Domestic indices wipe out opening losses; trade tad higher in early deals

markets recovered and are trading marginally higher in early deals on account board based buying. Sentiments got a boost as the output in eight key core sectors rose to a four-month high in February propped up by the low base effect and strong performance in steel, cement, coal, natural gas, refinery products and electricity segments. Some support also came in as foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth Rs 3,088.73 crore on March 31. Though, upside remained capped as data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) showed India's current account deficit widened to a massive $23 billion in October-December 2021 from $9.9 billion in July-September 2021 due to a higher merchandise import bill. More pessimism came in as data released by the Ministry of Finance showed that India's external debt rose $11.5 billion in October-December 2021 to stand at $614.9 billion at the end of the quarter. Besides, the Centre's fiscal deficit at the end of February stood at 82.7 per cent of the full year budget target, mainly on account of higher expenditure.

Most of the Asian markets are trading lower following the broadly negative cues overnight from Wall Street, as some traders continued to cash in on recent strength in the markets. Worries about growth due to the ongoing war in Ukraine, and fears of aggressive monetary tightening by the Federal Reserve and other central banks also rendered the mood cautious. Besides, large manufacturing in Japan weakened in the first quarter of 2022, the Bank of Japan's quarterly Tankan Survey of business sentiment showed on Friday with a diffusion index score of +14. Back home, aviation industry stocks were in focus as Jet fuel prices were hiked by 2 per cent - the seventh straight increase this year - to an all-time high, reflecting a surge in global energy prices. In scrip specific developments, Hero MotoCorp slipped after the I-T dept found that the company has siphoned off Rs 800 crore via shell firms. However, GAIL gained after board approves Rs 1,083 crore buyback plan.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 58671.32, up by 102.81 points or 0.18% after trading in a range of 58450.04 and 58693.44. There were 21 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.71%, while Small cap index was up by 1.14%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Utilities up by 2.01%, Power up by 2.00%, Telecom up by 1.77%, Metal up by 1.44%, PSU up by 1.28%, while Consumer Durables down by 0.11% was the sole losing index on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were NTPC up by 3.41%, Power Grid up by 2.70%, Tata Steel up by 1.95%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 0.96% and HDFC Bank up by 0.89%. On the flip side, Titan down by 1.07%, Nestle down by 0.56%, Infosys down by 0.52%, ICICI Bank down by 0.51% and Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 0.30% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, with rising internet penetration and increasing income, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said India's digital economy is likely to witness exponential growth to $800 billion by 2030. She said India has over 6,300 fintechs, of which 28 per cent are into investment technology, 27 per cent into payments, 16 per cent into lending and 9 per cent into banking infrastructure, while over 20 per cent are into other fields. She noted that so they are spread across different activities and not concentrated.

She said ‘at the same time, the digital economy in India is being pegged at $85-90 billion in the calendar year 2020 and that will see an exponential rise to $800 billion by 2030. They should be reaching $800 billion in the back drop of increased internet penetration, rising incomes and also the young Indian population’. The government has made it easier in terms of smooth and easy access to the stock markets, with technology such as e-KYC and e-Aadhaar helping the retail investors come into the market.

The total number of retail investor accounts has almost doubled from about 45 million as of March 2016 to 88.2 million by March 31, 2021. She highlighted that a 10 per cent rise in internet penetration results in an increase of 3.9 per cent in GDP per capita. Talking about push to digital economy, she said the recent Budget has announced setting up of 75 Digital Banking Units (DBUs). She said ‘They may function from one place but they may serve any number of districts but we are also targeting 75 districts to be covered and I guess the DPU will promote better accessibility of banking services, affordability, convenience, and also more control over their own finances for the customers by providing a one stop digital banking account or digital banking’.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17504.40, up by 39.65 points or 0.23% after trading in a range of 17422.70 and 17507.35. There were 38 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were NTPC up by 3.33%, Power Grid up by 2.72%, BPCL up by 2.39%, Tata Steel up by 1.97% and JSW Steel up by 1.77%. On the flip side, Hero MotoCorp down by 3.23%, SBI Life Insurance down by 2.41%, Titan down by 1.11%, Nestle down by 0.63% and ICICI Bank down by 0.51% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in red; Nikkei 225 slipped 114.91 points or 0.41% to 27,706.52, Hang Seng declined 168.48 points or 0.77% to 21,828.37, Taiwan Weighted lost 145.82 points or 0.82% to 17,547.65, KOSPI fell 16.03 points or 0.58% to 2,741.62 and Jakarta Composite was down by 1.33 points or 0.02% to 7,070.11. On the other hand, Straits Times rose 0.02 points to 3,408.54 and Shanghai Composite was up by 20.20 points or 0.62% to 3,272.40.