Sensex, Nifty back in green terrain during late morning session

Cutting all of their losses, Indian equity benchmarks came back in green terrain during late morning session. Both Sensex and Nifty were trading higher with notable gains, despite negative cues from other Asian markets. Traders were getting relief, after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman informed Parliament that the Reserve Bank of India is taking measures to strengthen its regulatory and supervisory capacity, and expressed hope that these steps will ensure no regulatory mishaps take place in the future. Some support came with reports that the retail industry's business is on the brink of full recovery as it achieved 93 per cent of the pre-COVID sales in February.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading in red, even after the value of non-oil domestic exports (NODX) in Singapore climbed a seasonally adjusted 8.2 percent on month in February. The Enterprise Singapore said that beat forecasts for a decline of 1.0 percent following the downwardly revised 6.9 percent increase in January (originally 7.0 percent). On a yearly basis, exports gained 4.2 percent - shy of expectations for 6.6 percent following the downwardly revised 12.7 percent increase in the previous month (originally 12.8 percent).

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 50535.31, up by 171.35 points or 0.34% after trading in a range of 50171.88 and 50561.12. There were 13 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.85%, while Small cap index was down by 0.39%.

The only gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 0.85%, Bankex up by 0.78% and TECK up by 0.63%, while Oil & Gas down by 1.80%, PSU down by 1.25%, Power down by 1.24%, Energy down by 1.21% and Telecom down by 1.05% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were HDFC Bank up by 1.62%, ITC up by 1.49%, ICICI Bank up by 1.29%, TCS up by 1.27% and Infosys up by 1.03%. On the flip side, ONGC down by 2.52%, NTPC down by 2.42%, Nestle down by 1.64%, Sun Pharma down by 1.41% and Asian Paints down by 1.36% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, ratings agency India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) has revised its outlook on the domestic steel sector to stable from negative for the fiscal year beginning April 1, 2021 (FY22). It expects the prices of iron ore, a raw material used for steel making, to increase in the coming financial year. It also expects FY22 steel volumes to improve year-on-year and compensate for a likely moderation in per tonne margins, as steel prices gradually moderate over FY22 from the high levels witnessed over 2HFY21.

In FY22, Ind-Ra said demand and supply are also expected to be strong and recover from the slowdown in FY20 and the COVID-induced demand and supply disruptions in FY21. Besides, it expects domestic iron ore prices to gradually correct in FY22, as iron ore supply improves, although remaining elevated till the domestic iron ore output increases to FY20 levels. Additionally, once the iron ore mines in Odisha ramp-up their output, the lessees of auctioned mines, given high premiums bid, are likely to try and pass on high premiums to customers, thus providing a further fillip to the prices.

However, the agency said the coking coal prices are likely to be higher than FY21 levels but unlikely to be at pre-COVID-19 levels. It added that the prices could remain volatile for certain months, because of the concentrated nature of the coking coal mining sector and the risk of a natural calamity in Australia, a major supplier of coking coal. Furthermore, the government allowing secondary producers to supply rebar for infrastructure projects shall improve sector competitiveness and pricing, it noted.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 14934.85, up by 24.40 points or 0.16% after trading in a range of 14846.15 and 14956.55. There were 17 stocks advancing against 33 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ITC up by 1.64%, HDFC Bank up by 1.57%, TCS up by 1.22%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.21% and ICICI Bank up by 1.19%. On the flip side, BPCL down by 3.93%, Coal India down by 2.81%, ONGC down by 2.65%, NTPC down by 2.46% and Sun Pharma down by 1.59% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading in red; Hang Seng decreased 27.51 points or 0.09% to 29,000.18, Nikkei 225 slipped 64.60 points or 0.22% to 29,856.49, Straits Times trembled 3.67 points or 0.12% to 3,101.84, KOSPI fell 32.94 points or 1.07% to 3,034.23, Taiwan Weighted dropped 107.02 points or 0.66% to 16,206.14, Shanghai Composite declined 10.77 points or 0.31% to 3,435.96 and Jakarta Composite lost 22.01 points or 0.35% to 6,287.69.