Markets continue to trade higher in late afternoon session

Indian equity markets continued to trade higher in late afternoon session amid positive global cues. Asian Paints was the top gainer in the Sensex, followed by Mahindra & Mahindra, Titan Company and Larsen & Toubro. Some support came after private report stated that the Indian economy is likely to maintain a real GDP growth of 9 percent each in FY2022 and FY2023 amid uncertainty triggered by the Omicron variant of corona virus. Traders ignored Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s statement that yellow alert has been sounded in Delhi and some restrictions imposed under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) in view of rising number of Covid cases in the city. Sector wise, steel sector remained in focus, as highlighting that the Indian steel sector is full of opportunities, Minister of State (MoS) Faggan Singh Kulaste has said that increasing per capita steel consumption and production of special steel as well as enhancing raw material security will remain the key focus areas of the government in 2022. In scrip specific development, Supriya Lifescience shares made a strong debut on stock exchanges BSE and NSE.

On the global front, All Asian markets were trading higher and European markets were trading in green as investors appear confident that the Omicron coronavirus variant will not derail the global economic recovery.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 57923.58, up by 503.34 points or 0.88% after trading in a range of 57683.24 and 57944.45. There were 29 stocks advancing against 1 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 1.08%, while Small cap index was up by 1.52%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Industrials up by 1.63%, Capital Goods up by 1.60%, Consumer Discretionary up by 1.53%, Basic Materials up by 1.50% and Consumer Durables was up by 1.39%, while there were no losers on sectoral indices on the BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Asian Paints up by 2.69%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.45%, Titan Company up by 2.22%, Larsen & Toubro up by 1.98% and Ultratech Cement up by 1.98%. On the flip side, Power Grid down by 0.78% was only loser.

Meanwhile, highlighting that the Indian steel sector is full of opportunities, Minister of State (MoS) Faggan Singh Kulaste has said that increasing per capita steel consumption and production of special steel as well as enhancing raw material security will remain the key focus areas of the government in 2022.

Kulaste said the focus will also be on finding new markets as the production of steel continues to grow in the country. He said that the per capita steel consumption in the country is at around 72.3 kg at present, while the capacity is at 143.9 MTPA (million tonnes per annum), and the focus will also be on increasing the output of special steel.

Besides, the minister said that the country must aim to grab the numero uno position in quality steel production. The ministry has already directed the public sector undertakings (PSUs) and private players to take measures to cut imports of special steel.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17235.10, up by 148.85 points or 0.87% after trading in a range of 17163.65 and 17246.55. There were 48 stocks advancing against 2 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Asian Paints up by 2.83%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.50%, Titan Co up by 2.22%, Tata Motors up by 2.16% and Ultratech Cement up by 2.07%. On the flip side, Power Grid down by 0.73% and Indusind Bank down by 0.14% were only losers.

All Asian markets were trading higher, Nikkei 225 surged 392.70 points or 1.37% to 29,069.16, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 147.87 points or 0.82% to 18,196.81, Hang Seng increased 56.80 points or 0.24% to 23,280.56, Jakarta Composite soared 22.90 points or 0.35% to 6,598.34, KOSPI rose 20.69 points or 0.69% to 3,020.24, Straits Times advanced 20.57 points or 0.66% to 3,124.81 and Shanghai Composite was up by 14.14 points or 0.39% to 3,630.11.

European markets were trading in green, France’s CAC increased 16.71 points or 0.23% to 7,157.10 and Germany’s DAX was up by 48.03 points or 0.3% to 15,883.28.