Markets hold strength in afternoon deals

Indian equity markets were trading in fine fettle with Sensex and Nifty crossing 50,600 and 15,000 levels in the afternoon session due to buying in PSU, Oil & Gas and Utilities stocks. Gains in frontline blue chip stocks such as NTPC, Larsen & Toubro and ONGC also helped to lift the markets. Traders were taking support with finance ministry’s statement that the Indian economy is likely to do better than the projection of 8 per cent shrinkage in the current fiscal as economic activity gathers pace with mild stiffening of pandemic curve and the rollout of vaccines. However, upside remain capped as reversing the two-month buying streak, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) pulled out Rs 5,156 crore from Indian markets in the first week of March amid profit booking and rising bond yields in the US. According to FPI statistics available with depositories, overseas investors pulled out a net Rs 881 crore from equities and Rs 4,275 crore from the debt segment between March 1-5, taking the total net withdrawals to Rs 5,156 crore. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly lower as news of fresh Covid infections in China overweighed the investors’ sentiments.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 50634.39, up by 229.07 points or 0.45% after trading in a range of 50436.54 and 50985.77. There were 17 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.72%, while Small cap index was up by 1.06%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were PSU up by 2.19%, Oil & Gas up by 2.18%, Utilities up by 2.12%, Capital Goods up by 1.87% and Metal was up by 1.77%, while Realty was down by 0.25% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were NTPC up by 3.45%, Larsen & Toubro up by 3.44%, ONGC up by 3.39%, HCL Tech up by 2.35% and Axis Bank was up by 1.52%. On the flip side, Ultratech Cement down by 1.46%, Bajaj Finance down by 1.39%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.07%, Indusind Bank down by 0.89% and HDFC was down by 0.65% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, government is considering launching a production linked incentive (PLI) scheme in the chemical sector to boost domestic manufacturing and exports. Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister D V Sadananda Gowda has said that the government is working on a consultative approach in forming the policies for India's chemicals and petrochemicals sector. He said ‘we should take our industry in confidence so that implementations can start from first week of April'.

Gowda has stated that the challenge for the government is to now match the suggestions of the industry with the implementation part. He noted that the big push for the pharma sector is being seen as an attempt to discourage the imports of raw materials that are widely used in local manufacturing.

Further, Mansukh Mandaviya, Minister of State for Chemicals & Fertilizers, said that the government is working to introduce PLI scheme for the chemicals sector to increase domestic production. There are immense opportunities for the industry and the government is working to ensure to provide all necessary support. He also said India has both the potential and the manpower to deal with the pandemic. He added that the result of medicine diplomacy has been such that the entire world now wants to procure vaccines from India.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 15015.90, up by 77.80 points or 0.52% after trading in a range of 14951.75 and 15111.15. There were 35 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were GAIL India up by 5.57%, UPL up by 5.38%, Larsen & Toubro up by 3.51%, NTPC up by 3.50% and ONGC was up by 3.44%. On the flip side, Ultratech Cement down by 1.62%, Bajaj Finance down by 1.50%, Wipro down by 1.01%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.90% and HDFC was down by 0.86% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Hang Seng decreased 318.34 points or 1.09% to 28,779.95, Nikkei 225 slipped 121.07 points or 0.42% to 28,743.25, Shanghai Composite declined 61.23 points or 1.75% to 3,440.76, KOSPI fell 30.15 points or 1.00% to 2,996.11, Jakarta Composite lost 5.86 points or 0.09% to 6,243.05 and Taiwan Weighted was down by 35.12 points or 0.22% to 15,820.11

On the flip side, Straits Times was up by 60.31 points or 2.00% to 3,074.16.