Sensex, Nifty hold gaining rally in late morning session

Indian equity benchmarks held strong gaining rally in late morning session, with both Sensex and Nifty trading near their intraday high points. Positive cues from other Asian markets helped key indices to maintain rally. Sentiments remained optimistic, as Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that developing innovative financial products and services, and incentivising strategic investments are crucial for maximising development impact. Besides, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that eight years of the BJP-led NDA dispensation have been dedicated to the country's balanced development, social justice and social security.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading in green, even after consumer prices in Japan were up 2.5 percent on year in April, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said on Friday. That exceeded expectations for an increase of 2.4 percent and was up sharply from 1.2 percent in March. Core CPI, which excludes volatile food prices, was up 2.1 percent on year - in line with expectations and up from 0.8 percent in the previous month.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 54035.55, up by 1243.32 points or 2.36% after trading in a range of 53403.29 and 54110.31. There were 30 stocks advancing against no stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 1.71%, while Small cap index was up by 1.72%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 3.18%, Metal up by 2.98%, Capital Goods up by 2.84%, Industrials up by 2.78% and Auto up by 2.65%, while there were no losing sectoral indices on the BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 7.18%, Nestle up by 4.79%, Larsen & Toubro up by 3.71%, Hindustan Unilever up by 3.55% and Sun Pharma up by 3.19%.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Power has urged certain states, including Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra, to direct their utilities to clear total outstanding dues towards generating firms (gencos) and coal companies as failing to do so might affect electricity supply.

Union Power Secretary Alok Kumar has highlighted that lack of adherence to basic payment discipline by the utilities is not only causing supply side problems in generation of electricity, but also adversely affecting new investment in the sector. He stated that public utilities have higher responsibility to be ideal paymasters and upholders of contract laws of the country, adding that repeated indiscretion on part of the utilities goes against the very essence of these basic responsibilities.

He further stated that if the utilities continue to renounce their responsibilities for timely payments to their creditors, and do not wipe out their past and current dues on an urgent basis, this will have a perilous effect on the power supply. He added that inability of the utilities to pay for legitimate dues against electricity dispatched and the coal received is increasing the electricity supply side concerns to unprecedented levels.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 16194.15, up by 384.75 points or 2.43% after trading in a range of 16003.85 and 16210.70. There were 48 stocks advancing against 2 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 7.17%, Nestle up by 4.82%, JSW Steel up by 4.61%, Tata Motors up by 4.50% and Adani Ports & SEZ up by 3.96%. On the flip side, UPL down by 0.12% and Shree Cement down by 0.01% were the top losers.

All Asian markets were trading in green; Taiwan Weighted strengthened 138.37 points or 0.86% to 16,158.69, Nikkei 225 surged 315.58 points or 1.2% to 26,718.42, Jakarta Composite soared 119.11 points or 1.75% to 6,942.45, Straits Times advanced 40.97 points or 1.28% to 3,231.68, KOSPI rose 47.40 points or 1.83% to 2,639.74, Shanghai Composite gained 34.44 points or 1.11% to 3,131.40 and Hang Seng increased 368.95 points or 1.83% to 20,489.63.