Bourses continue to trade in fine fettle in late afternoon session

The Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade in fine fettle in late afternoon session. Meanwhile, the broader indices, the BSE Mid cap index and Small cap index were also trading in green. Tech Mahindra, Indusind Bank and Infosys were the prime gainers among heavy-weights. Sentiments remained upbeat after Finance Minister (FM) Nirmala Sitharaman said India has ramped up the import of crude oil from Russia at discounted prices amid sanctions on Moscow. She said India ramped up its import from Russia from about 2 per cent of the total shipment of petroleum products to 12-13 per cent in a couple of months as part of inflation management. On the global front, all Asian markets were trading higher following a healthy performance on Wall Street, with investors largely pricing in more interest rate hikes aimed at taming runaway inflation. European markets were trading higher, as investors digest the European Central Bank’s jumbo rate hike ahead of a key EU meeting to discuss plans to tackle the region’s energy crisis.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 59843.64, up by 155.42 points or 0.26% after trading in a range of 59634.39 and 60119.80. There were 16 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.18%, while Small cap index up by 0.28%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 1.93%, TECK up by 1.54%, Metal up by 0.73%, PSU up by 0.51%, Healthcare up by 0.46%, while Telecom down by 0.75%, Realty down by 0.49%, Utilities down by 0.41%, Consumer Durables down by 0.36%, Power down by 0.29% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tech Mahindra up by 2.90%, Indusind Bank up by 2.45%, Infosys up by 2.06%, HCL Tech. up by 1.84% and SBI up by 1.78%. On the flip side, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.76%, Ultratech Cement down by 1.17%, Larsen & Toubro down by 1.09%, Titan Company down by 1.07% and Bajaj Finance down by 0.89% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, assuring that India will take decisions on different aspects of the frameworks of the India-Pacific Economic Forum (IPEF) based on national interest, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and Textiles, Piyush Goyal has expressed hope that in a day’s time, IPEF would finalize a framework within which member nations could interact on different areas of mutual interest.

Goyal further noted that in this day and age of work from home, new opportunities have opened up for youngsters, especially the young people in tier 2 and 3 cities and remote areas to provide cost-effective solutions to US companies and it has been received with a great deal of excitement by US businesses.

Talking on the upskilling initiative he launched in San Francisco, SETU, the Minister said that India would be its beneficiaries too with youngsters, especially girls, who have tremendous potential standing to gain from the training and upskilling being offered by the reputed firms who are part of the initiative.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17853.50, up by 54.75 points or 0.31% after trading in a range of 17786.00 and 17925.95. There were 29 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Adani Ports up by 3.28%, Tech Mahindra up by 3.21%, Infosys up by 2.47%, Indusind Bank up by 2.46% and Maruti Suzuki up by 1.98%. On the flip side, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.68%, SBI Life down by 1.42%, Ultratech Cement down by 1.32%, HDFC Life Insurance down by 1.28% and Larsen & Toubro down by 1.03% were the top losers.

All Asian markets were trading higher, Nikkei 225 surged 149.47 points or 0.53% to 28,214.75, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 173.37 points or 1.2% to 14,583.42, Jakarta Composite soared 10.64 points or 0.15% to 7,242.66, Straits Times advanced 32.16 points or 0.99% to 3,265.77, KOSPI rose 7.82 points or 0.33% to 2,384.28, Shanghai Composite gained 26.46 points or 0.82% to 3,262.05 and Hang Seng was up by 507.63 points or 2.69% to 19,362.25.

European markets were trading higher, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 109.03 points or 1.5% to 7,371.09, France’s CAC increased 88.53 points or 1.45% to 6,214.43 and Germany’s DAX was up by 194.25 points or 1.51% to 13,098.57.