Sensex, Nifty wipe out opening losses to enter into green on bargain hunting

Indian equity benchmarks made negative start on Wednesday tracking mixed cues from Asian counterparts. Sensex and Nifty managed to wipe out their opening losses and entered into green terrain on account of bargain hunting as investors preferred to buy stocks at reduced levels. Some support came as the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) stated that the unemployment rate for people aged 15 years and above in urban areas dipped to 6.4 per cent in the October-December quarter. Traders took note of report that India and Qatar have agreed to double bilateral trade to $28 billion over the next five years and announced elevation of their relationship to the level of strategic partnership as Prime Minster Narendra Modi held talks with Amir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani.

On the global front, Asian markets are trading mixed, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, as traders remain cautious amid lingering worries of a global trade war and geopolitical issues as they tracking reports from Ukraine peace talks. A meeting between Russian and U.S. officials raised hopes of an end to the three-year war in Ukraine. Meanwhile, Japan posted a merchandise trade deficit of 2.758 trillion yen in January.

Back home, real estate industry stocks are in focus as industry bodies Ficci and Assocham have demanded that real estate developers should be allowed to claim Input Tax Credit (ITC) under the Central Goods and Services Act (CGST) on commercial assets constructed for leasing purposes. In stock specific development, Tata Steel traded higher after UK unit gets electric arc furnace nod for Port Talbot facility.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 75999.49, up by 32.10 points or 0.04% after trading in a range of 75581.38 and 76004.80. There were 18 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.70%, while Small cap index was up by 1.87%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 2.03%, Industrials up by 1.71%, PSU up by 1.36%, Capital Goods up by 1.22% and Metal up by 1.09%, while Healthcare down by 0.84%, TECK down by 0.79%, IT down by 0.79%, FMCG down by 0.20% and Auto down by 0.11% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Steel up by 1.49%, Zomato up by 1.39%, NTPC up by 1.19%, Indusind Bank up by 1.11% and SBI up by 1.07%. On the flip side, TCS down by 1.52%, Sun Pharma down by 1.51%, Infosys down by 1.30%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.21% and Tech Mahindra down by 1.07% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, amid rising protectionism globally, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Jitin Prasada has said that India is formulating strategies to ensure that interests of domestic exporters are protected. He also said that with a 1.4 billion domestic market, India is navigating free trade agreements on an equal footing.

He said ‘We have an aspirational spending power population. So, we will get the best in the interest of India and in the interest of our exporters. We will not buckle under any pressure anymore. We will not settle for anything less’.

He added ‘The government is thinking ahead as to what bumps and speed breakers and the challenges that might arise and India is formulating strategies accordingly’. The government has set a target of $118 billion in engineering exports for 2024-25.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 22955.05, up by 9.75 points or 0.04% after trading in a range of 22814.85 and 22964.90. There were 30 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bharat Electronics up by 2.84%, Tata Steel up by 1.52%, NTPC up by 1.25%, Trent up by 1.16% and SBI up by 1.06%. On the flip side, Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 3.09%, TCS down by 1.58%, Britannia Industries down by 1.44%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.36% and Cipla down by 1.21% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mixed; Nikkei 225 slipped 197.73 points or 0.5% to 39,072.67, Hang Seng declined 76.61 points or 0.33% to 22,900.20, Jakarta Composite fell 35.17 points or 0.51% to 6,838.38 and Taiwan Weighted was down by 34.02 points or 0.14% to 23,632.09. On the other hand, KOSPI rose 49.83 points or 1.9% to 2,676.64, Shanghai Composite added 17.99 points or 0.54% to 3,342.48 and Straits Times was up by 5.14 points or 0.13% to 3,930.70.