Markets continue to trade firm in early noon session

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade in high spirit in early noon session, on account of broad based buying in blue chip counters amid positive Asian cues. Most of the sectoral indices were trading firm and IT was the top gainer on BSE, up by around 2.29% followed by TECK and Realty indices, trading up over 1.00% each. Apart from blue chips, broader indices too equally participated in the rally with both mid and small cap indices trading up by over 0.50% each. Moreover, positive macro-economic data i.e. November IIP, easing crude oil prices, strengthening of the Indian currency, and foreign fund inflows also boosted the investor sentiments. Investors cheered with RBI’s data which showed that the country’s foreign exchange reserves touched a record high of $461.157 billion, after it surged by $3.689 billion in the week to January 3. In the previous week, the reserves had risen by $2.52 billion to $454.948 billion.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly higher with the optimism on China’s economy and prospects of a signed US trade deal. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading above their psychological 12,300 and 41,850 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was positive, out of 2,305 stocks traded, 1,417 stocks advanced, while 732 stocks declined, while 156 stocks remain unchanged on the BSE.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 41896.00, up by 296.28 points or 0.71% after trading in a range of 41720.76 and 41899.63. There were 24 stocks advancing against 6 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.62%, while Small cap index was up by 0.74%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 2.29%, TECK up by 1.88%, Realty up by 1.26%, FMCG up by 1.02% and Oil & Gas up by 0.71%, while Telecom was down by 0.32% were the lone losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Infosys up by 5.23%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.53%, Hindustan Unilever up by 1.45%, HCL Tech up by 1.38% and Mahindra & Mahindra was up by 1.25%. On the flip side, TCS down by 0.30%, HDFC down by 0.25%, Nestle down by 0.18%, SBI down by 0.18% and Titan Company was down by 0.10% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, citing eastern region with rich mineral resources has a great potential for development of the steel industry, Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has said steel ministry is planning at an aggregate investment of $70 billion in the eastern region of the country through accelerated development of the sector. The minister mentioned that the underdeveloped districts in West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, northern Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand and Odisha have to be taken forward for development of the steel sector.

He further stated that according to the National Steel Policy announced in 2017, the government is aiming at a total production capacity of 300 million tonne by 2030 and out of which, around 200 million tonne is envisaged from the five eastern states. He added the region has rich deposits of coal, iron ore and bauxite.

Besides, he highlighted that as much as 90 million tonne of steel is produced in the east, out of the total production volume of 140 million tonne in the country. Moreover, the steel ministry's additional secretary Rasika Chaube said the eastern region has a natural advantage and potential to contribute to India's target of achieving an economy of $5 trillion within 2024-25, adding that the sector has the capability to act as a catalyst.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 12334.90, up by 78.10 points or 0.64% after trading in a range of 12285.80 and 12337.75. There were 35 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining, while 2 stocks remain unchanged on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Infosys up by 5.22%, Wipro up by 2.36%, Coal India up by 2.09%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.52% and Hindustan Unilever was up by 1.39%. On the flip side, Yes Bank down by 6.03%, Bharti Infratel down by 1.86%, Tata Motors down by 1.76%, UPL down by 1.52% and Eicher Motors was down by 1.34% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in green, Hang Seng increased 257.11 points or 0.9% to 28,895.31, KOSPI rose 21.65 points or 0.98% to 2,228.04, Shanghai Composite gained 5.38 points or 0.17% to 3,097.67, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 88.77 points or 0.74% to 12,113.42 and Jakarta Composite was up by 3.96 points or 0.06% to 6,278.90. On the flip side, Straits Times was down by 4.08 points or 0.13% to 3,251.87.