Markets trade firm in early deals; Metal stocks shine

Indian equity benchmarks made slightly positive start on Monday amid mixed Asian cues and ahead of Services PMI to be out later in the day. But, soon markets gained traction and are trading firm with gains of over half a percent each in early deals on account of broad based buying in almost all the sector indices, except healthcare. Sentiments got a boost as hoping for a double-digit growth in GDP in this financial year, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the nation is on a strong wicket when compared to others, and is responsive in terms of extending hand-holding to the required sections. Adding more optimism on the street, a State Bank of India report stated India is likely to become the third largest economy by 2029. India is currently ranked fifth largest economy. Besides, foreign investors have pumped in a little over Rs 51,200 crore into the Indian equity markets in August, making it the highest inflow in 20 months, amid improving risk sentiment and stabilisation in oil prices. Meanwhile, the commerce ministry showed that India's exports contracted by 1.15 per cent to $33 billion and trade deficit more than doubled to 28.68 billion in August. Trade deficit in August 2021 stood at 11.71 billion.

On the global front, Asian markets are trading mixed following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street on Friday, as traders remain concerned aver the outlook for the global economy amid the energy crisis in Europe and the report of fresh COVID-19 related lockdowns in China following new virus outbreaks, with the sixth-largest city Chengdu entering full lockdown. Adding more pessimism, the latest survey from Jibun Bank revealed Japan’s services sector fell into contraction territory in August, with a services PMI score of 49.5. Back home, metal stocks were in focus as Icra said it expects steel prices to remain under pressure in the country over the near future as the prices in the domestic market cannot be cushioned from the global trends. In stock specific development, JSW Steel jumped on reports that LIC has increased its stake in the company to 7 percent from 5 percent.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 59154.14, up by 350.81 points or 0.60% after trading in a range of 58812.20 and 59173.95. There were 22 stocks advancing against 8 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index surged 0.33%, while Small cap index was up by 0.71%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 1.14%, Telecom up by 0.94%, Realty up by 0.75%, Industrials up by 0.72%, Capital Goods up by 0.71%, while Healthcare down by 0.16% was the sole losing index on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ICICI Bank up by 1.39%, Reliance Industries up by 1.36%, HCL Technologies up by 1.06%, ITC up by 1.04% and Tech Mahindra up by 1.03%. On the flip side, Power Grid down by 0.96%, Nestle down by 0.65%, Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 0.53%, Asian Paints down by 0.45% and Ultratech Cement down by 0.37% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has expressed aspiration for a double-digit growth in gross domestic product (GDP) in this financial year, and said the nation is on a strong wicket when compared to others, and is responsive in terms of extending hand-holding to the required sections. She also said the country has zero per cent chance of slipping into recession.

She said ‘I hope for (double-digit growth). We will work for it…So if you’re not on the verge of recession, it also gives me the confidence that if you are constantly responsive in terms of the sections which need hand-holding, in terms of the boost that we have to give to the economy…’. Recent figures released by the Centre indicated that the nation clocked 13.5 per cent growth in GDP in the first quarter of the current financial year. It was 20.1 per cent a year ago.

She further said some may argue that the high growth rate is because of the low base. She added ‘compared to economies we are talking about, we are on a sound wicket. We are literally the fastest growing economy’. Referring to the World Bank and IMF reports, the Union minister said she was also taking into consideration the fact that economies which were far more developed than India and comparable with the country, are on the verge of recession.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17637.80, up by 98.35 points or 0.56% after trading in a range of 17540.35 and 17646.20. There were 30 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Hindalco up by 2.35%, JSW Steel up by 1.66%, Adani Ports & SEZ up by 1.40%, ICICI Bank up by 1.35% and Reliance Industries up by 1.23%. On the flip side, Divi's Lab down by 1.02%, Shree Cement down by 1.00%, Power Grid down by 0.89%, Nestle down by 0.72% and Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 0.65% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mixed; Straits Times rose 8.41 points or 0.26% to 3,214.10, Taiwan Weighted added 5.96 points or 0.04% to 14,679.00, Jakarta Composite advanced 42.68 points or 0.59% to 7,219.86 and Shanghai Composite was up by 3.06 points or 0.10% to 3,189.54. On the other hand, Nikkei 225 fell 11.81 points or 0.04% to 27,639.03, Hang Seng slipped 244.49 points or 1.26% to 19,207.60 and KOSPI was down by 6.57 points or 0.27% to 2,402.84.