Sensex, Nifty remain in green in late morning session

Indian equity benchmarks remained in green in late morning session, on the back of positive cues from other Asian markets. Domestic sentiments were positive, amid a private report stating that India’s economy maintained its momentum in April as a wider reopening from the pandemic kept rising prices from depressing demand for the time being. Activity in the services sector as well as factories gained last month, while the three-month weighted averages of monthly changes in indicators from exports to credit demand suggested enduring strength.

Besides, another report stated that in a bid to streamline expenditure amidst pressure on the Centre's fiscal math, the Finance Ministry has allowed government departments to carry over their unspent amounts to subsequent quarters.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading in green, even after China's industrial profits declined in April as lockdowns disrupted production and higher raw material prices squeezed margins. The data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed that in April, industrial profits decreased 8.5 percent from the previous year. This was the biggest fall since early 2020.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 54525.87, up by 273.34 points or 0.50% after trading in a range of 54464.28 and 54791.78. There were 18 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 1.03%, while Small cap index was up by 0.93%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 1.57%, TECK up by 1.12%, Bankex up by 0.83%, Industrials up by 0.78% and Auto up by 0.68%, while Oil & Gas down by 1.38%, Energy down by 1.15%, PSU down by 0.84%, Metal down by 0.37% and Utilities down by 0.11% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tech Mahindra up by 3.49%, Bajaj Finance up by 3.26%, Bajaj Finserv up by 2.50%, Indusind Bank up by 2.21% and HCL Tech up by 1.70%. On the flip side, Asian Paints down by 1.80%, NTPC down by 1.52%, Reliance Industries down by 1.02%, Power Grid down by 0.90% and Tata Steel down by 0.87% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, economic research think-tank Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) has estimated that labour participation rate (LPR) was higher in rural India during the period January to April 2022. LPR, defined as the number of persons of the labour force employed as a percentage of working age population, is 40.9 in rural India as compared to 37.4 in urban India during the period January to April 2022.

According to CMIE, the percentage of LPR among urban male is much higher at 64.2 per cent as against 6.7 per cent among urban female. During the period unemployment rate in India was 7.43 per cent, with 7.8 per cent in urban India and 7.2 per cent in rural areas.  It also noted that state-wise LPR is the highest in Meghalaya at 60.1 per cent, followed by 52.5 per cent in Tripura and the least in Uttarakhand at 30.9 per cent. LPR in West Bengal during the period stood at 44.6 per cent, almost at par with Assam at 44.5 per cent.

CMIE said that a society where a large proportion of the adult population join the labour force and are mostly gainfully employed, is one which is free from economic vulnerability. Such a society automatically motivates households to spend more to improve the quality of life and in the process it propels economic growth and more employment. It also said that an increase in unemployment reduces aggregate spending power, slows down economic growth and enhances the economic vulnerability of the households to deal with economic shocks. 

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 16247.55, up by 77.40 points or 0.48% after trading in a range of 16234.65 and 16329.35. There were 31 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tech Mahindra up by 3.42%, Bajaj Finance up by 3.15%, HDFC Life Insurance up by 2.85%, Apollo Hospital Ent. up by 2.81% and Bajaj Finserv up by 2.45%. On the flip side, ONGC down by 6.22%, Asian Paints down by 1.79%, BPCL down by 1.62%, NTPC down by 1.52% and Reliance Industries down by 1.01% were the top losers.

All Asian markets were trading in green; Taiwan Weighted strengthened 281.39 points or 1.76% to 16,250.22, Hang Seng increased 556.60 points or 2.77% to 20,672.80, KOSPI rose 24.32 points or 0.93% to 2,636.77, Shanghai Composite gained 16.33 points or 0.52% to 3,139.44, Nikkei 225 surged 171.15 points or 0.64% to 26,775.99, Straits Times advanced 14.70 points or 0.46% to 3,223.88 and Jakarta Composite soared 112.60 points or 1.64% to 6,996.10.