Domestic indices trim opening gains; trade in green in early deals

Indian equity benchmarks extended their previous session’s gains with optimistic start on Wednesday following firm global cues. Soon, markets trimmed some of their gains but continued to trade in green terrain in early deals on account of buying in almost all the sector indices except TECK. Traders took encouragement as a periodic labour force survey by the National Statistical Office (NSO) showed that unemployment rate for persons of age 15 years and above in urban areas dipped to 9.8 per cent in July-September 2021 from 13.2 per cent in the same quarter of the previous year. Besides, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) retained the outlook for India’s real gross domestic product (GDP) at 5.5% in FY24. However, some cautiousness crept in as investors remained focused on news updates about the Russia-Ukraine war and rising coronavirus infections in China.

Most of the Asian markets are trading higher following the broadly positive cues overnight from Wall Street, extending mostly solid momentum with support from the technology stocks, largely shrugging off US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's comments a day earlier suggesting the central bank may raise interest rates more aggressively. Meanwhile, Japan fully lifted the COVID quasi-emergency measures in 18 prefectures, with the country having no emergency measures in place for the first time since January 8.

Back home, oil & gas sector stocks were in focus as the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas released its monthly production report for February 2022 showed that crude oil production failed to meet target while also lower in terms of year-on-year (YoY) data for the period; while natural gas production was higher in YoY terms, but still lower than the monthly target. In scrip specific development, RailTel was up as it received work order from Rail Vikas Nigam for installation of its MPLS-VPN services for 5 years at various locations of Rail Vikas, for an amount of Rs 11.57 crore.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 58219.03, up by 229.73 points or 0.40% after trading in a range of 58157.98 and 58416.56. 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 0.76%, while Small cap index was up by 0.85%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.82%, Consumer Durables up by 1.25%, Healthcare up by 1.00%, Metal up by 0.80%, Utilities up by 0.77%, while TECK down by 0.05% was the sole losing index on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 2.29%, Indusind Bank up by 1.40%, Reliance Industries up by 1.22%, Bajaj Finance up by 1.10% and SBI up by 1.03%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 1.18%, Asian Paints down by 0.56%, Maruti Suzuki down by 0.52%, Infosys down by 0.25% and HDFC down by 0.20% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Rajiv Kumar has sought to dispel the fear that India is favouring a closed economy by promoting ‘Atmanirbhar’ mission, and said the country can achieve better results for its people by having a deeper engagement with the global supply and value chain. Kumar said India remains very deeply committed to greater integration with global flows and the regional network. He said ‘We would want the Japanese companies to come and make India an export hub to the rest of the world under the PLI scheme. I think the environment is there to develop it because on the Indian side we have done, and we will continue to do whatever is required to attract Japanese investment into India.’

Kumar said ‘I do want to take this opportunity to dispel any fear at all that the production linked incentive scheme for the Atmanirbhar, the self-reliant India- a call given by the prime minister as a response to the Covid situation and for our economy to come out of it- I want to dispel the fear that it is in any sense leading us towards a closed economy’. He said there is no question at all for India to move back from its engagement with the global economy, trade, services, financial and technological aspects among others.

He added ‘We are convinced that it is only by a deeper integration for India that we will achieve better results for our people as we go forward.’ Talking about the transition towards green mobility by promoting clean energy, he said Japan has already taken a lead in this field and it can help the Indian companies by inviting them to supply green ammonia- a key input in making hydrogen fuel.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17368.75, up by 53.25 points or 0.31% after trading in a range of 17358.90 and 17442.40. There were 38 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 2.32%, Hindalco up by 1.83%, Divi's Lab up by 1.67%, SBI Life Insurance up by 1.39% and Indusind Bank up by 1.16%. On the flip side, Coal India down by 1.66%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.33%, Britannia Industries down by 1.22%, Asian Paints down by 0.76% and Maruti Suzuki down by 0.65% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 surged 731.52 points or 2.69% to 27,955.63, Straits Times added 16.75 points or 0.50% to 3,366.92, Hang Seng jumped 381.24 points or 1.74% to 22,270.52, Taiwan Weighted advanced 136.84 points or 0.78% to 17,696.55 and KOSPI rose 14.83 points or 0.55% to 2,724.83. On the other hand, Jakarta Composite fell 10.64 points or 0.15% to 6,990.18 and Shanghai Composite was down by 4.54 points or 0.14% to 3,255.32.