Benchmarks trade marginally in green in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks erased initial losses to trade marginally in green in morning deals, led by gains in Banking, Metal and Oil & Gas stocks. Traders took some support with Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) Chairman A Sakthivel stating that strong demand and healthy order books will further help in boosting the country's exports in the coming months. However, gains remain capped amid concerns about the increasing cases of the Omicron variant of COVID-19. Meanwhile, the commerce ministry is planning to launch Brand India Campaign to give momentum to exports of both services and products in new markets, as the country’s outbound shipments all set to cross $400 billion this fiscal year

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red following the mostly negative cues overnight from Wall Street, as traders remain concerned about the sharp spike in new coronavirus infections. Back home, on the sectoral front, stocks related to pharma industry remained in limelight with Ratings agency ICRA in its latest report stated that the Indian pharma industry is estimated to grow at 9-11 per cent in 2021-22 and in the next few quarters, supported by gradual recovery post the impact of COVID-19.  Textile industry’s stocks too remained watch as Union Minister Piyush Goyal said the government is making efforts towards gaining access to new markets and getting concessional duties on textile products through free-trade agreements.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 59949.45, up by 93.52 points or 0.16% after trading in a range of 59661.38 and 60027.76. There were 18 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.35%, while Small cap index was up by 0.17%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Bankex up by 1.45%, Metal up by 0.94%, Oil & Gas up by 0.71%, Basic Materials up by 0.65% and PSU up by 0.59%, while IT down by 1.55%, TECK down by 1.30%, Energy down by 0.30%, Power down by 0.24% and Utilities down by 0.15% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bajaj Finance up by 3.14%, Bajaj Finserv up by 2.46%, Asian Paints up by 2.19%, ICICI Bank up by 1.64% and HDFC Bank up by 1.40%. On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 2.24%, HCL Technologies down by 2.09%, Infosys down by 1.76%, Wipro down by 1.61% and TCS down by 1.18% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, domestic rating agency Icra has said the Indian road logistic sector may witness healthy growth in current financial year (FY22) due to demand recovery and improved business activities. It maintained a 'stable' outlook for the Indian road logistic sector. The optimism stems from the favourable scenario wherein most players reported strong growth in freight volumes on a sequential basis in the second quarter of FY'22, and the momentum is likely to continue in the third quarter of the ongoing fiscal.

It mentioned after a subdued Q1 FY22 on account of second wave of COVID-19, demand recovery and improved business activities from Q2 FY22 onwards, led to better asset utilisation, which, along with cost-rationalisation measures, supported the operating margins in the current fiscal. Growth over the medium-term would continue to be driven by demand from varied segments like e-commerce, FMCG, retail, chemicals, pharmaceuticals and industrial goods coupled with industry paradigm shift towards organised logistics players, post the GST and E-way bill implementation. The sector is also expected to witness some consolidation on account of pandemic-related stress.

Icra Ratings, Vice President & Sector-Head, Suprio Banerjee said ‘the propagation of the new Omicron variant is a key monitorable, given the sector's vulnerability to economic activity on an aggregate basis. We expect industry volumes to remain stable in FY2023 as well, with expectation of steady business activities and formalisation of the sector.’

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17824.20, up by 18.95 points or 0.11% after trading in a range of 17748.85 and 17854.10. There were 33 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bajaj Finance up by 3.06%, Bajaj Finserv up by 2.45%, Indian Oil Corporation up by 1.89%, Asian Paints up by 1.84% and ICICI Bank up by 1.73%. On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 2.34%, Infosys down by 2.02%, HCL Technologies down by 1.96%, Wipro down by 1.52% and Tata Consumer Product down by 1.43% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Hang Seng decreased 197.01 points or 0.85% to 23,092.83, Taiwan Weighted dropped 57.12 points or 0.31% to 18,469.23, KOSPI fell 50.55 points or 1.69% to 2,938.69, Jakarta Composite lost 33.34 points or 0.5% to 6,662.03, Shanghai Composite declined 29.59 points or 0.81% to 3,602.74 and Straits Times trembled 11.89 points or 0.37% to 3,169.24.

On the flip side, Nikkei 225 was up by 1.52 points or 0.01% to 29,303.31.