Bulls hold tight grip over Dalal Street

Bulls were holding a tight grip over the Dalal Street in late morning session, with both Sensex and Nifty maintaining their strong gaining rally. Positive cues from other Asian markets helped key indices to remain strong. Sentiments were positive, tracking global rallies linked to a US Fed rate hike and another pullback in oil prices. Besides, a private report stated that a significant percentage of employers are keen to increase their apprentice appointment in the first six months of this year, mainly on account of awareness and reforms in the apprenticeship system. Traders overlooked reports that Moody's slashed India's growth estimate for the current year to 9.1 per cent, from 9.5 per cent earlier, saying high fuel and fertilizer import bill could limit the government's capital expenditure.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green, after the value of core machine orders in Japan was up 5.1 percent on year in January, the Cabinet Office said on Thursday - coming in at 899.6 billion yen. That was shy of expectations for an increase of 8.1 percent but was unchanged from December's annual reading. On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, core machine orders were down 2.0 percent - beating forecasts for a decline of 2.2 percent after slipping 3.6 percent in December.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 57928.54, up by 1111.89 points or 1.96% after trading in a range of 57518.06 and 57932.09. There were 29 stocks advancing against 1 stock declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 1.35%, while Small cap index was up by 1.21%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 3.16%, Bankex up by 2.34%, Consumer discretionary up by 2.27%, Auto up by 1.97% and Realty up by 1.80%, while there were no losing sectoral indices on the BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were HDFC up by 4.69%, Titan Co up by 4.27%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 3.51%, Asian Paints up by 3.43% and Maruti Suzuki up by 3.01%. On the flip side, HCL Tech. down by 0.31% was the only loser.

Meanwhile, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has expressed disappointment over certain auto companies continuing to import even those components which can be qualitatively manufactured in India. The minister said he has been told that some Indian auto component manufacturers have been forced to sell their shareholding cheaply by automobile makers.

Goyal said ‘it is extremely unfortunate that if any of our Indian promoters who have put in their sweat and blood to develop ancillary suppliers for the auto firms are forced out of their contribution or their partnership...I am told that this is prevailing in this industry...we would trying to know if there are any such instances.’ He urged the industry to cut import dependence, focus on R&D, increase innovation, buy goods from domestic firms and be open for global competition.

Expressing concern, the minister also said some firms do not use high-quality Indian steel and instead rely on imports. He pointed out that continuous dependence on imports would make India an assembly shop. He urged the industry to develop the entire mobility ecosystem in India, become global suppliers, and make the country self-sufficient in the sector. He further said focus on areas like e-vehicles and hydrogen fuel cells would help India cut its huge dependence on oil, which puts a burden on the exchequer.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17297.50, up by 322.15 points or 1.90% after trading in a range of 17175.75 and 17299.85. There were 45 stocks advancing against 5 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were HDFC up by 4.52%, Titan Co up by 4.33%, Eicher Motors up by 3.75%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 3.66% and JSW Steel up by 3.53%. On the flip side, Indian Oil Corp. down by 1.03%, HCL Tech. down by 0.49%, ONGC down by 0.30%, Britannia down by 0.05% and Cipla down by 0.03% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Hang Seng increased 1163.47 points or 5.79% to 21,250.97, Nikkei 225 surged 895.86 points or 3.48% to 26,657.87, Straits Times advanced 30.37 points or 0.92% to 3,321.27, KOSPI rose 47.23 points or 1.78% to 2,706.46, Shanghai Composite gained 82.25 points or 2.59% to 3,252.96 and Taiwan Weighted strengthened 488.86 points or 2.89% to 17,429.69. On the flip side, Jakarta Composite lost 6.59 points or 0.09% to 6,985.81.