Key gauges continue to trade in green in morning deals

Indian equity markets continued to trade in green in morning deals, led by gains in Realty, Telecom and Auto stocks. Traders took some support with the commerce and industry ministry stating that various initiatives taken by the government to improve its logistics efficiency has helped India climb six places on the recently released World Bank's Logistics Performance Index (LPI) 2023. India has climbed six places on the LPI, now ranking 38th in the 139 countries index, as a result of significant investments in both soft and hard infrastructure as well as technology. Some support also came as India and the four-nation bloc EFTA discussed ways to resume negotiations for a free trade agreement with a view to strengthening economic ties between the two regions. Meanwhile, the Centre gave its nod to the National Medical Devices Policy 2023 with an aim to achieve 10-12 per cent share in the growing global market over the next 25 years.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed as troubles at U.S. lender First Republic Bank continued to unnerve investors amid concerns that growth in the world's biggest economy could very well surprise to the downside. Back home, IT industry stocks remained in watch as a report by Nasscom stated that India has witnessed a significant increase in patent filings in FY2022, with a growth of 13.6 per cent year on year – the highest annual increase in the last decade.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 60402.14, up by 101.56 points or 0.17% after trading in a range of 60271.49 and 60427.65. There were 17 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.35%, while Small cap index was up by 0.57%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.20%, Telecom up by 0.65%, Auto up by 0.46%, Industrials up by 0.43% and Capital Goods up by 0.43%, while Power down by 0.14% and Healthcare down by 0.08% were the few losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bajaj Finance up by 2.28%, Bajaj Finserv up by 2.09%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 0.97%, ITC up by 0.92% and Larsen & Toubro up by 0.64%. On the flip side, TCS down by 0.75%, Sun Pharma down by 0.66%, Power Grid Corporation down by 0.63%, SBI down by 0.45% and Hindustan Unilever down by 0.44% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, with an aim to increase domestic production and reduce imports of equipment, the Union Cabinet has approved National Medical Devices Policy. Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said it will promote domestic production of medical devices.

Last year, the government had floated an approach paper on the draft national medical devices policy 2022 for consultation. The policy is expected to help the medical devices sector grow from the present $11 billion to $50 billion in the next five years.

The government has already initiated implementation of the PLI Scheme for medical devices and extended support for setting up of 4 medical device parks in Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh.

Under the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for medical devices, till now, a total of 26 projects have been approved with a committed investment of Rs 1,206 crore and out of this, so far, an investment of Rs 714 crore has been achieved.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17844.55, up by 30.95 points or 0.17% after trading in a range of 17797.90 and 17848.80. There were 30 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bajaj Finance up by 2.25%, Bajaj Finserv up by 2.24%, SBI Life Insurance up by 1.49%, BPCL up by 1.15% and ITC up by 1.10%. On the flip side, HDFC Life Insurance down by 2.36%, Apollo Hospital down by 0.87%, Grasim Industries down by 0.77%, TCS down by 0.71% and Hindustan Unilever down by 0.68% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; Taiwan Weighted added 49.12 points or 0.32% to 15,423.75, Shanghai Composite strengthened 8.75 points or 0.27% to 3,272.85, KOSPI increased 6.3 points or 0.25% to 2,491.13 and Jakarta Composite gained 53.5 points or 0.77% to 6,963.65. On the flip side, Straits Times fell 16.09 points or 0.49% to 3,277.82, Nikkei 225 slipped 15.65 points or 0.06% to 28,400.82 and Hang Seng declined 42.05 points or 0.21% to 19,715.22.