Sensex, Nifty turn positive; Metal stocks gain most

Erasing all of their losses, Indian equity benchmarks turned positive in early afternoon deals, aided by positive cues from other Asian markets and buying at Metal and TECK counters. Among top gainers, Tata Steel gained the most on the BSE. Sentiments were positive, amid a private report stating that India's federal government is likely to increase capital expenditure by 30% to 9 trillion rupees ($110.59 billion) in the next fiscal year to fuel growth. Besides, Union Minister for Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and Textiles, Piyush Goyal has said that the India US Trade Policy Forum (TPF) has resulted into a smoother, friendly and trusted business environment for businesses from both sides to expand their trade and investment.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green, even after China's exports and imports declined at the end of the year. The General Administration of Customs reportedly said that exports posted an annual fall of 9.9 percent in December. At the same time, imports decreased 7.5 percent from the last year, compared to the expected fall of 9.8 percent.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 60009.87, up by 51.84 points or 0.09% after trading in a range of 59628.43 and 60044.96. There were 14 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index fell 0.34%, while Small cap index was up by 0.10%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 1.02%, TECK up by 0.61%, IT up by 0.47%, Oil & Gas up by 0.38% and PSU up by 0.38%, while Consumer Durables down by 1.12%, Capital Goods down by 0.75%, Healthcare down by 0.41%, Industrials down by 0.37% and Realty down by 0.17% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Steel up by 2.29%, Infosys up by 1.58%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.40%, Indusind Bank up by 1.24% and Ultratech Cement up by 0.97%. On the flip side, Titan Company down by 1.42%, Larsen & Toubro down by 1.32%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.85%, Reliance Industries down by 0.82% and Axis Bank down by 0.74% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that India will take up developmental issues of the Global South at the meetings of the G-20 countries, emphasizing that there should not be any first world or third world, but only one world having a common future.

Sitharaman said India will use the G-20 Presidency to encourage collective solutions to deal with the numerous challenges facing the world, like economic slowdown, rising inflation, threat of resurgence of pandemic and risks emerging from geopolitical conflicts. She said ‘while maintaining close relations with developed countries, India is keen to put forward the point of view of the Global South -- our co-passengers on the path of development for decades.’

The minister said as the world rebuilds itself from the pandemic, the Global South needs to exhibit ‘strong solidarity’ to deal with challenges like pandemic, climate change and geopolitical tensions which are affecting efforts for development and economic growth. She also said that the hardships posed by the pandemic have exposed vulnerabilities at all levels and shown that a major scale up of response mechanisms is required so that the support provided by these institutions is responsive to country-specific needs. 

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17865.70, up by 7.50 points or 0.04% after trading in a range of 17774.25 and 17872.60. There were 34 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Steel up by 2.24%, Infosys up by 1.58%, Grasim Industries up by 1.44%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.35% and HDFC Life Insurance up by 1.34%. On the flip side, Titan Company down by 1.40%, Larsen & Toubro down by 1.28%, Apollo Hospital down by 1.03%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.74% and Reliance Industries down by 0.71% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Hang Seng increased 138.09 points or 0.64% to 21,652.19, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 92.49 points or 0.63% to 14,824.13, Shanghai Composite gained 23.89 points or 0.76% to 3,187.34, KOSPI rose 20.99 points or 0.89% to 2,386.09 and Straits Times advanced 16.95 points or 0.52% to 3,284.73, while Jakarta Composite lost 10.68 points or 0.16% to 6,619.25 and Nikkei 225 slipped 330.30 points or 1.25% to 26,119.52.