Domestic indices trade flat in late afternoon session

The Indian equity benchmarks traded flat with positive bias in late afternoon session. Traders were tracking companies Q1 numbers. Besides, the Federal Reserve's interest-rate decision is due on Wednesday. Traders took note of report that India and the UK have concluded the 11th round of negotiations for a proposed free trade agreement (FTA) and the next round of talks will take place in the coming months. India and the UK are working to iron out differences on issues like intellectual property rights (IPRs) and rules of origin under the agreement, negotiations for which were started in January 2021. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green with Chinese and Hong Kong markets posting strong gains after reports emerged that policymakers are looking to bolster growth in the world's second-largest economy. European markets were trading higher with miners and luxury stocks in the lead after China pledged more support for its slowing economy, but mixed earnings reports limited further upside in markets. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 66399.78, up by 15.00 points or 0.02% after trading in a range of 66177.62 and 66559.29. There were 14 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.12%, while Small cap index was up by 0.32%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 2.81%, Utilities up by 2.07%, Power up by 1.63%, Auto up by 0.70% and Consumer Durables was up by 0.66%, while FMCG down by 0.63%, Bankex down by 0.51%, Realty down by 0.24%, TECK down by 0.23% and IT was down by 0.16% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Steel up by 3.72%, JSW Steel up by 3.72%, Ultratech Cement up by 2.16%, NTPC up by 2.07% and Tata Motors up by 1.78%. On the flip side, Asian Paints down by 3.83%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.40%, ITC down by 1.36%, SBI down by 1.12% and Axis Bank down by 1.08% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, British Parliamentarian Lord Karan Bilimoria has predicted that India will become the world's largest economy by 2060. He said India has overtaken the United Kingdom and it's now the fifth largest economy in the world.

Bilimoria said ‘the whole world is looking up to India. India is now, without doubt, going to be one of the three superpowers in the world very shortly. Within 25 years, my prediction is India will have a GDP of 32 trillion dollars and would be the second largest economy in the world’. He also said ‘I go one step further, I believe by 2060 India would be the largest economy in the world. He expressed hope that the India-UK free trade agreement being discussed is ‘imminent’.  

The UK lawmaker noted that trade between the two countries was increasing very rapidly and it is now over 30 billion pounds a year. He further said UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak should lead a big delegation on a visit to India. The 1.7 million people of Indian origin like him who live in the UK are the 'living bridge' with India and it is a most successful minority community in the UK, including the PM of Indian-origin as well as many successful leaders in business and other spheres of life.  

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 19684.10, up by 11.75 points or 0.06% after trading in a range of 19615.95 and 19729.35. There were 27 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were JSW Steel up by 3.70%, Tata Steel up by 3.64%, Hindalco up by 2.94%, Ultratech Cement up by 2.17% and NTPC up by 2.04%. On the flip side, Asian Paints down by 3.83%, Britannia down by 1.63%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.51%, ITC down by 1.44% and UPL down by 1.16% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green, Hang Seng advanced 766.25 points or 3.94% to 19,434.40, Taiwan Weighted added 165.28 points or 0.96% to 17,198.89, Shanghai Composite strengthened 67.36 points or 2.08% to 3,231.52, Jakarta Composite gained 26.28 points or 0.38% to 6,925.68, Straits Times rose 18.89 points or 0.58% to 3,284.03 and KOSPI was up by 7.93 points or 0.3% to 2,636.46. On the flip side, Nikkei 225 was down by 18.43 points or 0.06% to 32,682.51.

European markets were trading higher, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 14.09 points or 0.18% to 7,692.68, France’s CAC rose 14.56 points or 0.2% to 7,441.87 and Germany’s DAX was up by 17.56 points or 0.11% to 16,208.51.