Sensex, Nifty trade in green terrain

Indian equity benchmarks were trading in green terrain during late morning deals, with both Sensex and Nifty holding notable gains. Positive cues from other Asian markets helped key indices to remain higher. Traders were positive, as the Income Tax Department said it has issued over Rs 2.04 lakh crore worth refunds to more than 2.09 crore taxpayers so far this fiscal year. Of this, personal income tax refunds of Rs 73,607 crore have been issued to over 2.06 crore taxpayers and corporate tax refunds of over Rs 1.31 lakh crore issued in 2.21 lakh cases. Some support also came after a parliamentary panel has suggested to the Department of Commerce to take appropriate measures to check further deterioration in exports and crucial imports for preventing more disruptions in the supply chains.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading higher, after South Korea's unemployment rate fell in February. The data from Statistics Korea showed that the jobless rate rose to a seasonally adjusted 4.0 percent in February from 5.4 percent in January. In the same month last year, the unemployment rate was 3.4 percent. On an unadjusted basis, the unemployment rate decreased to 4.9 percent in February from 5.7 percent in the previous month.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 49951.65, up by 150.03 points or 0.30% after trading in a range of 49919.66 and 50296.35. There were 22 stocks advancing against 8 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.07%, while Small cap index was down by 0.26%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 1.14%, Metal up by 1.08%, Auto up by 0.93%, Utilities up by 0.85% and Telecom up by 0.82%, while IT down by 0.80%, Healthcare down by 0.57%, Energy down by 0.54%, TECK down by 0.50% and Capital Goods down by 0.08% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bajaj Finance up by 2.24%, ITC up by 2.11%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.86%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.82% and ONGC up by 1.51%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 1.78%, Dr. Reddy’s Lab down by 1.76%, Sun Pharma down by 0.99%, Asian Paints down by 0.77% and Reliance Industries down by 0.74% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Indian aviation regulator -- the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in its latest data has showed that around 78.27 lakh (7.8 million) domestic passengers travelled by air in February 2021 which is 36.71 per cent lower than the corresponding period last year. Though, it is higher than 77.34 lakh people travelled by air within the country in January. The passenger load factor in the month of February 2021 has shown increasing trend compared to previous month primarily due to beginning of tourist season.

As per the data, IndiGo carried 42.38 lakh passengers in February, a 54.2 per cent share of the total domestic market, SpiceJet flew 9.62 lakh passengers which is 12.3 per cent share of the market. Air India, GoAir, Vistara and AirAsia India carried 9.16 lakh, 5.81 lakh, 5.4 lakh and5.21 lakh passengers respectively in February. The occupancy rate or load factor of the six major Indian airlines was between 67.9 per cent and 78.9 per cent in February.

India resumed domestic passenger flights on May 25 last year after a gap of two months due to the coronavirus pandemic. Indian airlines are allowed to operate a maximum of 80 per cent of their pre-COVID-19 domestic flights. The aviation sector has been significantly impacted due to the travel restrictions imposed in India and other countries in view of the coronavirus pandemic. All airlines in India have taken cost-cutting measures such as pay cuts, leaves without pay and layoffs in order to tide over the crisis.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 14778.10, up by 56.80 points or 0.39% after trading in a range of 14757.90 and 14875.20. There were 35 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Hindalco up by 3.60%, Tata Motors up by 2.50%, ITC up by 2.11%, Bajaj Finance up by 2.10% and Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.94%. On the flip side, Dr. Reddy’s Lab down by 1.64%, Infosys down by 1.61%, Divis Lab down by 1.22%, Sun Pharma down by 0.95% and Hero MotoCorp down by 0.87% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading higher; Hang Seng increased 438.38 points or 1.51% to 29,472.50, Nikkei 225 surged 278.33 points or 0.93% to 30,192.66, Straits Times advanced 35.35 points or 1.14% to 3,145.00, KOSPI rose 23.81 points or 0.78% to 3,071.31, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 82.09 points or 0.51% to 16,297.91, Shanghai Composite gained 18.78 points or 0.55% to 3,464.33 and Jakarta Composite soared 57.72 points or 0.92% to 6,334.95.