Markets remain in green in late afternoon session

In a volatile trading session, Indian markets maintained their heads above natural line in late afternoon session following gains in banking counters. Indusind Bank, Power Grid and Bajaj Finance were the prime gainers among heavy-weights. Traders took a note of report that Union MSME minister Narayan Rane urged the global and domestic industries to continue to invest in India, which is on its path to become the third largest economy. The minister further said that immense business opportunities are available in various sectors in India and promised full support to investors looking to invest in the country. Some support came with a private report that India's consumer inflation likely cooled to an 18-month low in April as rises in food and fuel prices moderated, keeping it below the Reserve Bank of India's upper tolerance limit for the second consecutive month.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red as investors took a risk-off approach ahead of U.S. consumer price inflation data due later in the day that could influence the Federal Reserve's policy decisions. European markets were trading lower as gains in Credit Agricole after the bank's upbeat earnings were more than offset by market jitters ahead of U.S. inflation data that is likely to shape expectations for rate cuts in the world's largest economy.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 61841.95, up by 80.62 points or 0.13% after trading in a range of 61572.93 and 61965.56. There were 19 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index, while 1 stock remained unchanged. 

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.06%, while Small cap index was up by 0.17%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 0.46%, Energy up by 0.43%, Power up by 0.42%, Utilities up by 0.41% and FMCG was up by 0.40%, while Metal down by 0.29%, Capital Goods down by 0.19%, TECK down by 0.17%, IT down by 0.14% and Telecom was down by 0.11% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Indusind Bank up by 2.36%, Power Grid up by 1.56%, Bajaj Finance up by 1.12%, Tata Motors up by 0.89% and Reliance Industries up by 0.58%. On the flip side, SBI down by 0.78%, Larsen & Toubro down by 0.78%, Infosys down by 0.71%, Tech Mahindra down by 0.68% and Tata Steel down by 0.50% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, industry body the Federation of Indian Micro and Small & Medium Enterprises (FISME) in its latest report has said that the country's exports through e-commerce medium would get boost with steps such as increasing awareness, easier documentation, simplified customs processes and standard operating practice for product returns.

The report further listed other measures which would help the sector include lowering charges for Export Data Processing and Monitoring System (EDPMS); easier reconciliation of remittances for export receipts from abroad through a reassessment of the current 25 per cent variation between exports and payments; and raising the 9-month limit on receiving payments for exports for e-commerce.

According to the report, over 90 per cent of e-commerce exporters in India are MSMEs (most of them micro and small enterprises) and, therefore, a strategy for e-commerce exports must focus on MSMEs spread across the nation to sell their products to global markets. The report further suggested a tripartite awareness raising campaign involving industry and SME associations such as FISME, government and platform owners to facilitate information on end-to-end e-commerce export process.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 18287.65, up by 21.70 points or 0.12% after trading in a range of 18211.95 and 18323.15. There were 30 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Indusind Bank up by 2.39%, HDFC Life Insurance up by 1.80%, Power Grid up by 1.52%, Divi's Lab up by 1.38% and Bajaj Finance up by 1.05%. On the flip side, UPL down by 2.28%, Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 1.43%, SBI down by 0.82%, Larsen & Toubro down by 0.76% and Hindalco down by 0.70% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red, Nikkei 225 slipped 120.64 points or 0.41% to 29,122.18, Hang Seng declined 105.38 points or 0.53% to 19,762.20, Taiwan Weighted lost 85.94 points or 0.55% to 15,641.76, Shanghai Composite weakened 38.52 points or 1.16% to 3,319.15, KOSPI dropped 13.55 points or 0.54% to 2,496.51 and Straits Times was down by 1.02 points or 0.03% to 3,241.93. On the flip side, Jakarta Composite was up by 27.24 points or 0.4% to 6,807.22.

European markets were trading lower, UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 9.15 points or 0.12% to 7,754.94, France’s CAC fell 14.13 points or 0.19% to 7,383.04 and Germany’s DAX was down by 29.23 points or 0.18% to 15,926.25.