Markets trade higher in early deals; banking stocks lead gainers

Indian equity benchmarks took respite from last two sessions of losses and made an optimistic start with gains of around half a percent on Thursday tracking firm global cues as traders remain hopeful over that US lawmakers will eventually reach an agreement on raising the U.S. debt ceiling. US President Joe Biden reassured his citizens that ‘America will not default’. Markets soon trimmed some of their gains and are trading higher with gains of around one third of a percent each in early deals. Initially, value buying persisted in the markets. Some support came in with a private report that the country's current account deficit may narrow to 1.4 per cent of GDP or $50 billion in 2023 as compared to 2.4 per cent in the previous year as net remittances flows are expected to be $104 billion. Though, upside remained capped as some cautiousness crept in ahead of weekly F&O expiry later in the day.

On the sectoral front, the fertilizer stocks were in focus with report that the Union Cabinet approved a Rs 1.08 lakh crore package for fertiliser subsidy for the April-September kharif season. Of the Rs 1.08 lakh crore subsidy, Rs 70,000 crore is for urea and Rs 38,000 crore for Di-ammonium Phosphate, or DAP. In stock specific development, NHPC traded higher as it received LoI from Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 61784.86, up by 224.22 points or 0.36% after trading in a range of 61769.53 and 61955.90. There were 20 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining, while 1 stock remained unchanged on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.33%, while Small cap index was up by 0.48%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Bankex up by 0.62%, Metal up by 0.59%, FMCG up by 0.31%, Industrials up by 0.25% and TECK up by 0.22%, while Oil & Gas down by 0.20%, Realty down by 0.15%, Consumer Durables down by 0.10%, Power down by 0.07% and Healthcare down by 0.01% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Axis Bank up by 1.42%, Bajaj Finance up by 1.34%, HDFC Bank up by 0.71%, Bajaj Finserv up by 0.69% and ICICI Bank up by 0.68%. On the flip side, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.95%, Titan Company down by 0.50%, Larsen & Toubro down by 0.26%, Tech Mahindra down by 0.20% and Hindustan Unilever down by 0.19% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Secretary in the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) Rajesh Kumar Singh has highlighted that the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme is showing significant dividends across many sectors. He said the benefits under the PLI scheme are yielding positive results and thus, the government is considering extending the benefits of the PLI scheme to some labour-intensive sectors. The government provides financial incentives under the PLI scheme to as many as 14 sectors such as telecommunication, white goods, textiles and pharma.

Singh said the intention is to also roll out this PLI scheme for more labour-intensive sectors such as toys, leather and footwear and other such sectors where employment benefits will be more significant. He also said India attracted significant foreign direct investment (FDI) last year. He added ‘our FDI policy is practically open sky in the sense that except for defence and certain strategic sectors, everything else is open and is automatic’.

He further said that the country's macroeconomic fundamentals are strong and growing at a healthy rate. He added ‘we have a stable government and Regulatory systems are stable and predictable’ and due to this, India would be able to attract investments from across the world.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 18246.10, up by 64.35 points or 0.35% after trading in a range of 18241.35 and 18297.20. There were 32 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bajaj Finance up by 1.45%, Axis Bank up by 1.43%, JSW Steel up by 1.25%, Hindalco up by 1.20% and HDFC Life Insurance up by 0.79%. On the flip side, Divi's Lab down by 1.62%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.92%, BPCL down by 0.70%, Titan Co down by 0.52% and Adani Ports & SEZ down by 0.45% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 surged 452.65 points or 1.5% to 30,546.24, Hang Seng advanced 227.18 points or 1.16% to 19,787.75, Taiwan Weighted added 171.01 points or 1.07% to 16,096.30, Shanghai Composite strengthened 25.51 points or 0.77% to 3,309.74, KOSPI increased 12.30 points or 0.49% to 2,506.96 and Straits Times was up by 9.78 points or 0.31% to 3,183.62.