Jubilation continues on Dalal Street

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade jubilantly in morning deals following a positive trend in global equities and fresh foreign fund inflows. Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) bought shares worth Rs 12,770.81 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data. Sentiments remained up-beat as a private business survey showed activity in India's dominant services sector expanded at the fastest pace in 12 years in February on strong demand as price pressures eased further amid mild job rises & capacity pressures in the country. The S&P Global India Services Purchasing Managers' Index rose from 57.2 in January to 59.4 in February, its highest since February 2011. It was above the 50-mark separating growth from contraction for a 19th straight month, its longest stretch of expansion since June 2013. Some support also came with report stating that the Centre has taken steps to enhance exports by micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) sector by setting up facilitation centers across the country. It also said the export facilitation centers will provide the requisite mentoring and handholding support to the sector and also help to set up a network of entrepreneurial leaders.

On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly in green even as ongoing concerns about the outlook for interest rates following recent economic data. Back home, Agriculture industry stocks remained in limelight as the government fixed a wheat procurement target of 34.15 million tonnes for the 2023-24 marketing year starting April, higher than 18.79 million tonnes purchased in the previous year.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 59582.03, up by 672.68 points or 1.14% after trading in a range of 59231.58 and 59600.43. There were 26 stocks advancing against 4 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.54%, while Small cap index was up by 0.66%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Utilities up by 2.37%, Power up by 2.12%, PSU up by 1.96%, Bankex up by 1.70% and Energy up by 0.92%, while there were no losing sectoral indices on the BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were SBI up by 4.01%, Power Grid Corporation up by 2.04%, NTPC up by 1.91%, HCL Tech. up by 1.80% and HDFC Bank up by 1.74%. On the flip side, Ultratech Cement down by 0.90%, Asian Paints down by 0.57%, Nestle down by 0.05% and Sun Pharma down by 0.05% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal has said that PM GatiShakti national master plan and logistics policy together will help improve competitiveness of businesses and attract investments into India. He said that layers of data are there at PM GatiShakti portal where different geological, ecological and infrastructural elements across the country were mapped and captured.

He stated, currently, there are about 1,300 layers of data, consisting of forests, wildlife sanctuaries, rivers, UNESCO world heritage sites, among others. GatiShakti would not only address critical gaps in infrastructure but also help in planning social infrastructure such as schools, nursing homes, hospitals. He added that reducing the cost of logistics is critical to achieving India's goal of becoming a developed country by 2047.

He mentioned ‘PM GatiShakti, if used well, will help bring down logistics costs tremendously’. Moreover, he said all highways, railways, ports, and airports were mapped on GatiShakti, which would help in building seamless connectivity networks and creating a positive impact on the logistics ecosystem. On October 13 last year, the PM GatiShakti - National Master Plan was launched with an aim to develop integrated infrastructure to reduce logistics costs.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17518.55, up by 196.65 points or 1.14% after trading in a range of 17427.70 and 17528.25. There were 42 stocks advancing against 8 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Adani Enterprises up by 10.64%, Adani Ports &SEZ up by 6.31%, SBI up by 4.05%, HCL Technologies up by 1.96% and Power Grid Corporation up by 1.95%. On the flip side, Ultratech Cement down by 0.92%, Asian Paints down by 0.59%, Bajaj Auto down by 0.36%, Divi's Lab down by 0.25% and Grasim Industries down by 0.22% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in green; Taiwan Weighted added 28.18 points or 0.18% to 15,626.90, Hang Seng advanced 145.7 points or 0.71% to 20,575.16, Shanghai Composite strengthened 5.67 points or 0.17% to 3,316.32, KOSPI increased 3.94 points or 0.16% to 2,431.79, Straits Times rose 12.15 points or 0.38% to 3,247.05 and Nikkei 225 surged 457.68 points or 1.66% to 27,956.55.

On the flip side, Jakarta Composite plunged 42.42 points or 0.62% to 6,815.00.