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Benchmarks trade tad higher in early deals
Oct-27-2020

Indian equity benchmarks made slightly positive start on Tuesday and lost momentum to slip below neutral lines on the back of weak set of global cues. But soon, markets recovered from lows and are trading higher with marginal gains in early deals on buying in Power, Bankex and Utilities counters. sentiments got a boost with a report that in what could be a healthy sign of economic recovery, goods and services tax (GST) collections recorded in the month of October are likely to cross Rs 1 lakh crore for the first time this fiscal. Some support also came in with British drug maker AstraZeneca Plc stating that the Covid-19 vaccine being developed by the University of Oxford produced an immune response in both elderly and young people and adverse reactions were lower among the elderly. Besides, India reported its lowest single-day spikes in total coronavirus infection tally in over three months. The daily jump of 36,838 in total count was the lowest since July 21 even as the tally soared to 7,945,888. Death toll has mounted to 119,535.

On the global front, all of the Asian markets were trading lower following the overnight sell-off on Wall Street amid worries about a renewed surge in coronavirus cases in the US as well as Europe and on fading hopes for US stimulus before next week's presidential elections. Back home, Metal stocks were in focus as according to the World Steel Association (worldsteel) India's crude steel production fell by 2.9 percent to 8.520 million tonnes (MT) in September 2020. In scrip specific developments, Tata Motors and Bharti Airtel were in limelight ahead of their earnings results.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 40243.61, up by 98.11 points or 0.24% after trading in a range of 39978.39 and 40295.14. There were 17 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining, while 1 stock remain unchanged on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.32%, while Small cap index was down by 0.12%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Power up by 1.52%, Bankex up by 1.23%, Utilities up by 1.01%, Capital Goods up by 0.98%, FMCG up by 0.66%, while Realty down by 1.07%, IT down by 0.52%, Metal down by 0.52%, Telecom down by 0.46%, TECK down by 0.45% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 8.60%, NTPC up by 3.03%, Nestle up by 2.56%, Asian Paints up by 2.17% and Larsen & Toubro up by 1.52%. On the flip side, ONGC down by 1.69%, Indusind Bank down by 1.57%, SBI down by 1.22%, Infosys down by 1.13% and ICICI Bank down by 0.98% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, exporters have expressed concerns over rising freight charges and shortage of containers as it would impact the country's outbound shipments, and sought Commerce Ministry's intervention in the matter. The other issues raised by exporters were about Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS) funds and faceless assessment by customs authorities.

Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) President S K Saraf has said that freight charges have increased significantly by about 30-50 percent depending upon the destinations. He said protests by farmers in states like Punjab have impacted movement of containers which are used to ship goods. He said ‘we raised these issues in the meeting. These are big challenges for exporters’. He added that about 10,000 containers are being held up and it has created a mismatch for export and import purposes.

Besides, Indian Oilseeds and Produce Export Promotion Council (IOPEPC) Chairman Khushwant Jain said agri products should be included in Remission of Duties or Taxes on Export Product (RoDTEP). During the April-September 2020 period, India's exports declined 16.66 percent to $221.86 billion, while imports fell 35.43 percent to $204.12 billion over the same period last year. 

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11805.85, up by 38.10 points or 0.32% after trading in a range of 11723.00 and 11818.85. There were 28 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 8.17%, Shree Cement up by 3.09%, NTPC up by 2.91%, Nestle up by 2.69% and Asian Paints up by 2.17%. On the flip side, Adani Ports & SEZ down by 2.78%, IOC down by 2.05%, ONGC down by 1.76%, GAIL India down by 1.58% and Indusind Bank down by 1.44% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading in red; Nikkei 225 lost 105.09 points or 0.45% to 23,389.25, Straits Times fell 14.54 points or 0.58% to 2,508.77, Hang Seng slipped 288.85 points or 1.16% to 24,629.93, Taiwan Weighted plunged 46.44 points or 0.36% to 12,862.59, KOSPI declined 3.42 points or 0.15% to 2,340.49, Jakarta Composite weakened 2.62 points or 0.05% to 5,141.43 and Shanghai Composite was down by 12.09 points or 0.37% to 3,239.03.

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