Paring all their initial losses, key gauges made smart recovery to enter into green terrain in late trade as traders opted to buy beaten down but fundamentally strong stocks. Traders took some support with report that India received $64 billion in Foreign Direct Investment in 2020, the fifth largest recipient of inflows in the world, according to a UN report which said the COVID-19 second wave in the country weighs heavily on the country's overall economic activities but its strong fundamentals provide optimism for the medium term.
Positive cues from European markets too aided sentiments with all the European counters trading higher at this point of time despite sluggish opening. Asian markets were lower following jitters in global markets over the more hawkish tone from the U.S. Federal Reserve last week. Back home, shares of Central Bank of India and Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) were locked in 20 per cent upper circuit on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) on the back of heavy volumes amid reports that the two financial institutions might be privatised.
The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 52487.46, up by 143.01 points or 0.27% after trading in a range of 51740.19 and 52555.08. There were 20 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index.
The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.73%, while Small cap index was up by 0.74%.
The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Power up by 2.22%, Realty up by 2.00%, Utilities up by 1.62%, PSU up by 1.19% and Oil & Gas was up by 0.96%, while Auto down by 0.55%, IT down by 0.38% and TECK down by 0.34% were the few losing indices on BSE.
The top gainers on the Sensex were NTPC up by 3.48%, Hindustan Unilever up by 1.87%, Titan Company up by 1.59%, SBI up by 1.49% and Ultratech Cement up by 1.30%. On the flip side, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.97%, Maruti Suzuki down by 0.96%, TCS down by 0.73%, Larsen & Toubro down by 0.50% and Tech Mahindra down by 0.42% were the top losers.
Meanwhile, the Retirement fund body, Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) in its latest ‘Provisional Estimate of Net Payroll’ data report has showed that India created 1275729 new jobs in the month of April 2021.
As per the report, the maximum jobs were created in the age bracket of 22-25 and in this bracket the top sectors which have created more fresh jobs include Expert Services; Trading-Commercial Establishments; Establishment Engaged in Manufacture, Marketing Servicing; Engineers- Engineering Contractors; Building & Construction Industry; Financing Establishment and Hospitals. In the similar age bracket, Maharashtra was the first among the States to create maximum payroll, followed by Karnataka, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Haryana and Delhi.
According to the data report, 6424 new jobs were created in less than 18 age group category, while 225920 jobs in 18-21 age group category. Further, 22-25 age, 26-28 age, 29-35 age and more than 35 age group category witnessed 327019, 185564, 271833 and 258969 new payrolls, respectively in April 2021.
The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 15720.90, up by 37.55 points or 0.24% after trading in a range of 15505.65 and 15741.60. There were 34 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.
The top gainers on Nifty were Adani Ports up by 5.15%, NTPC up by 3.26%, Hindustan Unilever up by 1.72%, Titan Company up by 1.56% and SBI up by 1.36%. On the flip side, UPL down by 4.15%, Wipro down by 1.62%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.06%, Hindalco down by 1.02% and Maruti Suzuki down by 0.98% were the top losers.
Asian markets were trading mostly lower; Nikkei 225 slipped 953.15 points or 3.29% to 28,010.93, Jakarta Composite lost 10.87 points or 0.18% to 5,996.25, Taiwan Weighted dropped 255.56 points or 1.48% to 17,062.98, Straits Times trembled 26.86 points or 0.85% to 3,117.30, Hang Seng decreased 312.27 points or 1.08% to 28,489.00 and KOSPI was down by 27.14 points or 0.83% to 3,240.79. On the other hand, Shanghai Composite was up by 4.08 points or 0.12% to 3,529.18.
European markets were trading higher, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 3.44 points or 0.05% to 7,020.91, France’s CAC increased 2.07 points or 0.03% to 6,571.23 and Germany’s DAX was up by 38.39 points or 0.25% to 15,486.43.