Indices continue to trade higher in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade higher in morning deals, tracking strong gains in index majors Mahindra & Mahindra, Axis Bank and Titan Company amid a positive trend in global markets. Sentiments remained up-beat with Economic Affairs Secretary Tarun Bajaj’s statement that the government is sticking to the target of becoming a $5 trillion economy by 2024-25 and emphasis on infrastructure sector and other initiatives taken in Budget 2021-22 are aimed at achieving the goal. Some support also came with Union Minister Nitin Gadkari’s statement that the government aims to increase the MSME sector's share in the GDP to 40 percent to benefit the rural poor. Currently, around 6.5 crores micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) contribute 30 per cent to the GDP. On the sectoral front, stocks related to defence sector remained in focus with defence Minister Rajnath Singh stating that with an aim of encouraging the manufacture of defence related items in the country, the government's endeavour is also to bring down its defence imports by at least $2 billion by 2022.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green following the record closing highs on Wall Street Friday after data showed a modest rebound in U.S. employment in the month of January and amid rising optimism about U.S. stimulus.  Investor sentiment was also buoyed by news that Japan will consider lifting its coronavirus state of emergency in some prefectures as a new law that allows fines for social distancing violations goes into effect Saturday. Besides, the Ministry of Finance said Japan had a current account surplus of 1,165.6 billion yen in December, up 113.9 percent on year. That beat expectations for a surplus of 1,040 billion yen following the 1,878.4 billion yen surplus in the previous month. Exports were up 0.3 percent on year to 6,561.5 billion yen after sinking 3.4 percent in November. Imports fell an annual 13.5 percent to 5,596.4 billion yen after dropping 13.6 percent in the previous month.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 51362.15, up by 630.52 points or 1.24% after trading in a range of 51146.67 and 51409.36. There were 27 stocks advancing against 3 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 1.25%, while Small cap index was up by 1.33%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 2.31%, Auto up by 2.28%, Telecom up by 1.91%, Bankex up by 1.87% and Industrials up by 1.70%, while there were no losing sectoral indices on the BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 6.72%, Axis Bank up by 3.08%, Titan Company up by 2.95%, ICICI Bank up by 2.47% and ONGC up by 2.46%. On the flip side, NTPC down by 1.00%, Bajaj Auto down by 0.41% and HCL Technologies down by 0.35% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Hardeep Singh Puri has said India’s exports of pharmaceutical products during April-December 2020-21 grew by 12.43 per cent to $17.57 billion. He said India’s exports of pharmaceutical products have not declined and they are growing consistently.

He said during 2019-20, India’s exports of pharmaceuticals were $20.58 billion with a growth rate of 7.57 per cent over the previous year. Total pharma exports during April-December 2020-21 were at $17.57 billion, registering a growth rate of 12.43 per cent over the same period of the previous year.

Meanwhile, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Som Parkash said that during the last three years, the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) equity inflow increased from $44.85 billion in 2017-18 to $49.97 billion in 2019-20. According to the data, FDI in defence industries stood at $0.63 million. It was $2.20 million in 2019-20.The retail trading sector attracted $1.26 billion in April-November 2020-21 period, while telecommunications received $19.65 million.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 15103.30, up by 179.05 points or 1.20% after trading in a range of 15041.05 and 15119.25. There were 42 stocks advancing against 8 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 6.72%, GAIL India up by 3.59%, Axis Bank up by 3.02%, Titan Co up by 3.01% and Tata Motors up by 2.79%. On the flip side, Britannia Industries down by 1.20%, Divis Lab down by 1.03%, NTPC down by 0.80%, UPL down by 0.77% and HCL Tech. down by 0.38% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 surged 540.25 points or 1.88% to 29,319.44, Hang Seng increased 192.03 points or 0.66% to 29,480.71, Jakarta Composite soared 59.18 points or 0.96% to 6,210.91, Straits Times advanced 17.39 points or 0.6% to 2,924.50 and Shanghai Composite gained 37.05 points or 1.06% to 3,533.38.

On the flip side, KOSPI fell 12.34 points or 0.4% to 3,108.29.