Bourses trade marginally higher

Indian equity benchmarks cut most of their early gains and were now trading marginally higher. Both Sensex and Nifty managed to trade in green terrain, on the back of positive cues from other Asian markets. Traders were taking a note of reports that the Reserve Bank announced the launch of the latest round of households' surveys to capture inflation expectations and consumer confidence, which provides useful inputs for its monetary policy. The central bank has been regularly conducting these surveys. But, upside remained capped, as A domestic rating agency -- Icra in its latest report has said the ongoing second wave of COVID-19 will dampen the pace of recovery for corporate India and the contact-intensive sectors will be hit the most. However, it stated the impact of the second wave on many sectors is set to be lower than the first because the lockdowns are less widespread and stringent as of now as against the strong nationwide lockdown last year which brought all economic activities to a grinding halt.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading in green, after the Asian Development Bank forecast developing Asia to rebound this year although the renewed outbreak of the coronavirus poses threat to the recovery. According to the latest Asian Development Outlook 2021, released Wednesday, economic growth in developing Asia will rebound to 7.3 percent this year from -0.2 percent last year, underpinned by global recovery and early progress in vaccination. However, growth will moderate to 5.3 percent in 2022.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 49789.74, up by 55.90 points or 0.11% after trading in a range of 49535.98 and 50375.77. There were 17 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.06%, while Small cap index was up by 0.10%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 2.34%, Basic Materials up by 1.03%, Energy up by 0.67%, Healthcare up by 0.59% and Power up by 0.36%, while Telecom down by 0.87%, Auto down by 0.58%, Consumer discretionary down by 0.32%, Capital Goods down by 0.31% and Bankex down by 0.24% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bajaj Finserv up by 5.01%, Bajaj Finance up by 3.11%, Dr. Reddy’s Lab up by 1.59%, Reliance Industries up by 0.91% and Sun Pharma up by 0.87%. On the flip side, SBI down by 1.28%, HCL Tech down by 1.23%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.11%, Larsen & Toubro down by 1.00% and HDFC down by 0.64% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Minister of Electronics and Information Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad has stated that the COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare the issue of the digital divide and recast the world’s view of digital access as a critical component to an equitable society. He said ‘In 2020, the year of the COVID-19 pandemic, the world embraced digital transformation at a pace never witnessed before’. He added that ‘The pandemic has resulted in societies reimagining technology’s critical role in how we work, learn and live’.

Prasad said the pandemic ‘has not only laid threadbare the issue of the digital divide but more importantly recast our view of digital access as a critical component to an equitable society.’ Asserting that technology is meant to be a ‘great equaliser, not a source of division’, Prasad said almost half the world’s population does not have access to high-speed broadband and is hence deprived of access to virtual platforms, tele-medicine, distance education and e-payments.

Prasad said the COVID-19 pandemic has also brought to the forefront the critical need for cutting-edge technology tools and innovation in the areas of tele-education and tele-medicine. Further, he underlined that digitalisation can support waves of change that could dramatically shift to a more efficient governance system. He said ‘We need to make technology an enabler for sustainable development, economic growth, social inclusion and environment sustainability.’

In 2015, the government launched 'Digital India' with the aim to bring digital inclusion and empower ordinary citizens with technology-based solutions that are affordable and easy to use. Today, India has the second-largest internet user base and is the second-largest mobile manufacturer, offering the cheapest internet data tariffs in the world. He noted that ‘We aim to develop India as a $1 trillion digital economy by 2025’.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 14894.50, up by 29.95 points or 0.20% after trading in a range of 14814.45 and 15044.35. There were 27 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining, while 1 stock remained unchanged on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bajaj Finserv up by 5.15%, JSW Steel up by 4.99%, Tata Steel up by 4.19%, Bajaj Finance up by 3.13% and Dr. Reddy’s Lab up by 1.52%. On the flip side, Hero MotoCorp down by 1.66%, HCL Tech down by 1.26%, Tata Consumer Products down by 1.16%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.09% and Larsen & Toubro down by 1.08% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading in green; Straits Times added 0.91 points or 0.03% to 3,220.47, Hang Seng surged 180.06 points or 0.62% to 29,251.40, Taiwan Weighted gained 5.90 points or 0.03% to 17,573.43, KOSPI increased 7.20 points or 0.23% to 3,188.67, Jakarta Composite jumped 31.48 points or 0.53% to 6,005.96 and Shanghai Composite was up by 6.03 points or 0.17% to 3,463.10.