Sensex, Nifty maintain gaining rally

Indian equity benchmarks maintained their gaining rally in early afternoon deals, aided by positive cues from other Asian markets. Sentiments remained positive, as the government approved the continuation of interest subvention scheme for short-term loans of up to Rs 3 lakh for agriculture and allied activities availed through Kisan Credit Card (KCC) during the current and the next fiscals. Adding more optimism among traders, Amit Shah said ‘we are moving at a fast pace towards achieving target of USD 5 trillion economy by 2025’. The street ignored a private report stating that the Indian economy is projected to grow 5.9 per cent in 2023, lower than 6.9 per cent growth estimated this year.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green, even after Japan's private sector activity contracted for the first time in three months in November amid a sharp downturn in the manufacturing sector. The flash survey results from S&P Global showed that the au Jibun Bank composite output index fell to 48.9 in November from 51.8 in the previous month. A score below 50.0 indicates contraction. The latest downturn was caused by poor performance at Japanese manufacturing firms due to cooling demand conditions and acute inflationary pressures.

Back home, media sector stocks were in focus after Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur said the Centre is working on a bill to regulate digital media. He said there used to be one-way communication of news earlier, but with the development of electronic and digital media, communication of news has become multidimensional.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 61870.68, up by 360.10 points or 0.59% after trading in a range of 61600.42 and 61918.98. There were 20 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining, while 1 stock remained unchanged on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.35%, while Small cap index was up by 0.48%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 1.09%, Oil & Gas up by 0.99%, TECK up by 0.94%, PSU up by 0.93% and Capital Goods up by 0.79%, while Telecom down by 0.34%, Realty down by 0.28%, Consumer Durables down by 0.23% and Metal down by 0.11% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were HCL Technologies up by 2.01%, Power Grid up by 1.88%, Infosys up by 1.45%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.33% and HDFC up by 1.27%. On the flip side, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.94%, Bajaj Finserv down by 0.61%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.45%, Indusind Bank down by 0.40% and Tata Steel down by 0.33% were the top losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, in a big relief to farmers, the government has given an approval for the continuation of interest subvention scheme for short-term loans of up to Rs 3 lakh for agriculture and allied activities availed through Kisan Credit Card (KCC) during the current and the next fiscals.

Under the scheme, farmers get loan at a concessional interest rate of 7 per cent. An additional interest subvention of 3 per cent per annum is provided to farmers who repay loans in time. In order to provide short-term crop loans for agriculture and allied activities, including animal husbandry, dairy, fisheries, and bee keeping, up to an overall limit of Rs 3 lakh to farmers through KCC at concessional interest rate, the government provides subsidy to banks.

In order to discourage distress sale by farmers and to encourage them to store their produce in warehouses, the benefit of interest subvention under KCC will also be available to small and marginal farmers for a further period of up to six months post the harvest of the crop against negotiable warehouse receipts of the produce stored in warehouses accredited with the Warehousing Development Regulatory Authority (WDRA).

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 18376.45, up by 109.20 points or 0.60% after trading in a range of 18294.25 and 18391.75. There were 35 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Apollo Hospital up by 3.41%, BPCL up by 3.14%, HDFC Life Insurance up by 2.93%, HCL Technologies up by 1.96% and Power Grid up by 1.84%. On the flip side, Coal India down by 1.13%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.91%, Bajaj Finserv down by 0.61%, Indusind Bank down by 0.50% and Bharti Airtel down by 0.50% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Hang Seng increased 88.40 points or 0.5% to 17,612.21, Nikkei 225 surged 267.35 points or 0.95% to 28,383.09, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 175.46 points or 1.2% to 14,784.00, Jakarta Composite soared 38.60 points or 0.55% to 7,092.72, KOSPI rose 23.32 points or 0.96% to 2,441.33, while Shanghai Composite declined 7.90 points or 0.26% to 3,089.01 and Straits Times trembled 0.85 points or 0.03% to 3,255.14.