Domestic markets continue to trade flat in late morning deals

Domestic equity markets continued to trade flat amid volatility in late morning deals as traders avoided taking any long position ahead of key U.S. inflation data later in the day and Wednesday's FOMC rate decision. Buying in Ultratech Cement, ITC, JSW Steel and Wipro companies’ stocks restricted markets to go down further. However, broader indices outperformed their large peers with BSE Mid cap index and BSE Small cap index gaining in the range of 0.20-0.40%. Traders were getting some encouragement as Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said retail inflation is now stable and temporary increases in inflation on a few occasions are caused by demand-supply mismatches arising out of global shocks and adverse weather conditions.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green following positive cues from US markets overnight. Back home, on the BSE sectoral front, traders were seen pilling up position in Metal, Basic Materials, FMCG, IT and TECK, while selling was witnessed in Oil & Gas, Capital Goods, Power, Utilities and  Energy. In the stock specific development, Rail Vikas Nigam surged after the joint venture of the company emerged as the lowest bidder for a project worth Rs 543 crore. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 69890.85, down by 37.68 points or 0.05% after trading in a range of 69814.34 and 70033.64. There were 12 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.21%, while Small cap index up by 0.38%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 0.78%, Basic Materials up by 0.77%, FMCG up by 0.35%, IT up by 0.33% and TECK up by 0.13%, while Oil & Gas down by 0.93%, Capital Goods down by 0.77%, Power down by 0.77%, Utilities down by 0.72% and Energy down by 0.72% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Ultratech Cement up by 2.00%, ITC up by 1.48%, JSW Steel up by 1.20%, Wipro up by 0.94% and Tata Steel up by 0.92%. On the flip side, Larsen & Toubro down by 1.09%, Maruti Suzuki down by 0.97%, Titan down by 0.90%, Infosys down by 0.84% and Sun Pharma down by 0.79% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya has said that India's bio-economy has grown eight times in the last eight years from $10 billion to $80 billion and underlined that in the coming times, biotechnology will become the biggest foundation for medical treatment. He noted that the Indian biotech industry aims at growing to $150 billion by 2025 and $300 billion by 2030. He said India is currently among the top 12 destinations for biotechnology in the world with approximately 3 per cent share in the global biotechnology industry.

Mandaviya has stated that this industry (biotechnology) will become a medium for finding solutions for complex problems in various spheres such as agriculture, environment, industrial production and many more. In the light of this, in the future, the economy will become biotechnology based. Reiterating the government’s vision of India achieving the status of a developed country by 2047, he cited that this sector's contribution will be instrumental in making India a developed nation. Highlighting the growth and prowess of the biotechnology industry, he said the vaccines produced by India during the Covid pandemic showcased the country's power in the field of biotechnology to the world.

Underscoring the importance of the biotechnology sector, the minister said the National Biotechnology Development Strategy 2020-25 provides the government a platform to strengthen skill development, resource and innovation converging into one strong ecosystem for knowledge sharing. He said it further facilitates commercialisation and market linkages by encouraging private-public partnership models.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 21000.35, up by 3.25 points or 0.02% after trading in a range of 20975.05 and 21037.90. There were 25 stocks advancing against 25 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Hindalco up by 2.42%, Ultratech Cement up by 2.32%, HDFC Life Insurance up by 2.21%, Bajaj Auto up by 1.64% and ITC up by 1.38%. On the flip side, BPCL down by 3.43%, Eicher Motors down by 1.41%, Larsen & Toubro down by 1.12%, Coal India down by 0.93% and Sun Pharma down by 0.92% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Hang Seng advanced 92.63 points or 0.57% to 16,294.12, Nikkei 225 surged 70.84 points or 0.22% to 32,862.64, Taiwan Weighted added 6.17 points or 0.04% to 17,424.51, Straits Times rose 11.97 points or 0.39% to 3,102.17, KOSPI increased 11.14 points or 0.44% to 2,536.50 and Jakarta Composite gained 13.82 points or 0.19% to 7,102.61. However, Shanghai Composite weakened 0.71 points or 0.02% to 2,990.73.