Markets trade near neutral line with positive bias in late afternoon session

Local frontline indices oscillated around neutral line in late afternoon session amid alternate bouts of buying-selling. Investors focused on global cues, as U.S. consumer prices surged in February, culminating in the largest annual increase in 40 years, and inflation is poised to accelerate further in the months ahead as Russia's war against Ukraine drives up the costs of crude oil and other commodities. Sector wise, banking sector remained in focused, as bank credit grew by 7.9 per cent to Rs 116.27 lakh crore and deposits rose by 8.6 per cent to Rs 162.17 lakh crore in the fortnight ended February 25. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red as uncertainty over the war in Ukraine and persistently high inflation keep their sway over markets. European markets were trading mostly in green after the previous session’s hefty losses and UK economy rebounded in January after the easing of restrictions related to the pandemic.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 55528.04, up by 63.65 points or 0.11% after trading in a range of 55049.95 and 55833.95. There were 13 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.22%, while Small cap index was up by 0.78%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Healthcare up by 2.00%, Basic Materials up by 0.70%, PSU up by 0.64%, Metal up by 0.63% and FMCG was up by 0.37%, while Auto down by 0.40%, Telecom down by 0.26%, TECK down by 0.15%, IT down by 0.09% and Energy was down by 0.03% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Sun Pharma up by 4.21%, Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 1.84%, ITC up by 1.83%, Power Grid up by 1.29% and Bajaj Finserv up by 0.69%. On the flip side, Nestle down by 1.92%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.13%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.85%, NTPC down by 0.64% and Bharti Airtel down by 0.49% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, with an aim to promote and support untapped creativity of MSME sector, Union Minister for MSME Narayan Rane has launched the MSME Innovative Scheme (Incubation, Design and IPR) along with the MSME Idea Hackathon 2022. Rane further said that MSMEs have an important role to play in Atmanirbhar Bharat. He said these schemes will help entrepreneurs in developing new ventures.

MSME Innovative is a holistic approach to unify, synergize and converge 3 sub-components and interventions with a single purpose. MSME Innovative is a new concept for MSMEs with a combination of innovation in incubation, design intervention and by protecting IPR in a single mode approach to create awareness amongst MSMEs about India’s innovation and motivate them to become MSME Champions. This will act as a hub for innovation activities facilitating and guiding development of ideas into viable business proposition that can benefit society directly and can be marketed successfully.

The scheme aims to improve the IP culture in India with a view to enhance the awareness of Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) amongst the MSMEs and to encourage creative intellectual endeavor in Indian economy. It also aims to take suitable measures for the protection of ideas, technological innovation and knowledge-driven business strategies developed by the MSMEs for their commercialization and effective utilization of IPR tools through IP Facilitation Centre.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 16618.55, up by 23.65 points or 0.14% after trading in a range of 16470.90 and 16694.40. There were 24 stocks advancing against 26 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Cipla up by 5.31%, Sun Pharma up by 4.08%, JSW Steel up by 2.72%, BPCL up by 2.01% and Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 1.97%. On the flip side, Nestle down by 2.06%, Tata Consumer down by 1.46%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.25%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.96% and HDFC Life Insurance down by 0.76% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red, Nikkei 225 slipped 527.62 points or 2.05% to 25,162.78, Hang Seng decreased 336.47 points or 1.61% to 20,553.79, Taiwan Weighted dropped 168.46 points or 0.97% to 17,264.74, KOSPI fell 19.04 points or 0.71% to 2,661.28 and Jakarta Composite was down by 1.41 points or 0.02% to 6,922.60. On the flip side, Straits Times advanced 1.40 points or 0.04% to 3,242.13 and Shanghai Composite was up by 13.66 points or 0.41% to 3,309.75.

European markets were trading mostly in green, Germany’s DAX gained 53.19 points or 0.4% to 13,495.29 and UK’s FTSE 100 was up by 42.05 points or 0.59% to 7,141.14. On the flip side, France’s CAC was down by 5.88 points or 0.09% to 6,201.32.