Benchmarks erase losses to trade marginally in green in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks erased all of their initial losses and were trading marginally in green in morning deals, led by gains in Telecom, Energy and Realty stocks. Traders took some support with Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary’s statement that India's G20 Presidency has opened doors for global investment and sustainable economic growth. He said under the able leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, significant developments were made with world leaders. Some support also came as India and the UK have reviewed the progress of negotiations of the proposed free trade agreement (FTA), talks for which have reached the final stage. The progress was reviewed by Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and UK Secretary of State for Business and Trade Kemi Badenoch in Osaka, Japan. On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly in green as investors braced for key economic data and central bank meetings due this week.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 63838.01, up by 55.21 points or 0.09% after trading in a range of 63431.45 and 63885.56. There were 14 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell 0.08%, while Small cap index was down by 0.07%. 

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 1.31%, Energy up by 1.06%, Realty up by 1.00%, Oil & Gas up by 0.93% and Healthcare up by 0.39%, while Auto down by 1.34%, Consumer Durables down by 0.54%, Consumer Discretionary down by 0.41%, Utilities down by 0.34% and Bankex down by 0.31% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Reliance Industries up by 1.88%, Ultratech Cement up by 1.56%, Asian Paints up by 0.99%, Bharti Airtel up by 0.95% and HDFC Bank up by 0.64%. On the flip side, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 2.39%, Tata Motors down by 2.19%, Axis Bank down by 1.83%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.53% and NTPC down by 1.50% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said that India's G20 Presidency has opened doors for global investment and sustainable economic growth. He said under the able leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, significant developments were made with world leaders.

He stated ‘India's G20 presidency has opened doors for global investment. We know that the G20 will support the financial sector in ensuring sustainable economic growth and the stability of financial markets.’ Further, talking about digitization, he said the development of digital infrastructure is an important step in enhancing trade and commerce in the country. He added ‘The adoption of digitalization in our capital markets have increased efficiency, transparency and accessibility.’

Besides, he said, by reducing intervention and embracing technology, ‘we can improve the integrity and security of our capital markets.’ Moreover, he said, over the past few years, especially after the pandemic, the capital markets and investment services industry have experienced significant growth.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 19064.25, up by 17.00 points or 0.09% after trading in a range of 18940.00 and 19083.70. There were 24 stocks advancing against 26 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were BPCL up by 2.46%, Cipla up by 2.38%, Reliance Industries up by 1.82%, Ultratech Cement up by 1.58% and Adani Enterprises up by 1.39%. On the flip side, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 2.40%, Tata Motors down by 2.12%, Axis Bank down by 2.01%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.57% and NTPC down by 1.25% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in green; Straits Times rose 4.86 points or 0.16% to 3,066.71, Shanghai Composite strengthened 5.12 points or 0.17% to 3,022.90, Taiwan Weighted added 9.1 points or 0.06% to 16,143.71 and KOSPI increased 2.94 points or 0.13% to 2,305.75. On the global front, Nikkei 225 slipped 401.72 points or 1.3% to 30,589.97, Hang Seng declined 49.37 points or 0.28% to 17,349.36 and Jakarta Composite plunged 35.63 points or 0.53% to 6,723.16.