Key gauges trim gains in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks trimmed some gains but continued to trade in green in morning deals, on the back of improvement in global cues. Sentiments remained positive as the commerce ministry data showed that the country’s merchandise exports rose by 26.4 per cent to $25.33 billion this month till February 21 on account of healthy performance by sectors including gems and jewellery, engineering, textiles and chemicals. The exports during February 1-21 last year stood at $20.04 billion. However, gains remain capped as forecasting a lower-than-previously projected 10 per cent GDP growth for the fiscal year 2022 due to the third wave of the pandemic, a private report said the Indian economy is likely to have expanded by 6.6 per cent in the December quarter. It said the economy had a relatively stable Q3 with several sectors returning to pre-pandemic level of activity, with services playing a bigger role in activity and added that with the mild Omicron wave in January, there is clear downside risks to the earlier growth forecast of 10 per cent in FY22.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green following a three-day sell-off but investors are keeping a nervous eye on events in eastern Europe on fears of a Russia-Ukraine war. Back home, microfinance sector stocks remained in watch as India Ratings revised upwards its outlook on the microfinance sector to neutral from negative next fiscal, on the back of a revival in growth that could clip at 30 per cent. The agency expects the sector to grow 20-30 per cent in both FY22 and FY23 in comparison to the below 10 per cent AUM (assets under management) growth in the previous two years.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 57487.87, up by 187.19 points or 0.33% after trading in a range of 57449.43 and 57733.37. There were 24 stocks advancing against 6 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 1.13%, while Small cap index was up by 1.50%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 2.20%, Utilities up by 1.49%, Consumer Durables up by 1.49%, Power up by 1.28% and Consumer Discretionary up by 1.27%, while there were no losing sectoral indices on the BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 2.86%, Titan Company up by 1.63%, Asian Paints up by 1.33%, Indusind Bank up by 1.31% and Maruti Suzuki up by 1.03%. On the flip side, Axis Bank down by 0.69%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.49%, ICICI Bank down by 0.48%, Larsen & Toubro down by 0.33% and Nestle down by 0.27% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Textiles Secretary Upendra Prasad Singh has said India's annual textiles exports can rise to $100 billion in the next five years from the current $40 billion. Singh said the country's apparel industry must focus on vertical integration to increase its scale and size and to benefit from the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme.

He stated ‘Apparel and garmenting is not very investment-centric but it is important from the employment point of view. Perhaps, there is a need for backward integration and more of you can get into integrated value-chain like spinning and weaving.’ He said that along with the PLI scheme, the government is committed to making the Prime Minister Mega Integrated Textile Region and Apparel (PM MITRA) scheme a success. He added Idea is not to just have a world class infrastructure but also a thriving industry there.

Besides, stating that textiles has always been among the top priorities of the government, he said, ‘There are a lot of big opportunities. The demand continues to be robust and the China plus one sourcing strategy by the west is certainly a great opportunity for us.’ he said it depends on how good, efficient and integrated the Indian apparel industry is and how it increases its size and scale.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17157.95, up by 65.75 points or 0.38% after trading in a range of 17136.70 and 17220.70. There were 41 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 2.74%, Indusind Bank up by 1.66%, Asian Paints up by 1.62%, Adani Ports &SEZ up by 1.61% and Titan Company up by 1.59%. On the flip side, ONGC down by 1.42%, Axis Bank down by 0.58%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.50%, Divi's Lab down by 0.40% and Nestle down by 0.40% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Hang Seng increased 162.90 points or 0.69% to 23,682.90, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 55.00 points or 0.31% to 18,024.29, Jakarta Composite soared 23.79 points or 0.35% to 6,885.78, Shanghai Composite gained 19.00 points or 0.55% to 3,476.15 and KOSPI rose 13.58 points or 0.5% to 2,720.37.

On the flip side, Straits Times trembled 12.24 points or 0.36% to 3,388.34.