Domestic bourses maintain momentum

Markets continued to trade in green terrain in afternoon session amid buying in blue chip stocks from across various sectors. Buying in telecom, power and metal stocks helped markets to trade higher. Sentiments remain upbeat as India’s Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for August has come in at 52, compared to 46 in July, signaling growth and rebound in production volumes for the first time in five months. For the first time since March, output expanded in the Indian manufacturing sector in August. Traders ignored report that India's economy suffered its worst slump on record in April-June, with the gross domestic product (GDP) contracting by 23.9% as the coronavirus-related lockdowns weighed on the already-declining consumer demand and investment. Meanwhile, the Centre and RBI has told the Supreme Court that the moratorium period on repayment of loans amid the COVID-19 pandemic is ‘extendable’ by two years.

On the global front; Asian markets were trading mostly in green as the market sentiments bolstered after Chinese manufacturing data surged to a near-decade high in August, signaling recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. Back on street; on the sectoral front; telecom stocks were in focus as the Supreme Court in its judgment in the matter of adjusted gross revenue allowed telecom companies to pay their outstanding dues in 10 years. Telcos can pay 10 per cent of their dues by March 31, 2021, and the remaining installments by 7 February every year.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 38899.74, up by 271.45 points or 0.70% after trading in a range of 38542.11 and 39037.41. There were 19 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index lost 0.29%, while Small cap index was down by 0.69%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 2.27%, Power up by 1.42%, Metal up by 0.97%, Utilities up by 0.79% and Consumer Durables up by 0.78%, while Realty down by 1.97%, Oil & Gas down by 0.94%, PSU down by 0.37%, Bankex down by 0.36% and Healthcare was down by 0.25% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel up by 5.07%, NTPC up by 3.21%, Asian Paints up by 3.06%, Bajaj Finance up by 2.31% and Titan Company was up by 1.91%. On the flip side, ONGC down by 4.33%, Indusind Bank down by 3.13%, Axis Bank down by 2.68%, ICICI Bank down by 1.05% and Ultratech Cement was down by 0.92% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) in its latest report has said that India's fertiliser sales are likely to grow in the range of 10-15 percent in the current fiscal year (FY21) as compared to last financial year, supported by the increase in 1H FY21 sales. It noted that sales increased in 1H due to increased sowing and acreage in the ongoing kharif season, better labour availability, favourable monsoon prospects for the upcoming rabi season, increase in reservoir levels across key fertiliser consumption areas and better fund availability with farmers.

However, the report said the momentum seen in first half of the fiscal is likely to moderate during the second half. It pointed out that the momentum witnessed in fertiliser sales so far in 1H (first half) FY21 is unlikely to continue despite healthy water reservoir levels and better monsoon prospects, owing to the likelihood of increase in the COVID-19 spread to rural areas and higher systematic inventory. Besides, it said India's monthly fertiliser sales have spiked on a year-on-year basis since the lockdown came into effect at the end of March. It added that fertiliser volumes sold during April-July 2020 were 57 percent higher at 22.2 million tonnes (mmt).

According to the report, fertiliser sales surged during the lockdown as the government identified agriculture as essential sector and increased its spending on the sector and rural development by 126 per cent to Rs 1,24,700 crore during the first quarter of FY21. The spending was increased by various means such as better minimum support prices (MSP) for key products harvested during 4QFY20-1QFY21, higher procurement of key rabi crops, timely payments of rabi crops as well as various fund transfer schemes.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11452.45, up by 64.95 points or 0.57% after trading in a range of 11366.90 and 11510.00. There were 26 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining, while 1 stock remains unchanged on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bharti Airtel up by 5.17%, Hindalco up by 3.54%, JSW Steel up by 3.39%, Asian Paints up by 3.16% and NTPC was up by 3.06%. On the flip side, Bharti Infratel down by 4.81%, ONGC down by 4.33%, Indusind Bank down by 3.25%, Grasim Industries down by 2.94% and Adani Ports & SEZ was down by 2.90% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Hang Seng increased 10.39 points or 0.04% to 25,187.44, KOSPI rose 23.38 points or 1.01% to 2,349.55, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 111.83 points or 0.89% to 12,703.28 and Jakarta Composite was up by 13.69 points or 0.26% to 5,252.18.

On the flip side, Straits Times trembled 9.02 points or 0.36% to 2,523.49, Shanghai Composite declined 2.46 points or 0.07% to 3,393.22 and Nikkei 225 was down by 1.69 points or 0.01% to 23,138.07.