 0.26% to 19,950.21. On the flip side, KOSPI fell 7.66 points or 0.29% to 2,596.58 and Shanghai Composite was down by 10.53 points or 0.34% to 3,073.75.

European markets were trading mostly in red, France’s CAC decreased 8.77 points or 0.14% to 6,353.91 and Germany’s DAX was down by 20.65 points or 0.15% to 14,007.28. On the flip side, UK’s FTSE 100 was up by 10.29 points or 0.14% to 7,428.44.