Bourses trade at day’s highest levels in late afternoon session

Mirroring positive cues from European markets, Indian equity markets traded at day’s highest levels in late afternoon session. Sustained buying in Banking and Metal counters pushed the markets higher. Traders got support after CBIC Chief Vivek Johri said that India and the US are working to 'quickly conclude' the mutual recognition agreement (MRA) for authorised economic operators of both countries to expedite customs clearances. The two countries in September 2021 entered into an MRA to recognise the AEOs of both countries. The AEO programme enables Customs administration to identify safe and compliant exporters and importers and to provide them with better facilitation. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green as the Bank of Japan maintained ultra-low interest rates and reports suggested that Beijing officials are stepping up plans to jump-start China's recovery. European markets were trading higher underpinned by defensive healthcare and utilities stocks at the end of a week that was dominated by major central bank policy decisions.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 63296.49, up by 378.86 points or 0.60% after trading in a range of 62957.17 and 63297.95. There were 23 stocks advancing against 7 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.84%, while Small cap index was up by 0.97%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Capital Goods up by 1.16%, Industrials up by 1.13%, PSU up by 0.92%, FMCG up by 0.86% and Consumer Durables was up by 0.73%, while IT down by 0.11% and TECK was down by 0.06% were the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bajaj Finserv up by 2.02%, ITC up by 1.59%, Titan Company up by 1.23%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.06% and HDFC Bank up by 1.04%. On the flip side, TCS down by 1.23%, Wipro down by 1.00%, Ultratech Cement down by 0.15%, Tech Mahindra down by 0.15% and Power Grid down by 0.12% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal has said that PM GatiShakti must be effectively leveraged using the Area Development Approach to extend benefits to the nation beyond the infrastructure sector and emphasized upon the Ministries/Departments to harness the full potential of the integrated platform to further accelerate India's infrastructure and economic growth.

Union Minister further said that the Agriculture sector can be supported by setting up common facilities on agricultural lands by cooperatives and start-ups using the integrated framework of PM GatiShakti and data from the National Master Plan (NMP). The Minister highlighted that the Area Development Approach under PM GatiShakti can be used for engaging with aspirational districts of NITI Aayog.

Meanwhile, Goyal chaired a meeting to review the progress of PM GatiShakti with DPIIT and eight concerned ministries in New Delhi. Special Secretary, DPIIT, Sumita Dawra presented the progress of PM GatiShakti in terms of improving the data quality of the NMP, standardizing data layers and establishing Quality Improvement Plan (QIP) mechanism for better planning.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 18804.35, up by 116.25 points or 0.62% after trading in a range of 18710.50 and 18806.20. There were 39 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were HDFC Life Insurance up by 5.52%, SBI Life up by 3.14%, Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 2.10%, Bajaj Finserv up by 2.09% and UPL up by 2.05%. On the flip side, Bajaj Auto down by 1.77%, TCS down by 1.25%, Wipro down by 1.02%, BPCL down by 0.82% and Apollo Hospital Ent. down by 0.58% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green, Nikkei 225 surged 220.59 points or 0.65% to 33,706.08, Hang Seng advanced 211.45 points or 1.06% to 20,040.37, Straits Times rose 22.02 points or 0.68% to 3,264.87, Shanghai Composite strengthened 20.35 points or 0.62% to 3,273.33 and KOSPI was up by 17.25 points or 0.66% to 2,625.79. On the flip side, Jakarta Composite plunged 31.6 points or 0.47% to 6,682.20 and Taiwan Weighted was down by 46.07 points or 0.27% to 17,288.91.

European markets were trading higher, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 58.11 points or 0.76% to 7,686.37, France’s CAC rose 56.26 points or 0.77% to 7,347.17 and Germany’s DAX was up by 68.16 points or 0.42% to 16,358.28.