Markets bounce back in green territory in late afternoons session

Indian markets bounced back in green territory in late afternoon session following strong cues from European markets amid Credit Suisse Group AG said it would borrow up to 50 billion Swiss Francs or around $53.7 billion from the Swiss National Bank to pre-emptively strengthen its liquidity. Investors also awaited a European Central Bank rate decision later in the day. Sustained buying in Oil & Gas counters and sudden traction in banking counters helped markets to turn positive. However, as for broader indices, Small cap index remained in red, while BSE Mid cap index erased losses to trade in green. On the global front, all Asian markets were trading lower as concerns grew about the health of the global banking system. European markets were trading higher after the Swiss National Bank said it would provide a liquidity backstop to beleaguered bank Credit Suisse.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 57776.52, up by 220.62 points or 0.38% after trading in a range of 57158.69 and 57851.95. There were 19 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.13%, while Small cap index was down by 0.46%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 1.62%, Utilities up by 1.40%, Power up by 1.29%, Realty up by 1.19% and Energy was up by 1.01%, while Metal down by 2.41%, IT down by 0.49%, TECK down by 0.23% and Industrials was down by 0.15% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Nestle up by 2.51%, Titan Company up by 2.33%, Hindustan Unilever up by 2.20%, Asian Paints up by 2.10% and Power Grid up by 1.84%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 3.04%, Indusind Bank down by 2.31%, Infosys down by 0.87%, Wipro down by 0.65% and HCL Tech down by 0.25% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Minister of State in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Som Parkash has said that startups and the entire innovation ecosystem are the engines of growth for any country and recognizing this aspect, the Government launched Startup India initiative in 2016 with an aim to build a stronger ecosystem for nurturing India’s startup culture that would further drive the economic growth, support entrepreneurship, and enable large-scale employment opportunities.

The Minister further noted that sustained Government e?orts in this direction have resulted in increasing the number of recognised startups from 442 in 2016 to 92,683 in 2023 (as on February 28, 2023). He said startups, have actively contributed in Government’s flagship programs such as Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), Smart Cities Mission, Swachh Bharat Mission, National Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY scheme) to improve urban infrastructure and service provision.

Furthermore, Som Parkash said that DPIIT has recognised startups which are spread across 56 diversified sectors. More than 15% of these startups are in sectors such as Agriculture, Healthcare & Lifesciences, Automotive, Telecommunication & Networking, Computer Vision, etc. Over 7,000 recognised startups are in sectors like Construction, House-hold Services, Logistics, Real Estate and Transportation and Storage contributing towards urban concerns.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17029.20, up by 57.05 points or 0.34% after trading in a range of 16850.15 and 17052.95. There were 33 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were BPCL up by 6.21%, Nestle up by 2.56%, Titan Company up by 2.35%, Asian Paints up by 2.22% and Hindustan Unilever up by 2.11%. On the flip side, Hindalco down by 4.79%, Tata Steel down by 3.04%, Indusind Bank down by 2.40%, JSW Steel down by 2.12% and Infosys down by 0.89% were the top losers.

All Asian markets were trading lower, Hang Seng declined 335.96 points or 1.75% to 19,203.91, Nikkei 225 slipped 218.87 points or 0.81% to 27,010.61, Taiwan Weighted lost 166.47 points or 1.09% to 15,221.12, Jakarta Composite plunged 62.41 points or 0.95% to 6,565.73, Shanghai Composite weakened 36.42 points or 1.13% to 3,226.89, Straits Times fell 20.74 points or 0.65% to 3,152.18 and KOSPI was down by 1.81 points or 0.08% to 2,377.91.

European markets were trading higher, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 87.95 points or 1.2% to 7,432.40, France’s CAC rose 93.37 points or 1.36% to 6,979.08 and Germany’s DAX was up by 170.03 points or 1.15% to 14,905.29.