Bourses maintain gains in late afternoon session

Indian equity markets maintained their gains above neutral line in late afternoon session. Buying in Reliance Industries, Bajaj Finance and SBI stocks supported markets to maintain gains. Traders took support after in a major boost to ease of doing business, Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar has launched two portals, one for the Computerized Registration of pesticide (CROP) and the other for Plant Quarantine Management System (PQMS). In stock specific development, Mindtree has reported a rise of 49.10% in its net profit at Rs 473.10 crore for fourth quarter and year ended March 31, 2022 as compared to Rs 317.30 crore for the same quarter in the previous year. Sector wise, dairy sector remained in focused, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi said India produces milk worth Rs 8.5 lakh crore annually, more than the turnover of wheat and rice, with small farmers being the biggest beneficiaries of the dairy sector. Today, India is the world’s largest producer of milk.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed as all markets reopened following a long holiday weekend. Underlying sentiment remained cautious amid concerns surrounding inflation and China's economic slowdown from Covid-19 lockdowns. European markets were trading lower with investors focusing on developments in Ukraine as Russia intensifies its assault in the east of the country.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 57389.82, up by 223.08 points or 0.39% after trading in a range of 57027.86 and 57464.08. There were 16 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.66%, while Small cap index was up by 0.81%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Energy up by 2.87%, Oil & Gas up by 2.08%, PSU up by 1.86%, Metal up by 1.58% and Utilities was up by 1.05%, while IT down by 0.97%, TECK down by 0.92%, FMCG down by 0.34%, Capital Goods down by 0.22%, Telecom down by 0.08% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Reliance Industries up by 4.42%, Bajaj Finance up by 2.43%, SBI up by 2.05%, Axis Bank up by 1.94% and ICICI Bank up by 1.90%. On the flip side, HDFC down by 3.76%, Infosys down by 1.57%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.53%, HDFC Bank down by 1.47% and Nestle down by 1.35% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in a major boost to ease of doing business, Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar has launched two portals, one for the Computerized Registration of pesticide (CROP) and the other for Plant Quarantine Management System (PQMS). The Minister further said that keeping in mind Prime Minister’s vision for the Agriculture sector these two portals have been launched and would help in taking forward digital Agriculture and Ease of doing Business.

The PQMS portal will provide a transparent system with no physical touch points for the applicants and ensure convenience to the users, through online system including e-payments and uploading of documents, online accreditation and renewal of treatment agencies/facilities and downloading of certificates.

Similarly, the re-developed CROP portal will immensely help in ease of doing business and provide greater and timely Crop protection solution to farmers of the country. The new portals will benefit farmers, exporters as well as industrialists.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17238.90, up by 65.25 points or 0.38% after trading in a range of 17152.60 and 17275.65. There were 27 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Coal India up by 7.05%, Apollo Hospital up by 6.40%, Reliance Industries up by 4.45%, BPCL up by 2.42% and Bajaj Finance up by 2.27%. On the flip side, HDFC down by 3.88%, HDFC Life Insurance down by 3.12%, SBI Life down by 1.73%, Infosys down by 1.62% and HDFC Bank down by 1.61% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed, Nikkei 225 surged 185.38 points or 0.69% to 26,985.09, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 94.53 points or 0.56% to 16,993.40, KOSPI rose 25.68 points or 0.95% to 2,718.89 and Straits Times was up by 11.43 points or 0.35% to 3,314.50. On the flip side, Shanghai Composite declined 1.49 points or 0.05% to 3,194.03, Jakarta Composite lost 76.06 points or 1.05% to 7,199.23 and Hang Seng was down by 490.32 points or 2.28% to 21,027.76.

European markets were trading lower, UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 11.42 points or 0.15% to 7,604.96, France’s CAC decreased 32.55 points or 0.49% to 6,556.80 and Germany’s DAX was down by 68.28 points or 0.48% to 14,095.57.