Benchmarks continue to show positive trend

The Indian equity benchmarks continued to show a positive trend in late afternoon session. Among heavy-weights Power Grid, Tech Mahindra and HCL Tech exhibited a smart performance. Traders took support after free vaccination drive rolled out by the government is likely to create a positive impact on the job market and on the overall economy as most respondents believed that it will help them in providing a safe work ecosystem to their employees with steady work opportunities. Sector wise, Agriculture sector remained in focus, as its recorded the highest 103 per cent growth in new business registrations at 12,368 in FY2021, compared to 6,107 in the previous fiscal. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red amid increasing COVID-19 risks and concerns over the recent regulatory crackdown in China. The downside remained capped as a tame U.S. inflation reading suggested the Federal Reserve might not be in a hurry to tighten policy for now. European markets were trading mostly in green as strong earnings from a clutch of insurers and M&A activity in UK helped offset a decline in miners.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 54779.76, up by 253.83 points or 0.47% after trading in a range of 54536.65 and 54862.24. There were 22 stocks advancing against 8 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.73%, while Small cap index was up by 1.67%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Utilities up by 2.64%, Power up by 1.95%, IT up by 1.57%, Industrials up by 1.31% and Capital Goods was up by 1.29%, while Metal down by 0.26%, Consumer Durables down by 0.15%, Auto down by 0.14%, Energy down by 0.03% were the few losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Power Grid up by 5.28%, Tech Mahindra up by 4.21%, HCL Tech up by 2.87%, Larsen & Toubro up by 1.76% and NTPC up by 1.07%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 1.17%, Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 0.97%, Axis Bank down by 0.57%, Maruti Suzuki down by 0.47% and SBI down by 0.47% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari has stressed on the importance of time bound, transparent and fast decision making for Infrastructure development.

Gadkari further said that due to collective team spirit and contribution from all the stakeholders, even in the Covid pandemic good results could be achieved. The minister said decision has been taken to make Detail Project Reports (DPR) of more than 3 times of the project.

Talking about GPS based tracking system Gadkari said that presentations have been received from international companies and a concrete policy will be made in three months time. He said now within a year it will be possible to go from Delhi to Dehradun in two hours, Delhi to Haridwar in two hours, Delhi to Chandigarh in two hours and within 6 months , it will be Delhi to Jaipur within one and half hours. The Minister said new roads and green connectivity are very important.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 16344.25, up by 62.00 points or 0.38% after trading in a range of 16286.90 and 16375.50. There were 29 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Power Grid up by 5.13%, Tech Mahindra up by 4.16%, HCL Tech up by 2.82%, Larsen & Toubro up by 1.97% and Tata Motors up by 1.90%. On the flip side, Eicher Motors down by 3.29%, Indusind Bank down by 1.21%, ONGC down by 1.03%, Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 0.97% and JSW Steel down by 0.64% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red, Hang Seng decreased 142.34 points or 0.53% to 26,517.82, Nikkei 225 slipped 55.49 points or 0.2% to 28,015.02, KOSPI fell 12.24 points or 0.38% to 3,208.38, Shanghai Composite declined 7.88 points or 0.22% to 3,524.74 and Taiwan Weighted was down by 7.24 points or 0.04% to 17,219.94. On the flip side, Straits Times advanced 2.76 points or 0.09% to 3,182.76 and Jakarta Composite was up by 51.24 points or 0.84% to 6,139.65.

European markets were trading mostly in green, France’s CAC increased 3.45 points or 0.05% to 6,861.44 and Germany’s DAX was up by 20.08 points or 0.13% to 15,846.17. On the flip side, UK’s FTSE 100 was down by 14.09 points or 0.2% to 7,206.05.