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In a session marked by high volatility, Indian equity benchmarks managed to eke out gains to end at record closing highs on Monday led by gains in Maruti Suzuki, Mahindra & Mahindra and Bajaj Auto amid a largely positive trend in global markets. The benchmarks staged a gap up opening, as sentiments got a boost as Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the Indian economy is on a sustained path of revival and cited rise in GST collections and direct taxes to support her assertion. Traders also took encouragement as the Finance Ministry said net direct tax collection grew 74.4 per cent to Rs 5.70 lakh crore between April 1 to September 22 this fiscal. Traders found some support with Union Minister Piyush Goyal’s statement that India's export performance in the first six months of 2021-22 shows that outbound shipments will exceed the target of $400 billion in the ongoing fiscal year. Adding to the optimism, Minister of State for Finance Bhagwat K Karad said the government plans to increase public sector undertakings' (PSUs) income and create employment through the disinvestment process.

However, the indices gave up gains in the first hour of opening to trade in a range bound manner, as traders got anxious with RBI data showed the country's foreign exchange reserves declined by $1.47 billion to $639.642 billion in the week ended September 17. Traders also remain concerned with report stating that as many as 470 infrastructure projects, each worth Rs 150 crore or more, have been hit by cost overruns totalling more than Rs 4.37 lakh crore.  However, some buying activity witnessed in afternoon deals, taking support from private report stated that Ratings agency Icra revised up its 2021-22 real GDP growth estimate for India to 9 percent from the earlier 8.5 percent. A ramp-up in COVID-19 vaccination, healthy advance estimates of kharif (summer) crop and faster government spending were the factors which led to the revision. It expects the second half of the fiscal year to have brighter prospects. Besides, Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) said the net personal income and corporate taxes collection grew 74 per cent to Rs 5.70 lakh crore so far this fiscal, driven mainly by advance tax and TDS payments.

On the global front, Asian markets ended mostly higher on Monday, while European markets were trading higher with crude oil prices providing support, even as traders continue to express concerns that the coronavirus situation in the region and other countries, particularly in the U.S., could dent the pace of global economic recovery from the pandemic. Back home, on the sectoral front, stocks related to Tourism sector were in focus as the Confederation of Hospitality, Technology and Tourism Industry said that with the help of large-scale vaccination programmes and new norms rolling out, the tourism sector is inching its way back to recovery, and restart of tourism will help kick-start recovery and growth. Chemical industry’s stocks also buzzing as Union Fertiliser and Chemicals Minister Mansukh Mandaviya asked the chemical industry to brainstorm ways to reduce the country's dependence on imports besides asking them to focus on R&D amid challenges of climate change and environment concerns.

Finally, the BSE Sensex rose 29.41 points or 0.05% to 60,077.88 and the CNX Nifty was up by 1.90 points or 0.01% to 17,855.10.    

The BSE Sensex touched high and low of 60,412.32 and 59,887.19, respectively and there were 13 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.    

The broader index ended in red; Small cap index was down by 0.13%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Auto up by 3.11%, Realty up by 2.88%, Energy up by 1.61%, Oil & Gas up by 1.43% and Consumer discretionary up by 1.24%, while IT down by 2.32%, TECK down by 2.04%, Healthcare down by 1.15%, FMCG down by 0.78% and Capital Goods down by 0.58% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Maruti Suzuki up by 6.53%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 4.14%, Bajaj Auto up by 2.77%, NTPC up by 2.09% and Reliance Industries up by 1.70%. On the flip side, HCL Technologies down by 4.58%, Tech Mahindra down by 3.30%, Bajaj Finserv down by 2.64%, Infosys down by 2.35%

and Bharti Airtel down by 2.21% were the top losers.
Meanwhile, Minister of State for Finance Bhagwat K Karad has said the government plans to increase public sector undertakings' (PSUs) income and create employment through the disinvestment process. He said public sector companies provide employment to 14 lakh (1.4 million) people in the country.

He said disinvestment doesn't mean that the companies are making losses, but the government has different plans to increase their income and to increase jobs. He said the government has decided to garner around Rs 6 lakh crore by way of monetisation.
Last month, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced a Rs 6-lakh crore National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP) to unlock value in infrastructure assets

across sectors ranging from power to road and railways. The plan, designed by the NITI Aayog, intends to sell off/lease public sector assets worth Rs 6 lakh crore to private companies in four financial years between 2021-22 and 2024-25.

The CNX Nifty traded in a range of 17,943.50 and 17,802.90 and there were 25 stocks advancing against 25 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Maruti Suzuki up by 6.44%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 4.30%, Tata Motors up by 4.10%, ONGC up by 2.83% and Hero MotoCorp up by 2.75%. On the flip side, HCL Technologies down by 4.36%, Tech Mahindra down by 3.28%, Wipro down by 3.23%, Divi's Lab down by 3.22% and Bajaj Finserv down by 2.57% were the top losers.

European markets were trading higher; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 16.10 points or 0.23% to 7,067.58, France’s CAC increased 33.46 points or 0.5% to 6,671.92 and Germany’s DAX increased 109.22 points or 0.7% to 15,640.97.

Asian markets ended mostly higher on Monday even as concerns relating to the debt woes of China Evergrande Group still persist. Hong Kong shares closed higher led by energy and consumer staples sectors, while widening power shortages have halted production at numerous factories in mainland China sent heavy industry stocks lower. Meanwhile, investors are awaiting official and private gauges of Chinese manufacturing due out Thursday, with expectations they will add to evidence of sputtering growth. Though, Japanese markets declined as investors awaited a vote on Wednesday that will decide who will be next prime minister of Japan after incumbent Yoshihide Suga.

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