Indian stock markets continue trade in positive terrain

Indian stock markets continued their trade in positive terrain in the late afternoon session on the back of buying in realty, metal and auto stocks. Buying in frontline stocks such as Tata Steel, ICICI Bank and HDFC were aiding sentiment, while selling in Sun Pharma, ONGC and ITC kept the gains in the markets in check. Traders were taking support with report that India has been holding up better in hiring than other economies as the COVID-19 pandemic has caused disruptions across the globe with reports of layoffs, furlough and organisations freezing their hiring intentions across sector. Some comfort also came with report that India has finally developed its first indigenous COVID-19 vaccine named COAXING. A Hyderabad-based company called Bharat Biotech has achieved this success in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and National Institute of Virology, Pune. The recently developed coronavirus vaccine has got the approval for human trials by the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI).

On the global front, Asian markets were trading higher as better than expected US housing data and China's manufacturing data boosted market sentiments. Back on street, in scrip specific developments, Bharat Dynamics surged as its profit jump 2-fold in Q4 to Rs 310 crore and MRF gained on reporting over 2-fold jump in Q4 consolidated net profit.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 35072.73, up by 111.21 points or 0.32% after trading in a range of 35029.92 and 35233.91. There were 16 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.43%, while Small cap index was down by 0.12%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.33%, Metal up by 1.20%, Auto up by 1.07%, Basic Materials up by 0.79% and Consumer Discretionary was up by 0.54%, while Healthcare down by 0.56%, Oil & Gas down by 0.44%, Telecom down by 0.26%, Energy down by 0.19%, TECK was down by 0.07% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Steel up by 2.97%, ICICI Bank up by 2.29%, HDFC up by 2.21%, Maruti Suzuki up by 2.04% and Ultratech Cement was up by 1.82%. On the flip side, Sun Pharma down by 1.45%, ONGC down by 0.79%, ITC down by 0.68%, HDFC Bank down by 0.60% and Bharti Airtel was down by 0.33% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the minister for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Mahendra Nath Pandey has said that the government has approved the third phase of its flagship Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY), with an increased focus on digital technology and industry 4.0.

Sharing future plans of the ministry, Pandey said ‘we are also working on Skill Management Information System, which will bring the entire skill ecosystem on a common web portal and work as an aggregator for demand and supply of skilled workforce.’ He also highlighted the need to focus on employment in the current scenario and strengthening district skill committees. He informed that the government plans to further simplify apprenticeship so that industries do not hesitate in absorbing their apprentices and they do so enthusiastically. He added that his ministry was compiling data of skilled persons across the country which would be made available at a single click.

The government launched the PMKVY scheme in 2015 and revamped it in 2016 to impart skills to one crore persons by 2020. The revamped scheme, called PMKVY 2.0, moved to a grant-based model where the training and assessment cost would be directly reimbursed to training providers and assessment bodies in accordance with common norms.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10348.45, up by 36.05 points or 0.35% after trading in a range of 10333.85 and 10401.05. There were 29 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Steel up by 3.10%, Hindalco up by 2.50%, ICICI Bank up by 2.39%, HDFC up by 2.26% and Maruti Suzuki was up by 2.10%. On the flip side, GAIL India down by 1.50%, Sun Pharma down by 1.45%, Vedanta down by 1.02%, ONGC down by 0.85% and ITC was down by 0.76% were the top losers.

All Asian markets were trading higher; KOSPI rose 14.85 points or 0.71% to 2,108.33, Jakarta Composite soared 11.42 points or 0.23% to 4,913.24, Nikkei 225 surged 293.10 points or 1.33% to 22,288.14, Straits Times advanced 21.98 points or 0.85% to 2,596.08, Shanghai Composite gained 17.80 points or 0.6% to 2,979.32, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 78.62 points or 0.68% to 11,621.24 and Hang Seng was up by 73.16 points or 0.3% to 24,374.44.