Benchmarks add some gains after RBI keeps repo rate unchanged

Indian equity benchmarks added some gains in morning deals, after the Monetary Policy Committee of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its December review meeting unanimously decided to keep the policy repo rate unchanged at 6.5 per cent, thus maintaining status quo for the fifth straight time. Some support also came with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s statement that India continues to maintain the momentum of the fastest-growing major economy, with all sectors contributing significantly in economic activities. Adding to the optimism, Fitch Ratings said India's expanding consumer market and vast labour force can make it an alternative destination to China as part of countries' supply chain diversification. On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly in green as bond yields, interest rate expectations, oil prices and inflationary pressures around the world are falling, and the conviction behind this broad-based move appears to be strengthening.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 69864.73, up by 343.04 points or 0.49% after trading in a range of 69606.69 and 69888.33. There were 24 stocks advancing against 6 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.32%, while Small cap index was up by 0.45%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 1.43%, Realty up by 1.22%, PSU up by 0.77%, Capital Goods up by 0.71% and Basic Materials up by 0.58%, while Telecom down by 0.31%, Auto down by 0.19% and FMCG down by 0.03% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were JSW Steel up by 3.50%, NTPC up by 2.01%, HCL Technologies up by 1.64%, HDFC Bank up by 1.18% and Larsen & Toubro up by 1.12%. On the flip side, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.77%, Bajaj Finance down by 0.55%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.39%, Maruti Suzuki down by 0.28% and SBI down by 0.24% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar has said that the digital economy will contribute 20 per cent of India's gross domestic product (GDP) by 2026. Chandrasekhar asserted that India has now become the fastest growing digital economy in the world.

She stated, in 2014, the digital economy was around 4.5 per cent of the GDP and today it is 11 per cent. By 2026, digital economy will account for 20 per cent or one-fifth of the Indian GDP. He added targets and ambitions set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he launched ‘the Digital India' programme in 2015 have transformed qualitatively as well as quantitatively our economy, our innovation ecosystem and our position as a nation in the world’.

Further, he said India's position has transformed from being the consumer of technology for nearly three decades to being the producer of devices, products and platforms for the world. Besides, he said it was a remarkable transformation during the last nine years under the PM. Indian economy, which was once dominated by a few groups or segments, has now become a highly diversified economy.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 20999.65, up by 98.50 points or 0.47% after trading in a range of 20932.55 and 21005.05. There were 34 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were JSW Steel up by 3.50%, NTPC up by 2.40%, HCL Technologies up by 1.58%, LTIMindtree up by 1.44% and Hindalco up by 1.33%. On the flip side, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.82%, Bajaj Finance down by 0.63%, BPCL down by 0.62%, Hero MotoCorp down by 0.60% and Bharti Airtel down by 0.60% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in green; Taiwan Weighted added 105.45 points or 0.61% to 17,384.19, Hang Seng advanced 33.71 points or 0.21% to 16,379.60, Straits Times rose 31.82 points or 1.04% to 3,106.08, KOSPI increased 26.18 points or 1.05% to 2,518.25, Jakarta Composite gained 30.92 points or 0.43% to 7,165.54 and Shanghai Composite strengthened 12.77 points or 0.43% to 2,978.98.

On the flip side, Nikkei 225 slipped 605.52 points or 1.84% to 32,252.79.