Markets continue to trade with strong gains in late afternoon session

Domestic equity markets continued to trade with strong gains in late afternoon session led by Reliance and ONGC after the government reduced windfall tax on fuel exports and domestic oil output. Further, buoyant global cues also aided the market sentiment. Sentiments got boost as economic Affairs Secretary Ajay Seth stated that the rupee is managed well and there is nothing to be 'overtly' worried about the depreciation in the domestic currency against the US dollar.  On the global front, Asian markets were trading higher after Wall Street rallied to its best day in more than three weeks overnight, helped by reasonably healthy corporate earnings for the past quarter. European markets were trading higher with oil and mining stocks leading the surge. Back home, traders were seen piling up position in IT, TECK, Metal, Energy and Oil & Gas, while selling was witnessed in Realty, Telecom and Auto.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 55485.93, up by 718.31 points or 1.31% after trading in a range of 55313.85 and 55630.26. There were 25 stocks advancing against 5 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.33%, while Small cap index was up by 0.50%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 2.44%, TECK up by 1.91%, Metal up by 1.60%, Energy up by 1.37% and Oil & Gas up by 1.10%, while Realty down by 0.37%, Telecom down by 0.26% and Auto down by 0.04% were the few losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tech Mahindra up by 3.52%, Reliance Industries up by 2.70%, TCS up by 2.64%, HCL Tech up by 2.63% and SBI up by 2.13%. On the flip side, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.29%, Sun Pharma Inds. down by 0.72%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.48%, Power Grid Corp down by 0.21% and Asian Paints down by 0.00% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in order to further enhance India’s existing manufacturing prowess in the Pharmaceuticals Industry, Department of Pharmaceuticals, Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers, Government of India is planning to launch a series of initiatives under the banner of Schemes for ‘Strengthening Pharmaceuticals Industry’ (SPI). Keeping in view the strategic role of MSMEs, who provide important forward and backward linkages to the industry, and also keeping in view that MSMEs tend to grow in clusters, these schemes shall address the issues of technology upgradation at both unit level and cluster level.

Besides, to strengthen the supply chain of Pharmaceuticals industry where MSMEs are an integral part, Government of India shall be incentivizing the intending MSME units going in for acquiring Schedule M certification or WHO GMP Certification through the sub-scheme Pharmaceuticals Industry Technology Upgradation Assistance Scheme (PTUAS). The MSME unit shall have the option to choose from either Capital subsidy or Interest subvention.

At the cluster level, the sub-scheme ‘Assistance to Pharmaceuticals Industry for Common Facilities’ (APICF) envisages to support creation of common facilities like Testing Labs, Common Effluent Treatment plants and other such common facilities by providing Government support in the form of capital grant to the extent of up to 70 per cent subject to a ceiling of a maximum of Rs. 20 crore. In order to plug the knowledge gap, the third sub-scheme proposes to conduct a series of awareness programs, conduct sectoral studies and organize similar such programs to generate soft inputs for policy advocacy.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 16542.65, up by 202.10 points or 1.24% after trading in a range of 16501.55 and 16588.00. There were 39 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining, while 2 stocks remained unchanged on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ONGC up by 3.95%, Tech Mahindra up by 3.58%, Reliance Industries up by 2.93%, HCL Tech. up by 2.73% and TCS up by 2.69%. On the flip side, HDFC Life Insurance down by 2.13%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.56%, Eicher Motors down by 0.94%, Sun Pharma down by 0.70% and Adani Ports &Special down by 0.39% were the top losers.

All Asian markets were trading higher; Straits Times advanced 46.91 points or 1.5% to 3,164.70, KOSPI rose 15.88 points or 0.67% to 2,386.85, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 39.14 points or 0.27% to 14,733.22, Hang Seng increased 229.16 points or 1.11% to 20,890.22, Shanghai Composite gained 25.29 points or 0.77% to 3,304.72, Nikkei 225 surged 718.58 points or 2.67% to 27,680.26 and Jakarta Composite was up by 138.65 points or 2.06% to 6,874.74.

European markets were trading higher, UK’s FTSE 100 rose 19.44 points or 0.26% to 7,313.92, France’s CAC surged 24.23 points or 0.39% to 6,224.99 and Germany’s DAX was up by 8.74 points or 0.07% to 13,318.17.