Markets trade higher in early deals; Indusind Bank leads gainers

Indian equity benchmarks made flat-to-positive start on Wednesday tracking overnight gains on Wall Street. Soon markets turned volatile and entered into red territory, but managed to wipe out all losses and came back in green in early deals with gains of around half a percent each. Broad based buying in Healthcare, IT and TECK stocks supported the domestic indices. Sentiments got a boost with NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Rajiv Kumar’s statement that the reform measures announced in the budget 2021-22 are aimed at taking India out of the COVID-19-induced downturn and making the country a better destination for private investment, both for domestic and foreign investors. Some support also came in with the commerce ministry’s data showing that the country’s exports grew 5.37 percent Y-o-Y to $27.24 billion in January 2021, mainly driven by healthy growth in pharma and engineering sectors. The trade deficit during the month narrowed to $14.75 billion from $15.3 billion in January 2020. It was $15.44 billion in December 2020. Investors are eyeing the services PMI data to be out later in the day.

Global cues remained supportive with most of the Asian markets trading higher extending gains from the previous sessions following the positive cues overnight from Wall Street amid easing concerns about the retail trading frenzy. Upbeat corporate earnings results and optimism about more U.S. fiscal stimulus also lifted the markets. Meanwhile, the latest survey from Jibun Bank revealed that the services sector in Japan continued to contract in January, and at a faster pace, with a services PMI score of 46.1.

Back home, sugar industry stocks were in focus with industry body ISMA’s statement that sugar mills have manufactured 25.37 per cent more sugar at 17.68 million tonnes in the first four months of the current marketing season ending September this year. In scrip specific development, Future Retail touched lower circuit limit after a court blocked Future Group's sale of a swathe of assets to Reliance Industries. However, Ajanta Pharma jumped after its quarterly net profit jumped 64 percent.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 50011.98, up by 214.26 points or 0.43% after trading in a range of 49515.88 and 50231.39. There were 19 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.81%, while Small cap index was up by 0.75%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Healthcare up by 2.11%, IT up by 1.28%, TECK up by 1.18%, Consumer Durables up by 1.18%, Telecom up by 1.00%, while Realty down by 0.59%, Capital Goods down by 0.03% were the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Indusind Bank up by 6.19%, Dr. Reddys Lab up by 4.72%, Power Gridup by 2.81%, Tech Mahindra up by 2.63% and Sun Pharma up by 2.31%. On the flip side, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.91%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.64%, SBI down by 0.95%, Asian Paints down by 0.68% and HDFC Bank down by 0.56% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Trade Promotion Council of India's (TPCI's) Founder Chairman Mohit Singla has said that the country's exports, which have recorded a growth of 5.4 percent in January, reflects the trade has been on the path of quick recovery. He said the exports have also recorded positive growth in December 2020 and it is a reflection that Indian products have been sustaining its global demand despite challenges.

Singla has stated that the figures clearly show that the global trade flow has been streamlining fast, and bottlenecks owing to the pandemic are easing out gradually. He also said that imports have also started picking up, reflecting a revival in the domestic market demand. He noted that among the top five commodity groups of export which recorded positive growth during January 2021 are other cereals, Oil meals, and cereal preparations and miscellaneous processed items, and Jute manufacturing. He added that this shows that the agri and processed food industry are the engine of this demand driven growth and I am hopeful that this momentum is going to continue.

According to provisional data of the commerce ministry, the country's exports grew 5.37 per cent year-on-year to $27.24 billion in January 2021, mainly driven by healthy growth in pharmaceuticals and engineering sectors. Imports during the month rose 2 percent to $42 billion, leaving a trade deficit of $14.75 billion.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 14713.55, up by 65.70 points or 0.45% after trading in a range of 14574.15 and 14754.90. There were 33 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Indusind Bank up by 6.14%, Dr. Reddy’s Lab up by 4.41%, Cipla up by 2.97%, Power Grid up by 2.88% and Tech Mahindra up by 2.72%. On the flip side, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.69%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.46%, JSW Steel down by 0.84%, Grasim Industries down by 0.82% and Shree Cement down by 0.73% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly higher; Nikkei surged 188.91 points or 0.67% to 28,551.08, Straits Times rose 18.87 points or 0.65% to 2,936.16, Taiwan Weighted added 62.12 points or 0.39% to 15,822.17, KOSPI gained 11.81 points or 0.38% to 3,108.62, Jakarta Composite soared 59.86 points or 0.99% to 6,103.70 and Shanghai Composite was up by 6.97 points or 0.20% to 3,540.65, while Hang Seng lost 147.02 points or 0.50% to 29,101.68.