Markets trade slightly higher in early deals; CPI, WPI data eyed

Indian equity benchmarks extend their previous session’s gains with slightly positive start on Monday as oil prices fell in Asian trade and hopes for progress in Russian-Ukraine peace talks. Markets are trading marginally higher in early deals. Traders took encouragement with Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal’s statement that the country's merchandise exports have reached over $380 billion so far this fiscal till March 7 and are expected to reach $410 billion in 2021-22. Some support also came in as India's industrial growth in the month of January grew 1.3% year-on-year. It had slumped to a 10-month low of 0.4% in December 2021. Now, investors are eyeing the February WPI data, and the retail inflation figures to come out later in the day. Though, upside remained capped amid weak global cues. Also, Reserve Bank of India deputy governor Michael Patra said India's growth story remains as weak as it was during the 2013 taper tantrum and recent geopolitical tensions in Ukraine and Russia are further likely to hurt a recovery.

Most of the Asian markets are trading lower following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street on Friday, amid rising worries about the economic impact of the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine and the various sanctions imposed on Russia by the U.S. and the Western allies. There is also rising prospect of tighter monetary policy by the U.S. Federal Reserve to rein in inflation. Back home, tea industry stocks were in focus as a body of tea planters said exports of the commodity will be adversely impacted due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict. In scrip specific development, HDFC Bank advanced as the RBI lifted all restrictions on the private sector lender, permitting it to launch new digital initiatives.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 55682.24, up by 131.94 points or 0.24% after trading in a range of 55556.47 and 55860.21. There were 10 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining, while 1 stock remain unchanged on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell 0.61%, while Small cap index was down by 0.28%.

The few gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were TECK up by 1.11%, IT up by 1.10%, Bankex up by 0.54%, while Auto down by 1.16%, Realty down by 1.10%, Oil & Gas down by 0.88%, FMCG down by 0.81%, Energy down by 0.71% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Infosys up by 2.16%, HDFC Bank up by 1.67%, Wipro up by 1.00%, SBI up by 0.75% and Tech Mahindra up by 0.73%. On the flip side, Hindustan Unilever down by 2.05%, Bajaj Finance down by 1.12%, Maruti Suzuki down by 0.96%, Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 0.82% and Ultratech Cement down by 0.75% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, expressing optimism over India’s exports growth, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has said that the country's merchandise exports have reached over $380 billion so far this fiscal till March 7 and are expected to reach $410 billion in 2021-22. He added that the country will have a record services exports upward of $240 billion. He also said that India and Canada have formally re-launched negotiations for a free trade agreement, which is officially dubbed as the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA).

About the India-Canada relationship, he said this economic partnership will strengthen efforts to take economic ties to the next level. He said ‘This will help generate jobs, help each other in times of need and work with each other in several international forums...We have over 7,00,000 persons of Indian origin in Canada today, slated to go up to 1.4 million in the next few years....’. He also urged the Canadian minister to be a ‘little more liberal’ while negotiating the trade agreement. The minister also sought investments from Canada in areas like infrastructure and manufacturing.

The Canadian minister Mary Ng has said that huge opportunities are there in India for businesses. She said ‘We already have strong people to people ties’, and added that Canadian businesses have invested about $65 billion in India, which reflects the potential here. She also said ‘I am looking forward for doing more work on this front’. She added that Canada is also pursuing a Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (FIPA) with India.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 16641.75, up by 11.30 points or 0.07% after trading in a range of 16606.50 and 16702.55. There were 12 stocks advancing against 38 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Infosys up by 2.21%, HDFC Bank up by 1.71%, Wipro up by 0.99%, SBI up by 0.80% and ICICI Bank up by 0.72%. On the flip side, Tata Motors down by 2.95%, Eicher Motors down by 2.23%, Hindustan Unilever down by 2.07%, IOC down by 2.02% and BPCL down by 1.45% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in red; Straits Times fell 21.86 points or 0.67% to 3,227.80, Hang Seng plunged 782.32 points or 3.81% to 19,771.47, Taiwan Weighted declined 15.43 points or 0.09% to 17,249.31, KOSPI lost 22.18 points or 0.83% to 2,639.10 and Shanghai Composite slipped 43.02 points or 1.30% to 3,266.73. On the other hand, Nikkei 225 rose 216.73 points or 0.86% to 25,379.51 and Jakarta Composite was up by 33.76 points or 0.49% to 6,956.36.