Indian markets maintain upward momentum

Indian equity markets maintained their upward momentum in noon session. The board-buying across realty, metal and healthcare counters mainly fuelling the uptrend in markets. Healthy buying was observed in blue-chip stocks like Dr. Reddy's Lab, Nestle and Hindustan Unilever. Sentiments were upbeat as RBI data showed that bank credit grew by 10.82 per cent to Rs 120.46 lakh crore and deposits by 9.71 per cent to Rs 166.95 lakh crore in the fortnight ended May 6, 2022. In another positive development, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla said India is on its way to become ‘a hub of export’ as there has been an ‘extensive progress’ in various sectors including defence under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the country. Traders took note of President Joko Widodo’s statement that Indonesia will lift its palm oil export ban from May 23, following improvements in the domestic cooking oil supply situation. Indonesia, the world's top palm oil exporter, on April 28, halted shipments of crude palm oil and some of its derivative products to control soaring prices of domestic cooking oil, rattling global vegetable oil markets. On the global front, all Asian markets were trading higher due to the increased risk appetite in the market with the technical buying after previous session’s sharp sell off on worries over surging inflation and supply chain chaos.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 53834.84, up by 1042.61 points or 1.97% after trading in a range of 53403.29 and 54110.31. There were 29 stocks advancing against 1 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 1.34%, while Small cap index was up by 1.33%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 2.72%, Metal up by 2.39%, Healthcare up by 2.35%, Auto up by 2.33% and FMCG was up by 2.27%, while there were no losers on BSE

The top gainers on the Sensex were Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 7.00%, Nestle up by 4.79%, Hindustan Unilever up by 3.52%, Sun Pharma up by 3.21% and Reliance Industries was up by 2.92%. On the flip side, Power Grid Corp was down by 0.46% was the only losers.

Meanwhile, Union Minister of State for Science & Technology and Earth Sciences Jitendra Singh has said that the carbon footprint of leather processing activity should be brought to zero level and the bio-economy of animal skin-derived products would be the new mantra. He said collagen-based innovative biomaterials for applications in human healthcare are new opportunities and they could well become co-products of leather if the next generation leather-making technologies avoid contaminating skin-based matrix materials with lime, sulfide, and many other sensitive chemicals.

The minister said the leather footwear needs to be designed and developed into footcare solutions with foot hygiene and wearer comfort as the unique selling proposition. There are as many as half a million cells in the sole of the feet that enable the sweating process and leather enjoys an unmatched potential for transpiration. He also said diabetics' footwear is one such product that ensures a better quality of life due to the reduction in the abnormal distribution of plantar foot pressure, Efforts are on to prepare customized footwear for Indians by using 3D technology to scan the feet of the persons to prepare their footwear. About 73 districts in the country have been included to implement the project in the first phase.

Singh further said the Indian leather industry must seek a net-zero carbon footprint to meet the environmental norms and added that the carrying capacity requirement of the leather sector in locations like Tamil Nadu demands the implementation of zero liquid discharge as the enforced environmental norm, which is under discussion.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 16134.00, up by 324.60 points or 2.05% after trading in a range of 16003.85 and 16210.70. There were 47 stocks advancing against 3 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 6.81%, Nestle up by 4.81%, JSW Steel up by 4.22%, Tata Motors up by 4.15% and Cipla was up by 3.83%. On the flip side, UPL down by 0.79%, Shree Cement down by 0.66% and Power Grid was down by 0.42% were the top losers.

All Asian markets were trading higher; Hang Seng increased 516.93 points or 2.57% to 20,637.61, Nikkei 225 surged 336.19 points or 1.27% to 26,739.03, Straits Times advanced 43.38 points or 1.36% to 3,234.09, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 124.53 points or 0.78% to 16,144.85, KOSPI rose 46.95 points or 1.81% to 2,639.29 and Jakarta Composite soared 119.11 points or 1.75% to 6,942.45 and Shanghai Composite was up by 46.19 points or 1.49% to 3,143.15.