Firm trade continued over the Dalal Street in late morning session, as bulls held their tight grip in the markets. Both the Sensex and the Nifty maintained their gaining rally with strong gains, on the back of positive cues from other Asian markets. Domestic sentiments were optimistic, amid reports that as part of furthering the ease of doing business in the country, the government is set to introduce a single-window clearance mechanism for investors by mid-April in order to attract greater foreign investment. The single-window portal will integrate the existing clearance systems of various central and state departments.
On the global front, Asian markets are trading higher, after South Korea's consumer confidence improved in March. The survey results from Bank of Korea showed that the consumer confidence index rose to 100.5 in March from 97.4 in February. The indicator measuring current living standards rose two points to 89 in March and that concerning the outlook for living standards increased one points to 95.
The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 49062.30, up by 622.18 points or 1.28% after trading in a range of 48699.91 and 49127.71. There were 28 stocks advancing against 2 stocks declining on the index.
The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 1.49%, while Small cap index was up by 1.05%.
The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 2.99%, Telecom up by 2.34%, Consumer Durables up by 2.27%, Basic Materials up by 1.85% and Consumer discretionary up by 1.81%, while there were no losing sectoral indices on the BSE.
The top gainers on the Sensex were Bajaj Finserv up by 3.98%, Asian Paints up by 3.55%, Titan Co up by 3.21%, Bajaj Auto up by 2.94% and Hindustan Unilever up by 2.60%. On the flip side, Power Grid down by 1.68% and Dr. Reddy’s Lab down by 0.20% were the top losers.
Meanwhile, a domestic rating agency -- Icra Ratings in its latest report said that the rising number of COVID-19 infections in recent weeks have reignited uncertainties related to the near-term outlook. It added that the uncertainty will persist over the next few months until the vaccines become available in India for all adults. The rating agency said Although the GDP has ‘reverted to pre-COVID levels in Q3 and Q4 FY21, uncertainty related to the near-term outlook has risen considerably in the recent weeks, following the spate of new COVID-19 infections, which have necessitated localised restrictions’.
Icra’s principal economist Aditi Nayar said the rapid economic recovery witnessed in India in H2 CY2020 has given way to an uneven performance amongst the lead indicators in the last two months. She said ‘One year post the lockdown, a favourable base effect will optically boost the performance of most sectors in March 2021’. She added that the GDP will register a 2 per cent growth in the ongoing fourth quarter of 2021.
The agency forecasts GDP growth in the financial year 2022 in a range of 10-11 per cent, and a key upside to the projection is a faster-than-expected pick-up in government spending in the coming fiscal year. The key risks to the recovery are the sustenance of the latest wave of COVID-19 infections and its spread to additional states, the existing vaccines not being effective enough against new variants of the infection, and a spike in commodity prices to a level that starts to constrain demand. The agency warned if the trend of increasing infections and localised lockdowns proliferates, it would temper the extent of the base effect-led recovery anticipated in the immediate term, and may lead to some supply-side disruptions.
The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 14538.05, up by 213.15 points or 1.49% after trading in a range of 14414.25 and 14544.65. There were 48 stocks advancing against 2 stocks declining on the index.
The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Steel up by 5.84%, Tata Motors up by 4.71%, Bajaj Finserv up by 4.05%, Hindalco up by 3.74% and Asian Paints up by 3.51%. On the flip side, Power Grid down by 1.69% and Dr. Reddy’s Lab down by 0.13% were the top losers.
Asian markets are trading higher; Nikkei 225 surged 418.29 points or 1.46% to 29,148.17, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 253.86 points or 1.58% to 16,314.00, Straits Times advanced 13.37 points or 0.43% to 3,155.08, Hang Seng increased 318.70 points or 1.14% to 28,218.31, KOSPI rose 26.72 points or 0.89% to 3,035.05, Shanghai Composite gained 46.18 points or 1.37% to 3,409.77 and Jakarta Composite soared 50.33 points or 0.82% to 6,173.21.