Sensex, Nifty stage recovery in early noon deals

Indian equity markets staged recovery and are trading flat in early afternoon deals, aided with positive cues from Asian markets along with buying at Metal and Basic Materials counters. Investors got encouragement as Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas and Housing & Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri said that India has emerged more resilient at a time when advanced economies are struggling to bounce back from the devastating impacts of the pandemic and added that India is already the fifth-largest economy in the world, and soon will become the third-largest economy. There was anxiety among traders, after Ashima Goyal, one of the three external members on the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) said that the case for interest rate cuts is expected to get stronger if inflation keeps declining.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green, even as Japan's housing starts decreased for the eighth straight month in January, though at a slightly slower-than-expected pace. The data from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism showed that housing starts dropped 7.5 percent year-on-year in January, following a 4.0 percent decline in December. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 72352.86, up by 47.98 points or 0.07% after trading in a range of 72099.32 and 72613.32. There were 17 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.07%, while Small cap index was down by 0.29%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 0.45%, Basic Materials up by 0.44%, Auto up by 0.29%, Consumer discretionary up by 0.27% and Consumer Durables up by 0.21%, while, Healthcare down by 1.05%, Realty down by 0.37%, Utilities down by 0.23%, Industrials down by 0.23% and IT down by 0.22% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.99%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.42%, Asian Paints up by 0.99%, Nestle up by 0.85% and Titan up by 0.76%. On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 0.71%, Axis Bank down by 0.58%, HDFC Bank down by 0.53%, TCS down by 0.53% and Infosys down by 0.44% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Secretary of Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY) S Krishnan has said that domestic manufacturing of semiconductors is the next big space and many companies are expected to venture into this segment. He said that a $2 billion digital economy is what India seriously needs. He also said that the digital economy is expected to grow at a faster pace in the next few years. He noted that about 20 lakh people are employed in the electronics manufacturing sector in the country and the government would like these jobs to go up to about 45 lakh. 

Talking about governance, hygiene and compliance with law for digital economies, the Secretary pointed out that regulators, much like the public, recognized the necessity of regulation. While balancing consumer protection and diverse requirements, regulations are thoroughly examined to ensure safeguarding of user information. In the tech sphere, consistent collaboration among regulators was crucial. He stated that similarly, maintaining ongoing dialogue with companies on various IT aspects is essential, and added that the second key aspect involves formulating regulations to ensure compliance. 

On the proposed Digital India legislation, he said efforts were being made to enhance it with additional elements. The ministry is exploring ways to address a significant issue related to the idea and understanding of ideas, where different forms of control are in place. Some of these controls occasionally generate issues, emphasizing the need for regulation. This will be a key focus in the approach to cybersecurity. 

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 21916.50, down by 34.65 points or 0.16% after trading in a range of 21860.65 and 22022.40. There were 21 stocks advancing against 29 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.86%, Adani Enterprises up by 1.41%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.28%, Tata Consumer Products up by 1.17% and Adani Ports & SEZ up by 0.90%. On the flip side, Apollo Hospital Ent. down by 2.98%, Bajaj Auto down by 2.71%, LTIMindtree down by 1.94%, Eicher Motors down by 1.47% and UPL down by 1.05% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Hang Seng advanced 36.57 points or 0.22% to 16,573.42, Taiwan Weighted added 112.36 points or 0.59% to 18,966.77, Jakarta Composite gained 2.4 points or 0.03% to 7,331.04, Straits Times rose 7.49 points or 0.24% to 3,146.42 and Shanghai Composite strengthened 37.42 points or 1.27% to 2,995.27, while KOSPI dropped 9.93 points or 0.37% to 2,642.36 and Nikkei 225 slipped 41.84 points or 0.11% to 39,166.19.