Markets continue to trade flat in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade flat in morning session despite strength across global markets amid easing Russia-Ukraine tensions. Traders remain concerned with government data showing that exports from special economic zones (SEZs) grew at a slower pace as compared to the growth of overall outbound shipments from the country during the first eight months of the current fiscal year. Traders also took note of a private report expected that RBI to leave key policy rates unchanged throughout the first half of 2022, despite retail inflation rising to 6.01 per cent in January, and likely to remain elevated till April. Meanwhile, Shares of Vedant Fashions, which owns ethnic wear brand Manyavar, debuted on a positive note and got listed at Rs 936, an 8 per cent premium over its issue price of Rs 866 per share on the BSE.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading in green following the broadly positive cues overnight from Wall Street, amid easing geopolitical concerns following news Russia is pulling back some troops from the Ukrainian border. Back home, on the sectoral front, IT industry’s stocks remained in action as the National Association of Software and Service Companies (Nasscom) has said that Indian information technology (IT) sector is set to grow at 15.5 percent - the fastest in over a decade - to $227 billion in FY22, as the pandemic pushes up demand for digitization at companies across the world.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 58110.39, down by 31.66 points or 0.05% after trading in a range of 57981.60 and 58467.04. There were 16 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.65%, while Small cap index was up by 0.99%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.56%, Utilities up by 1.34%, Power up by 1.25%, Telecom up by 0.84% and Oil & Gas up by 0.71%, while Capital Goods down by 0.46%, Bankex down by 0.12% and Metal down by 0.05% were the few losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.21%, HDFC up by 1.21%, Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 0.96%, Indusind Bank up by 0.74% and NTPC up by 0.63%. On the flip side, Power Grid Corporation down by 1.75%, Larsen & Toubro down by 1.34%, Ultratech Cement down by 0.84%, Tata Steel down by 0.63% and ICICI Bank down by 0.62% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has asked Securities and Exchange Board (Sebi) to initiate the next generation reforms to improve the ease of doing business and also be prepared to deal with possible market turbulence in the wake of actions by the US Federal Reserve. The minister's remarks come against the backdrop of the Federal Reserve deciding to tighten its monetary policy after a long period of easy money regime and its actions could impact fund flows into emerging markets, including India.

Further, she appreciated the initiatives taken by the regulator and emphasised the need to take further steps to reduce compliance burden, cost of market intermediation apart from more measures to strengthen investor protection.

Besides, she also asked the Sebi to further boost the corporate bond market and also develop green bond market in the context of increasing focus on ESG (Environment, Social and Governance) investments.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17364.50, up by 12.05 points or 0.07% after trading in a range of 17315.65 and 17450.00. There were 31 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Adani Ports & SEZ up by 2.62%, HDFC Life Insurance up by 2.51%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.25%, Divi's Lab up by 2.22% and Indian Oil Corporation up by 1.73%. On the flip side, Power Grid Corporation down by 1.77%, Larsen & Toubro down by 1.33%, Eicher Motors down by 0.91%, Ultratech Cement down by 0.91% and Tata Steel down by 0.72% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading in green; Nikkei 225 surged 600.66 points or 2.24% to 27,465.85, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 196.89 points or 1.1% to 18,148.70, Hang Seng increased 309.51 points or 1.27% to 24,665.22, Jakarta Composite soared 31.56 points or 0.46% to 6,839.06, KOSPI rose 50.77 points or 1.9% to 2,727.31, Shanghai Composite gained 23.76 points or 0.69% to 3,469.85 and Straits Times advanced 1.85 points or 0.05% to 3,423.23.