Benchmarks continue to trade higher in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade higher in morning deals, led by buying in all sectors amid positive global cues. Investors awaited the outcome of the RBI's policy review due this week and more of corporate earnings for cues. Traders remained optimistic as the preliminary data of the commerce ministry showed that India's exports grew by 28.51 per cent to $8.67 billion during February 1-7 on account of healthy growth in sectors such as petroleum, engineering and gems and jewellery. The exports during the first week of this month rose by about 31 per cent. Some support also came as Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has made an aggressive pitch for adoption of products that are designed and made in India, citing better quality and costs, as he affirmed the government's firm resolve to improving ease of doing business and reducing regulations in the sector. On the global front, Asian markets were trading in green with tech stocks particularly catching a lift following a strong session on Wall Street, while U.S. treasury yields held near multi-year highs ahead of closely watched inflation data this week. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 58213.59, up by 405.01 points or 0.70% after trading in a range of 58105.18 and 58378.72. There were 26 stocks advancing against 4 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.45%, while Small cap index was up by 0.13%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 1.04%, Consumer Durables up by 1.01%, Auto up by 0.97%, TECK up by 0.93% and Bankex up by 0.79%, while Oil & Gas down by 0.21% was the lone losing index on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Maruti Suzuki up by 1.93%, HCL Technologies up by 1.90%, HDFC Bank up by 1.81%, Indusind Bank up by 1.80% and Tech Mahindra up by 1.60%. On the flip side, Sun Pharma down by 0.55%, Power Grid Corporation down by 0.48%, SBI down by 0.41% and Tata Steel down by 0.18% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the preliminary data of the commerce ministry has showed that India's exports grew by 28.51 per cent to $8.67 billion during February 1-7 on account of healthy growth in sectors such as petroleum, engineering and gems and jewellery. The exports during the first week of this month rose by about 31 per cent.
According to the data, $8.67 billion per week is almost 20 per cent more than the weekly run rate of $7 billion clocked this year. The country's exports rose by 23.69 per cent to $34.06 billion in January.

Engineering exports rose by 24.13 per cent to $9.2 billion, petroleum by 74.73 per cent to $3.73 billion and gems and jewellery by 13.83 per cent to $3.23 billion. Pharmaceuticals exports stood at $2.05 billion in January. Cumulatively, exports during April-January 2021-22 rose by 46.53 per cent to $335.44 billion as against $228.9 billion in the same period last year.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17375.25, up by 108.50 points or 0.63% after trading in a range of 17339.00 and 17438.45. There were 41 stocks advancing against 8 stocks declining, while 1 stock remains unchanged on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Coal India up by 4.13%, Hindalco up by 2.13%, HCL Tech. up by 1.89%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.83% and Bajaj Auto up by 1.78%. On the flip side, Indian Oil Corp. down by 0.91%, SBI Life Insuran down by 0.76%, Sun Pharma Inds. down by 0.61%, SBI down by 0.57% and HDFC Life Insurance down by 0.57% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading in green; Nikkei 225 surged 332.65 points or 1.22% to 27,617.17, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 130.68 points or 0.73% to 18,097.24, Straits Times advanced 4.61 points or 0.14% to 3,406.35, Jakarta Composite soared 39.36 points or 0.58% to 6,828.88, KOSPI rose 24.91 points or 0.91% to 2,771.38, Shanghai Composite gained 13.74 points or 0.4% to 3,466.37 and Hang Seng increased 478.67 points or 1.97% to 24,808.16.