Sensex, Nifty remain higher in late morning session

Indian equity benchmarks remained higher in late morning session, with both Sensex and Nifty holding strong gains. Positive cues from other Asian markets also helped key indices to maintain gaining rally. Traders got relief, after former RBI Governor D Subbarao said that the upcoming Budget should focus on creating jobs and bridging the widened inequality in the economy besides accelerating growth, while observing that given the continuing need to raise spending on education, health, and infrastructure, there is not much leeway for tax cuts. Besides, demanding 'one nation, one pension' scheme, an employees' organisation has asked the Centre to consider changes in the National Pension System (NPS) to ensure socio-economic security of lakhs of employees.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green, after the manufacturing sector in Taiwan continued to expand in January, albeit at a slower pace, the latest survey from Markit Economics revealed on Friday with a manufacturing PMI score of 55.1. That's down from 55.5 in December, although it remains above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 57980.98, up by 704.04 points or 1.23% after trading in a range of 57570.31 and 58044.92. There were 28 stocks advancing against 2 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 2.70%, while Small cap index up by 2.39%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 3.13%, Basic Materials up by 2.70%, IT up by 2.53%, Metal up by 2.52% and TECK up by 2.41%, while there were no losing sectoral indices on the BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were NTPC up by 5.04%, Indusind Bank up by 3.41%, Wipro up by 3.35%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 3.24% and Tata Steel up by 3.16%. On the flip side, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.73% and Power Grid down by 0.40% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, The commerce ministry has said that India’s electronic goods exports surged by 49 percent to $11 billion during April-December 2021 as against $7.4 billion recorded in the corresponding period of last year. In 2020-21, the exports stood at $11.11 billion.

The ministry noted that top five export destinations were the US, UAE, China, Netherlands and Germany. Mobile phones constituted a major chunk of electronic goods shipments. Other sectors which recorded healthy growth included IT hardware (laptops, tablets), consumer electronics (TV and audio), industrial electronics, auto electronics, components, LED lighting and telecom equipment.

It further said the sector is set to break all-time record highs, far exceeding the previous high USD 11.7 billion recorded in 2019-20. Steps taken by the government which are expected to increase the domestic manufacturing and exports include the Production Linked Incentive Scheme (PLI), Scheme for Promotion of Manufacturing of Electronic Components and Semiconductors (SPECS), and Modified Electronics Manufacturing Clusters.

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology recently released the second volume of a five-year roadmap and vision document for the sector. The document lays the roadmap to transform India into a $300 billion electronics manufacturing powerhouse over the next five years, from the current $75 billion. Electronic goods exports are expected to increase from the projected $15 billion in 2021-22 to $120 billion by 2026.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17348.40, up by 238.25 points or 1.39% after trading in a range of 17206.30 and 17359.70. There were 48 stocks advancing against 2 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were NTPC up by 5.04%, Wipro up by 3.35%, Indusind Bank up by 3.33%, ONGC up by 3.29% and UPL up by 3.25%. On the flip side, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.67% and Power Grid down by 0.40% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 surged 533.56 points or 2.04% to 26,703.86, KOSPI rose 38.34 points or 1.47% to 2,652.83, Straits Times advanced 8.24 points or 0.25% to 3,268.27 and Shanghai Composite gained 1.82 points or 0.05% to 3,396.07. On the flip side, Jakarta Composite lost 0.82 points or 0.01% to 6,610.34 and Hang Seng decreased 200.55 points or 0.84% to 23,606.45.