Extending previous session’s gains, Indian equity benchmarks started the session on positive note on Tuesday on the back of firm global cues. Soon, markets gained the momentum and are trading in fine-fettle in early deals. Sensex and Nifty surpassed their crucial 61,300 and 18,200 levels, with over half a percent gains. Some support came in as a private report stated that the economy is likely to register a 9.5 per cent growth this fiscal over 7.3 per cent contraction last year, as the ongoing recovery is faster and more credible than earlier foreseen. Traders may take note of report where Power Minister R K Singh has exuded confidence that there will be no power shortage in the country amid the ongoing low coal stocks at power plants and stressed on timely payments by distribution companies to the plants for electricity supplied to them. Meanwhile, batting for green hydrogen as a transport fuel, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari has said there is a need to make India a country that will not be dependent on imports of petrol and diesel.
Most of the Asian markets traded higher following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, with upbeat earnings news continuing to contribute to the recent upward trend, as most companies have reported better than expected results. The mood also remained cautious amid the coronavirus situation in the region. Back home, telecom stocks were in focus as the government amended the telecom licence norms to reduce the tax burden on telecom operators by exempting all non-telecom revenues, income from dividends, interest, property sale and rent, among others, for calculation of levies like licence fees and spectrum usage charges. In scrip specific development, Tech Mahindra traded higher as its Q2FY22 net rose 25.8 per cent YoY to Rs 1,339 crore, while revenue grew 16.1 per cent YoY to Rs 10,881 crore.
The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 61310.89, up by 343.84 points or 0.56% after trading in a range of 60997.90 and 61375.64. There were 23 stocks advancing against 7 stocks declining on the index.
The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 1.38%, while Small cap index was up by 1.75%.
The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 2.48%, Realty up by 1.86%, Consumer Durables up by 1.52%, TECK up by 1.40%, IT up by 1.32%, while there was no loser.
The top gainers on the Sensex were Tech Mahindra up by 6.00%, Bharti Airtel up by 2.55%, Bajaj Finance up by 1.96%, Tata Steel up by 1.66% and SBI up by 1.48%. On the flip side, Axis Bank down by 1.02%, ICICI Bank down by 0.99%, Power Grid down by 0.65%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.48% and Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.22% were the top losers.
Meanwhile, Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das has said that accurate and analytical audit reports are essential for financial stability and growth as they instil confidence among members of the public. He said in case of the public sector, auditing is a cornerstone of good governance. He stated ‘By providing unbiased and objective assessments of whether public resources are managed responsibly and effectively to achieve the intended results, a fair and impartial audit instils confidence among citizens and stakeholders’.
Observing that fair and impartial audit in a globally integrated economy is not just a domestic concern, he said, it also an instrument to enhance the country’s reputation and credibility on a global stage. He said ‘with increasing complexity of financial markets and higher expectations from the public about efficient resource allocation, the role of audit has become even more important’. He also said ‘as India aspires to grow faster, the expertise and independence of auditors will have to be leveraged to provide more assurance on financial performance to all stakeholders. We need robust audit for a dynamic and resilient economy’.
Noting that economic decisions are increasingly made based on available evidence and information, he said, inaccurate data may lead to sub optimal decisions or excesses in resource allocation, which will be neither in public interest where public authorities are involved, nor in the interest of individual stakeholders. Citing an example of the banking sector, the governor said if a bank sanctions loan on the basis of inaccurate and misleading financial statements, the borrower company is ultimately unable to repay it. Apart from the loss incurred, he said, this could make the bank risk averse and deprive other eligible companies from bank funding. Alternatively, he said, the bank may try to recover this loss by charging an interest rate to other borrowers, thus resulting in sowing seeds of non-viability in such borrowers. This would create a situation of higher interest cost to the overall economy and the society.
The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 18224.70, up by 99.30 points or 0.55% after trading in a range of 18148.45 and 18252.60. There were 41 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining on the index.
The top gainers on Nifty were Tech Mahindra up by 6.23%, Bharti Airtel up by 2.61%, SBI Life Insurance up by 2.58%, Tata Motors up by 2.20% and Bajaj Finance up by 2.15%. On the flip side, ICICI Bank down by 1.07%, Axis Bank down by 0.79%, Power Grid down by 0.75%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.56% and Britannia Industries down by 0.27% were the top losers.
Asian markets are trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 surged 526.62 points or 1.84% to 29,127.03, Taiwan Weighted jumped 153.63 points or 0.91% to 17,047.87, KOSPI rose 18.79 points or 0.62% to 3,039.33, Jakarta Composite advanced 44.48 points or 0.67% to 6,670.18 and Shanghai Composite was up by 3.02 points or 0.08% to 3,612.88. On the other hand, Straits Times fell 8.65 points or 0.27% to 3,193.21 and Hang Seng lost 119.35 points or 0.46% to 26,012.68.
