Indian equity benchmarks maintained their gaining momentum in late morning session, with both Sensex and Nifty holding strong gains. Positive cues from other Asian markets helped key indices to remain higher. Domestic sentiments were positive, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi described as ‘landmark’ the decision to include retail and wholesale trade as MSMEs, which will allow traders the benefits of priority sector lending, and said his government is committed to empowering the community. Besides, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that the government has been proactive in responding to the challenges caused by COVID-19 and is also taking up substantial reforms despite the pandemic.
On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green, even after China's service sector expanded at a much slower pace in June as the recent uptick in COVID-19 cases and reduced travel dampened overall new business. The survey results published by IHS Markit showed that the Caixin services Purchasing Managers' Index fell notably to 50.3 in June from 55.1 in May. Nonetheless, the index has remained above the neutral 50 mark for the fourteenth successive month.
The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 52829.29, up by 344.62 points or 0.66% after trading in a range of 52604.35 and 52871.29. There were 27 stocks advancing against 3 stocks declining on the index.
The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.28%, while Small cap index was up by 0.92%.
The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 2.01%, Telecom up by 1.30%, Consumer discretionary up by 0.98%, Auto up by 0.90% and Basic Materials up by 0.76%, while Power down by 0.33% was the only losing index on BSE.
The top gainers on the Sensex were Larsen & Toubro up by 1.30%, Bajaj Finserv up by 1.28%, Bajaj Finance up by 1.24%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.20% and HDFC Bank up by 1.15%. On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 0.80%, Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 0.10% and Titan Co down by 0.09% were the top losers.
Meanwhile, in order to improve urban freight efficiency, and create an opportunity for reduction in the logistics costs, the commerce ministry has unveiled plans for freight smart cities. Under the freight smart cities initiative, city-level logistics committees would be formed and they will have related government departments and agencies at the local and state levels. These would also include the private sector from the logistics services and also users of logistics services.
It said ‘On the freight smart city initiatives, the logistics division is working closely with GIZ (Germany) under Indo-German Development Cooperation, Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) and RMI India. A challenge is expected to be announced to encourage the participation of cities in this initiative’. From the 10 cities to be identified on immediate basis, it is planned to expand the list to 75 cities in the next phase before scaling up throughout the country, including all state capitals and cities that have more than one million population. However, the list of cities to be taken up would be finalised in consultation with the state governments.
Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Hardeep Singh Puri launched a website on 'Freight Smart Cities' and also released a handbook outlining 14 measures that can be taken to improve urban freight. He urged the states to identify 10 cities, to begin with, to be developed as freight smart cities and to set up institutional mechanisms for the same.
The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 15823.95, up by 101.75 points or 0.65% after trading in a range of 15762.05 and 15833.20. There were 39 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index.
The top gainers on Nifty were Hindalco up by 1.95%, Eicher Motors up by 1.75%, Larsen & Toubro up by 1.34%, Bajaj Finance up by 1.24% and Bajaj Finserv up by 1.24%. On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 0.85%, HDFC Life Insurance down by 0.65%, JSW Steel down by 0.48%, BPCL down by 0.38% and Wipro down by 0.24% were the top losers.
Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Taiwan Weighted strengthened 215.23 points or 1.22% to 17,925.38, KOSPI rose 14.49 points or 0.44% to 3,296.27, Straits Times advanced 8.50 points or 0.27% to 3,137.45 and Shanghai Composite gained 5.54 points or 0.16% to 3,524.30. On the flip side, Jakarta Composite lost 31.37 points or 0.52% to 5,991.64, Hang Seng decreased 128.70 points or 0.45% to 28,181.72 and Nikkei 225 slipped 164.80 points or 0.57% to 28,618.48.