Bourses continue to move forward in late afternoon session

 Indian equity markets continued to move forward in late afternoon session following gains in Power, Utilities and Realty stocks. Fall in crude oil prices also helped the markets to trade firm. Sentiments remained upbeat after Russia promised to scale down military operations around Kyiv and northern Ukraine as a confidence-building step, in the most tangible sign yet of progress towards negotiating an end to the war. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green. However, European markets were trading lower as bond markets suggested pain ahead for the U.S. economy, tempering hopes of a negotiated end to the Ukraine conflict that had earlier buoyed equities. Back home, banking sector remained in focused, as Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that gross non-performing assets (NPAs) of Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCBs) 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.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 58,581.91, up by 638.26 points or 1.10% after trading in a range of 58176.00 and 58665.00. There were 22 stocks advancing against 8 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.75%, while Small cap index was up by 1.17%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Power up by 2.17%, Utilities up by 2.02%, Realty up by 1.95%, Bankex up by 1.21% and Auto was up by 1.16%, while Metal down by 2.47%, Basic Materials down by 0.51%, Consumer Durables down by 0.20%, Oil & Gas down by 0.17% and PSU was down by 0.00% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bajaj Finserv up by 3.86%, Bajaj Finance up by 3.04%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.46%, Maruti Suzuki up by 2.28% and Axis Bank up by 2.22%. On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 2.39%, Tata Steel down by 2.11%, ITC down by 1.94%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.84% and Titan Company down by 0.59% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, emphasizing upon the significance of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the GDP of the country, Union Minister for MSME Narayan Rane has said that MSMEs are growth accelerators making a significant contribution to GDP and need to be strengthened.

The minister also noted that for a long time now, MSMEs have been working amidst minimum resources and yet making a significant contribution to the GDP of the country. The Minister said it is, therefore, necessary that these growth accelerators are handheld and strengthened. He said in this direction there has definitely been significant collective efforts to strengthen the sector and various schemes of the government are directed towards opening up new avenues for MSMEs.

Narayan Rane further said that the Government has well ensured that the MSME sector receives an unhindered credit flow from financial institutions, technology support for development and modernization, access to export markets, infrastructure facility, training and capacity building facility and welfare of workforce.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17,484.05, up by 158.75 points or 0.92% after trading in a range of 17387.20 and 17513.90. There were 32 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bajaj Finserv up by 3.91%, Bajaj Finance up by 3.02%, HDFC Life Insurance up by 2.93%, Tata Consumer up by 2.80% and Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.52%. On the flip side, Hindalco down by 4.75%, ONGC down by 4.50%, JSW Steel down by 4.41%, Tech Mahindra down by 2.32% and Tata Steel down by 2.08% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green, Hang Seng increased 304.40 points or 1.39% to 22,232.03, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 191.90 points or 1.09% to 17,740.56, Shanghai Composite gained 62.66 points or 1.96% to 3,266.60, Jakarta Composite soared 41.50 points or 0.59% to 7,053.19, KOSPI rose 5.67 points or 0.21% to 2,746.74 and Straits Times was up by 3.44 points or 0.1% to 3,437.34. On the flip side, Nikkei 225 was down by 225.17 points or 0.8% to 28,027.25.

European markets were trading lower, UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 4.90 points or 0.07% to 7,532.35, France’s CAC decreased 74.93 points or 1.1% to 6,717.23 and Germany’s DAX was down by 200.79 points or 1.35% to 14,619.54.