Bourses continue to trade in high spirit; Nifty above 16550 mark

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade in high spirit in noon session, on account of broad based buying in blue chip counters amid positive Asian cues. Sentiments were upbeat with Finance Ministry's statement that the economy is on course to achieve projected 8-8.5 per cent growth based on high-frequency indicators for the first quarter of the current fiscal. In another positive developments, Economic Affairs Secretary Ajay Seth stated that the rupee is managed well and there is nothing to be 'overtly' worried about the depreciation in the domestic currency against the US dollar. On the sectoral front, oil exploration and production stocks were in limelight after the government slashed windfall tax on domestic crude oil production from Rs 23,250/tonne to Rs 17,000/tonne. The government also reduced additional excise duty on exports of diesel and ATF by Rs 2/litre and additional excise duty on petrol has also been removed.

On the global front, all Asian markets were trading higher as traders consider possible softening of moves against inflation and also buoyed by gains on Wall Street as more companies reported strong earnings. Back home, most of the sectoral indices were trading firm and IT was the top gainer on BSE, up by 2.34% followed by Metal and Tech indices, trading up around 2%. Apart from blue chips, broader indices too equally participated in the rally with both mid and small cap indices trading in the range of 0.85-0.97%.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 55495.64, up by 728.02 points or 1.33% after trading in a range of 55313.85 and 55554.29. There were 25 stocks advancing against 4 stocks declining, while 1 stock remain unchanged on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.85%, while Small cap index was up by 0.97%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 2.34%, Metal up by 2.05%, TECK up by 1.87%, Energy up by 1.47% and PSU was up by 1.23%, while Realty was down by 0.08% were the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tech Mahindra up by 2.64%, Reliance Industries up by 2.59%, TCS up by 2.58%, HCL Tech up by 2.45% and SBI was up by 2.38%. On the flip side, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.78%, Sun Pharma down by 0.48%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.28% and Kotak Mahindra Bank was down by 0.07% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the commerce and industry ministry has said that foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows in the research and development (R&D) sector have increased to $343.64 million in 2021 against $55.77 million in 2020. FDI is permitted under a 100 per cent automatic route in the research and development (R&D) sector, subject to applicable laws/regulations, security and other conditionalities.

The ministry also said that Karnataka is the top FDI equity recipient in R&D during 2021, followed by Telangana and Haryana. Singapore is the top investing country in R&D during 2021 with a 40 per cent share of the total FDI equity in R&D, followed by Germany (35 per cent) and the US (11 per cent). These trends indicate a robust and growing R&D sector which would benefit the economy by driving innovation, increasing productivity, thereby leading to higher economic growth.

It stated that R&D plays an important role in the development of a knowledge-based economy that can pave the way for higher economic growth. FDI infuses long-term sustainable capital in the economy and contributes towards technology transfer, development of strategic sectors, greater innovation, competition and employment creation, among other benefits.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 16557.45, up by 216.90 points or 1.33% after trading in a range of 16501.55 and 16568.90. There were 43 stocks advancing against 7 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ONGC up by 4.38%, Reliance Industries up by 2.78%, Tech Mahindra up by 2.62%, TCS up by 2.59% and HCL Tech was up by 2.50%. On the flip side, HDFC Life Insurance down by 1.80%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.87%, Eicher Motors down by 0.74%, Sun Pharma down by 0.49% and Bharti Airtel was down by 0.27% were the top losers.

All Asian markets were trading higher; Straits Times advanced 39.53 points or 1.27% to 3,157.32, KOSPI rose 15.88 points or 0.67% to 2,386.85, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 39.14 points or 0.27% to 14,733.22, Hang Seng increased 318.76 points or 1.54% to 20,979.82, Shanghai Composite gained 24.67 points or 0.75% to 3,304.10, Nikkei 225 surged 718.58 points or 2.67% to 27,680.26 and Jakarta Composite was up by 120.94 points or 1.8% to 6,857.03.