Sensex, Nifty trade in green

The equity benchmarks were trading in green terrain in late afternoon session, despite weak cues from European markets. In line with the larger peers, the broader markets too maintained their gaining momentum with notable gains. Traders remained optimistic with the Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs, Arun Jaitley’s statement that the Government is committed to facilitate trade and industry in the country so that the momentum of the growth continues to move-up. He also said that the process of reforms in case of direct and indirect taxes will continue in order to facilitate and further expedite the process of ease of doing business in the country. Adding some comfort, Commerce Secretary Anup Wadhawan said that the US decision to withdraw duty benefits on Indian products under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) programme will not have a significant impact on exports to America.

On the global front, European markets were trading mostly in red, even though Eurozone's services sector grew at the fastest pace in three months in February, amid a broad recovery in activity across the member countries due to improved demand and employment gains, while retail sales rebounded at the start of the year driven by a jump in sales over the internet and mail orders. The survey data from IHS Markit showed that the IHS Markit Eurozone Purchasing Managers' Index climbed to a three-month high of 52.8 from 51.2 in January. The flash reading was 52.3. However, Asian markets were trading mostly in green.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 36637.49, up by 194.95 points or 0.53% after trading in a range of 36456.82 and 36641.33. There were 18 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.58%, while Small cap index was up by 1.09%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Energy up by 1.88%, Consumer Durables up by 1.55%, Telecom up by 1.49%, Power up by 1.13% and Metal up by 1.10%, while Auto down by 0.39% was the lone losing index on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Reliance Industries up by 2.43%, Vedanta up by 2.37%, Bajaj Finance up by 2.37%, ICICI Bank up by 2.07% and Sun Pharma up by 2.03%. On the flip side, Tata Motors down by 2.50%, Axis Bank down by 2.20%, Hero MotoCorp down by 1.35%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.34% and Tata Motors - DVR down by 1.04% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, highlighting immense business opportunities available in the country for small-scale businesses, Union Minister for Steel Chaudhary Birender Singh has expressed need of multi-dimensional interventions to boost the domestic small and medium enterprises (SMEs) sector.

The minister said that the government is aware of the problems faced by the SMEs and these cannot be addressed by any single ministry. Besides, he noted that the intensive drive undertaken by the government recognises the need for multi-dimensional interventions required for the SMEs.

Besides, Chaudhary Birender Singh underlined the efforts being taken by the government to augment the credit delivery, improve infrastructure, strengthen marketing and utilise technology for SMEs. Singh also added that the government realises the importance of the SMEs sector and is committed to empowering the industry.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11048.60, up by 61.15 points or 0.56% after trading in a range of 10998.85 and 11052.65. There were 29 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bajaj Finance up by 2.68%, BPCL up by 2.63%, Bharti Infratel up by 2.38%, Vedanta up by 2.34% and Sun Pharma up by 2.30%. On the flip side, Tata Motors down by 2.81%, Zee Entertainment down by 2.16%, Axis Bank down by 2.02%, Hero MotoCorp down by 1.40% and Hindustan Unilever down by 1.39% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Taiwan Weighted strengthened 51.89 points or 0.5% to 10,357.15, Hang Seng increased 76.00 points or 0.26% to 29,037.60, Shanghai Composite gained 43.84 points or 1.44% to 3,098.09 and Jakarta Composite soared 17.85 points or 0.28% to 6,459.13. On the flip side, Straits Times lost 1.09 points or 0.03% to 3,232.98, KOSPI fell 3.63 points or 0.17% to 2,175.60 and Nikkei 225 was down by 129.47 points or 0.6% to 21,596.81.

All European markets were trading mostly in red; Germany’s DAX lost 43.02 points or 0.37% to 11,577.72 and France’s CAC was down by 8.84 points or 0.17% to 5,288.68. On the flip side, UK’s FTSE 100 was up by 0.21 points to 7,183.64.