Benchmarks trade higher in early deals on Tuesday

The Indian benchmark indices were trading higher with gains of over half a per cent in early deals on Tuesday, after a volatile start to the session. Sentiments got boost as India has attracted record total FDI inflow for the first ten months of a financial year in 2020-21. Accordingly, the inflow rose to $72.12 billion during April to January, 2021, 15 per cent higher as compared to the first ten months of 2019-20, when it stood at $62.72 billion. The FDI equity inflow grew by 28 per cent in the first ten months of FY 2020-21 ($54.18 billion) compared to the year ago period ($42.34 billion).  Further, support also came in as the country witnesses a rapid resurgence of coronavirus cases, a Finance Ministry report has exuded confidence in the Indian economy and termed the economic recovery as resilient citing improvement in high frequency indicators. The Monthly Economic Review for March 2021 released by the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) said that the agricultural sector remains the bright spot of Indian economy with foodgrains production touching 303.3 million tonnes in 2020-21 beating record production levels for the fifth consecutive year in a row.

On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly red in early deals on Tuesday despite major indexes on Wall Street surged to record closing highs overnight. The US markets ended higher on Monday as a strong bounce in US job growth and solid data in the services sector raised expectations for a swift economic recovery from the pandemic. Back home, stock specific development, Panacea Biotec were locked in the upper circuit of 20 per cent at Rs 220.85 on the BSE after the company and the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) agreed to produce 100 million doses of Sputnik V vaccine in India per year.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 49416.90, up by 257.58 points or 0.52% after trading in a range of 48936.35 and 49558.77. There were 29 stocks advancing against 1 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.70%, while Small cap index up by 0.84%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Power up by 1.57%, Utilities up by 1.46%, Metal up by 1.27%, Healthcare up by 1.18% and Auto up by 0.91%, while Consumer Durables down by 0.43% was the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.05%, Power Grid up by 1.91%, Asian Paints up by 1.68%, Sun Pharma up by 1.55% and Bajaj Finance up by 1.43%. On the flip side, Titan Co down by 0.46% was the only losers.

Meanwhile, the Commerce and Industry Ministry in its latest data has showed that foreign direct investment (FDI) equity inflows into the country grew by 28 percent to $54.18 billion during April-January 2020-21. FDI inflows stood at $42.34 billion during April-January 2019-20.

Total FDI (which includes reinvested earnings) during the 10-month period in FY21 increased by 15 percent to $72.12 billion over the year-ago period. The measures taken by the government on the fronts of FDI policy reforms, investment facilitation and ease of doing business have resulted in increased FDI inflows into the country.

Computer software and hardware has emerged as the top sector during the first ten months of 2020-21 with 45.81 per cent of the total inflows. It was followed by construction (infrastructure) activities (13.37 per cent) and services sector (7.80 per cent) respectively. These trends in India's FDI are an endorsement of its status as a preferred investment destination amongst global investors.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 14729.80, up by 92.00 points or 0.63% after trading in a range of 14573.90 and 14757.75. There were 46 stocks advancing against 4 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were JSW Steel up by 3.00%, Power Grid up by 2.12%, Tata Motors up by 1.82%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.79% and Cipla up by 1.73%. On the flip side, Titan Co down by 0.39%, Britannia Inds down by 0.35%, Grasim Industries down by 0.26% and BPCL down by 0.01% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Nikkei 225 fell 337.39 points or 1.12% to 29,751.86, Straits Times dropped 10.20 points or 0.32% to 3,199.54, KOSPI declined 1.19 points or 0.04% to 3,119.64 and Shanghai Composite was down by 11.07 points or 0.32% to 3,473.32. However, Jakarta Composite gained 19.74 points or 0.33% to 5,990.03 and Taiwan Weighted soared 161.54 points or 0.97% to 16,732.82.