Benchmarks extend previous session's gains with gap-up opening

With a gap-up opening Indian equity benchmarks have extended their previous session gains and are trading higher by around 0.75 percent each in early deals on Monday, taking cues from their Asian peers. Meanwhile, the session are also proving good for broader indices which are trading with gains in the range of 0.85-1.10%. The sentiment got a boost as SBI Research in its latest report has said that the income of farmers has grown in the range of 1.3-1.7 times in FY22 from the FY18 levels on average while grain exports soared to over USD 50 billion. For certain crops in some states (like soyabean in Maharashtra and cotton in Karnataka) farmers' income more than doubled in FY22 from FY18 levels. Further, traders were also getting encouragement with Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its article stating that the impact of US Federal Reserve’s announcement in November last year to taper its asset purchases was moderate on Indian financial markets largely due to the country’s strong external position in 2021.

On the global front, Asian markets are trading higher following the broadly positive cues from US markets on Friday, as fairly encouraging economic data from the US and upbeat earnings updates from some top companies helped lift sentiment. Back home, all the sectoral indices on the BSE were trading in green led by Capital Goods, IT, Metal, TECK and Utilities.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 54155.98, up by 395.20 points or 0.74% after trading in a range of 54034.97 and 54246.76. There were 26 stocks advancing against 4 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.85%, while Small cap index up by 1.07%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Capital Goods up by 1.95%, IT up by 1.67%, Metal up by 1.59%, TECK up by 1.49% and Utilities up by 1.46%, while there were no losing sectoral indices.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Infosys up by 2.27%, Larsen & Toubro up by 2.16%, Tech Mahindra up by 2.02%, Indusind Bank up by 1.76% and Sun Pharma Inds. up by 1.74%. On the flip side, HDFC Bank down by 0.79%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.50%, HDFC down by 0.33% and Bharti Airtel down by 0.15% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, SBI Research in its latest report has said that the income of farmers has grown in the range of 1.3-1.7 times in FY22 from the FY18 levels on average while grain exports soared to over USD 50 billion. For certain crops in some states (like soyabean in Maharashtra and cotton in Karnataka) farmers' income more than doubled in FY22 from FY18 levels.

The increase in the income of farmers engaged in cash crops has been more prominent compared to farmers growing non-cash crops. This also has led to an increase in the share of agriculture in the GDP to 18.8 per cent from 14.2 per cent, the report said. This rise was also due to the shrinkage of the industrial and services contribution to the economy due to the deadly second wave of the pandemic.

Further, the report, based on key farming states like Maharashtra, Rajasthan, MP, UP, Karnataka, and Gujarat among others, noted that allied/non-farm income showed a significant increase of 1.4-1.8 times in the majority of states in tandem with farm income during this period, substantiating the trend in the 77th National Sample Survey that said source of farmers income has become increasingly diverse apart from crops. Besides, the report also urges the government to launch a livelihood credit card by targeting at least 1 million farmers every year and an omnibus credit guarantee fund for Rs 5 lakh crore agri credit push.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 16169.50, up by 120.30 points or 0.75% after trading in a range of 16142.20 and 16199.70. There were 45 stocks advancing against 5 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Hindalco up by 2.91%, Infosys up by 2.42%, Tech Mahindra up by 2.20%, Larsen & Toubro up by 2.12% and Ultratech Cement up by 1.86%. On the flip side, Britannia Inds down by 0.88%, HDFC Bank down by 0.76%, HDFC down by 0.43%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.30% and Apollo Hospital Ent. down by 0.04% were the top losers.

All Asian markets are trading higher; Straits Times advanced 18.81 points or 0.61% to 3,117.96, KOSPI rose 42.47 points or 1.82% to 2,373.45, Jakarta Composite soared 6.93 points or 0.1% to 6,658.84, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 89.25 points or 0.61% to 14,639.87, Shanghai Composite gained 48.11 points or 1.49% to 3,276.17 and Hang Seng was up by 514.48 points or 2.53% to 20,812.20.