Markets trade near intraday highs in late trade

Indian equity benchmarks are trading near intraday high points, with frontline gauges surpassing their crucial 38,100 (Sensex) and 11,450 (Nifty) levels, on the back of increased foreign investments and escalating rupee. Traders remain energized, with India Ratings & Research’s report that over the past few years, private final consumption expenditure and government final consumption expenditure have been the primary growth drivers of Indian economic growth. Buying in banking and software stocks mainly helped the markets to rally, while selling was witnessed in telecom and FMCG stocks. In scrip specific developments, Bank of India edged higher on planning to raise Rs 400-500 crore from sale of a non-core asset and Wipro surged on launching IIoT Centre of Excellence in Kochi.

Global cues too remained supportive with most of the Asian markets were trading in green, as traders took encouragement after the Bank of Japan kept its monetary policy steady. The sentiment remained largely positive as U.K. lawmakers overwhelmingly backed a government motion on March 14 to ask for a three-month delay for Britain’s departure from the European Union, helping ease worries over a disorderly Brexit. European market also traded in green as Brexit-related worries eased and investors remained hopeful for a US-China trade deal.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 38184.12, up by 429.23 points or 1.14% after trading in a range of 37760.23 and 38185.26. There were 20 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.67%, while Small cap index was up by 0.19%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Bankex up by 2.06%, IT up by 1.96%, TECK up by 1.58%, PSU up by 1.46% and Utilities was up by 1.41%, while Telecom down by 1.77%, FMCG down by 1.17% and Metal was down by 0.30% were the few losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 4.82%, TCS up by 2.94%, Power Grid up by 2.93%, SBI up by 2.82% and ICICI Bank was up by 2.22%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 2.32%, Hindustan Unilever down by 2.15%, Coal India down by 1.46%, Yes Bank down by 1.32% and ITC was down by 1.24% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, expressing hopes on good exports growth, Commerce Secretary Anup Wadhawan has said that India's exports are likely to touch an all-time high of $330 billion in the current fiscal ending March 31 (FY19), braving global challenges such as protectionist measures. He added that the country’s engineering exports have grown significantly in recent years, notwithstanding major global challenges.

Wadhawan said the country’s exporters have faced several challenges from the global financial crisis of 2008-09 including unilateral protectionist efforts by various countries. Though, he noted that conducive government policies have propelled the engineering sector to greater heights. Besides, India’s exports grew 9.52% to $271.8 billion during the April-January period of the current financial year, while imports rose by 11.27% to $427.73 billion.

However, US President Donald Trump has already announced to withdraw the preferential trade status granted to India given under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), asserting that New Delhi has failed to assure America of ‘equitable and reasonable’ access to its market. India exported goods worth $5.6 billion under the GSP, and the duty benefit is only $190 million annually. As many as 1,900 Indian products from sectors such as chemicals and engineering got duty-free access to the US market under the GSP, introduced in 1976.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11464.95, up by 121.70 points or 1.07% after trading in a range of 11370.80 and 11468.00. There were 33 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 5.03%, Power Grid up by 3.12%, TCS up by 3.05%, SBI up by 2.69% and Zee Entertainment was up by 2.60%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 2.26%, Hindustan Unilever down by 2.18%, Yes Bank down by 1.42%, Coal India down by 1.15% and Ultratech Cement was down by 0.98% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 surged 163.83 points or 0.77% to 21,450.85, Hang Seng increased 160.87 points or 0.56% to 29,012.26, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 90.59 points or 0.88% to 10,439.24, Jakarta Composite soared 70.81 points or 1.1% to 6,484.08, Shanghai Composite gained 31.06 points or 1.04% to 3,021.75 and KOSPI was up by 20.43 points or 0.95% to 2,176.11. On the other, Straits Times was down by 2.34 points or 0.07% to 3,195.58.

All the European markets were trading in green; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 35.92 points or 0.5% to 7,221.35, France’s CAC increased 18.12 points or 0.34% to 5,367.90 and Germany’s DAX was up by 14.34 points or 0.12% to 11,601.81.