Benchmarks continue to move higher in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks continued to move higher in morning deals mirroring gains in global markets as hopes rose for a negotiated end to the Ukraine conflict. Sentiments remained up-beat with Union minister Narayan Rane’s statement that the government is setting up a global market intelligence network to boost India's exports from the micro, small and medium enterprises sector. He said the Global Market Intelligence Network will act as a knowledge repository of export-related data on foreign markets and facilitate easier market access for MSME exporters. Some support also came as Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman stated that gross NPAs have reduced to Rs 7.73 lakh crore as of December 31, 2021, against Rs 10.36 lakh crore as of March 31, 2018, due to transparent recognition of stressed assets. Traders overlooked report by domestic ratings agency ICRA in which it has cut its FY23 real Gross domestic product (GDP) growth estimate by a sharp 0.8 per cent to 7.2 per cent. It attributed the downward revision to elevated commodity prices and also fresh supply chain issues arising from the conflict in Ukraine.

On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly in green as talks progressed between Russia and Ukraine to end their weeks-long conflict. Russia's military reportedly said it would drastically cut back operations focused on Kyiv and Chernihiv after Ukrainian negotiators proposed adopting neutral status in exchange for security guarantees. Back home, pharmaceutical sector stocks remained in watch as Union minister Mansukh Mandaviya said manufacturing of 35 active pharmaceutical ingredients, which have been imported earlier, has started in India under the production linked scheme for the pharmaceuticals sector. These 35 active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) are among the 53 APIs, for which India has 90 per cent import dependence.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 58462.83, up by 519.18 points or 0.90% after trading in a range of 58176.00 and 58480.00. There were 25 stocks advancing against 5 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.72%, while Small cap index was up by 1.22%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.63%, Auto up by 1.35%, Bankex up by 1.32%, Consumer Discretionary up by 1.23% and Industrials up by 1.16%, while Metal down by 2.29%, Oil & Gas down by 0.59%, Basic Materials down by 0.37%, Energy down by 0.36% and Healthcare down by 0.09% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bajaj Finserv up by 3.05%, Axis Bank up by 3.00%, Bajaj Finance up by 2.82%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.13% and Maruti Suzuki up by 2.11%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 2.18%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.65%, Sun Pharma down by 1.05%, Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 0.56% and ITC down by 0.39% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Union minister Mansukh Mandaviya has said manufacturing of 35 active pharmaceutical ingredients, which have been imported earlier, has started in India under the production linked scheme (PLI) for the pharmaceuticals sector.  These 35 active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) are among the 53 APIs, for which India has 90 per cent import dependence.

He stated the 35 APIs are being manufactured from 32 different manufacturing plants. This will give a boost to AatmaNirbhar Bharat. This would lead to reduction in import dependence of the key raw materials used for producing medicines.

Further, he said there has been a good response from the pharma industry to the PLI scheme and manufacturing of the other APIs is also expected to start in India in due course of time. Last year, the government had announced the Rs 15,000 crore PLI scheme for the pharmaceutical sector and 55 companies, including Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, Aurobindo Pharma, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, Lupin, Mylan Laboratories, Cipla and Cadila Healthcare, had qualified for incentives under the scheme.

The incentives are to be paid for a maximum period of six years to each qualified company depending upon the threshold investments and sales criteria achieved by the applicant. The products covered under the scheme include formulations, biopharmaceuticals, active pharmaceutical ingredients, key starting material, drug intermediates, and in-vitro diagnostic medical devices, among others.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17461.30, up by 136.00 points or 0.78% after trading in a range of 17387.20 and 17468.15. There were 39 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Consumer Product up by 4.25%, Axis Bank up by 3.02%, Bajaj Finserv up by 2.97%, Bajaj Finance up by 2.76% and Hero MotoCorp up by 2.73%. On the flip side, ONGC down by 4.44%, Hindalco down by 3.87%, JSW Steel down by 2.71%, Tata Steel down by 2.29% and Tech Mahindra down by 1.58% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in green; Hang Seng increased 253.06 points or 1.15% to 22,180.69, KOSPI rose 1.27 points or 0.05% to 2,742.34, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 182.22 points or 1.04% to 17,730.88, Jakarta Composite soared 24.72 points or 0.35% to 7,036.41, Straits Times advanced 1.95 points or 0.06% to 3,435.85 and Shanghai Composite gained 41.28 points or 1.29% to 3,245.22.

On the flip side, Nikkei 225 slipped 472.37 points or 1.67% to 27,780.05.