Barometers trade with decent gains; European shares open higher

The domestic equity barometers traded with decent gains in afternoon trade. The Nifty was trading above the 17,850 mark. Hotel stocks were in demand as reopening optimism boosted sentiment.

At 13:24 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 108.58 points or 0.18% to 60,157.05. The Nifty 50 index added 28.90 points or 0.16% to 17,882.10.

The Sensex hit a record high of 60,412.32 in early trade.

Maruti Suzuki India (up 5.10%), Tata Motors (up 4.54%), Mahindra & Mahindra (up 3.41%), Hero MotoCorp (up 2.94%) and Bajaj Auto (up 2.59%) were the top Nifty gainers.

HCL Technologies (down 3.37%), Divi`s Laboratories (down 3.11%), Wipro (down 2.99%), Tech Mahindra (down 2.69%) and Infosys (down 2.20%) were the top index losers.

The broader market traded sideways. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was down 0.03% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.12%.

The market breadth was almost even. On the BSE, 1608 shares rose and 1612 shares fell. A total of 219 shares were unchanged.

Reliance Industries rose 1.69% to Rs 2525. The stock touched the Rs 16-lakh crore market capitalization mark.

COVID-19 Update:

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 231,820,895 with 4,748,055 deaths. India reported 299,620 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 447,194 deaths according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

In the last 24 hours, India recorded 26,041 new cases of COVID-19. The recovery rate currently stood at 97.78% with 29,621 recoveries in the last 24 hours taking the total recoveries to 3,29,31,972.

A total of 86,27,23,841 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered in the country so far, with over 38.02 lakh doses being given yesterday, according to the Co-WIN dashboard.

Economy:

The direct tax collections for the financial year 2021-22, as on 22 September 2021 showed that net collections are at Rs 5,70,568 crore, a year-on-year increase of 74.4%. In the last financial year, the net collection was Rs 3,27,174 crore, a Finance Ministry release stated on 24 September 2021. The net direct tax collection of Rs 5,70,568 crore, includes corporation tax of Rs 3,02,975 crore (net of refund) and personal income tax including security transaction tax (STT) of Rs 2,67,593 crore (net of refund).

The advance tax collection in the second quarter (1 July 2021 to 22 September 2021) of FY 2021-22 is Rs 1,72,071 crore, a growth of 51.50% over Rs 1,13,571 crore in the corresponding period in FY 2020-21. Refunds amounting to Rs 75,111 crore have been issued in the FY 2021-22 so far. The gross collection of direct taxes (before adjusting for refunds) for the FY 2021-22 stands at Rs 6,45,679 crore compared to Rs 4,39,242 crore in the corresponding period of the preceding financial year, registering a growth of 47% over collections of FY 2020-21.

Buzzing Segment:

Hospitality stocks were in demand as reopening optimism returned amid declining COVID-19 cases across the country.

EIH Associated Hotels (up 16.72%), Chalet Hotels (up 12.25%), EIH (up 11.37%), Asian Hotels (North) (up 10.17%), Indian Hotels Company (up 8.75%), Lemon Tree Hotel (up 7.19%), Kamat Hotels (up 7.16%), TajGVK Hotels (up 5.54%), ITDC (up 5.42%), Asian Hotels (West) (up 3.70%) and Asian Hotels (East) (up 2.65%) jumped on hopes that hospitality industry may revive amid falling COVID-19 cases in the country.

Following a decline in the domestic COVID-19 cases, India is reportedly planning to reopen for foreign tourists. First five lakh foreign tourists will be issued visas free of cost in an attempt to revive the tourism, reports added.

Hospitality and aviation sectors are badly hit by the COVID-19 pandemic since March 2020 when a nationwide lockdown was announced.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Patel Engineering 8.79% to Rs 17.95 after the company bagged Rs 1,251 crore, lot-II civil work contract for 500 MW Teesta-VI Hydro Electric Project, Sikkim, from Lanco Teesta Hydro Power, a wholly owned subsidiary of NHPC. On the BSE, over 7.90 lakh shares were traded in the counter so far compared with average daily volumes of 3.92 lakh shares in the past two weeks.

Hindustan Copper shed 0.27% to Rs 110. In accordance with the approval given by alternative mechanism on 15 September 2021, the Government of India is offering up to 31,98,646 equity shares (0.33% equity) to the eligible employees of the company at Rs 116 per equity share. The offer price is 5.17% premium to Hindustan Copper`s closing price of Rs 110.30 on Friday, 24 September 2021. The employee OFS shall remain open from 27 September 2021 to 29 September 2021 (both days inclusive).

Global Markets:

European stocks opened higher while Asian stocks were trading mixed on Monday, with investors monitoring stocks related to embattled developer China Evergrande Group.

In Germany, preliminary results on Monday morning showed the center-left Social Democratic Party gaining the largest share of the vote with 25.8%. Angela Merkel`s right-leaning bloc of the Christian Democratic Union and Christian Social Union was seen with 24.1% of the vote. But coalition negotiations, which could begin on Monday, are likely to take weeks or even months.

European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde today will deliver a statement to a European Parliament committee.

US stocks closed mixed Friday as the market fell back under pressure amid concerns relating to China, COVID-19 and U.S. politics.

Eyes will also be on U.S. fiscal policy with the House of Representatives due to vote on a $1 trillion infrastructure bill this week, while a September 30 deadline on funding federal agencies could force the second partial government shutdown in three years.

Elsewhere, early projections on Sunday pointed to a knife-edge result in Germany federal elections as the country looks for a successor to Angela Merkel, who is preparing to leave office after 16 years in power.

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