Markets trade higher in early deals with notable gains

Indian equity benchmarks made a cautious start amid global trade uncertainty. Soon, markets gained traction and were trading higher in early deals with notable gains. Some support came as Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday said India is looking for a good trade agreement with the US to promote economic growth and ensure smooth supply chains. She also said that amid a growing global tariff war, India will have to move smartly to guard against possible dumping of goods from countries that are facing higher US tariffs. 

On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly lower as concerns remain that the U.S. trade war may hurt global growth and worsen inflation. Meanwhile, Japan posted a current account deficit of 257.6 billion yen in January. That missed forecasts for a shortfall of 230 billion yen following the 1.077 trillion yen surplus in December.

Back home, semiconductor industry stocks are in focus as India Electronics and Semiconductor Association (IESA) President Ashok Chandak said the Indian semiconductor industry can grow to $40 billion by 2030 by promoting the ecosystem around supply chain, including chemicals and gases involved in the making of electronic chips. In stock specific development, Tata Power traded higher after signing a pact for up to 7,000 MW of renewable energy projects.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 74658.15, up by 325.57 points or 0.44% after trading in a range of 74156.00 and 74741.25. There were 22 stocks advancing against 8 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.16%, while Small cap index was down by 0.60%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Utilities up by 1.58%, Power up by 1.23%, Metal up by 0.94%, FMCG up by 0.81% and Realty up by 0.81%, while Industrials down by 0.53%, Capital Goods down by 0.39%, Consumer Discretionary down by 0.26%, Consumer Durables down by 0.14%, Auto down by 0.08% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Power Grid up by 3.59%, Hindustan Unilever up by 1.83%, Bajaj Finserv up by 1.77%, Adani Ports & SEZ up by 1.57% and Bajaj Finance up by 1.45%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 3.31%, Zomato down by 1.55%, Larsen & Toubro down by 0.94%, Titan Company down by 0.72% and Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.39% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, with an aim to promote economic growth and ensure smooth supply chains, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said India is looking for a ‘good’ trade agreement with the US. She also said that amid a growing global tariff war, India will have to move ‘smartly’ to guard against possible dumping of goods from countries that are facing higher US tariffs. At the same time, India will protect the interests of domestic industries that rely on affordable imports.

She said ‘In a broad sense, I think, both sides should have ambition for a good treaty, and nobody can fault that. Particularly for India, when you are looking at Viksit Bharat, you need to have good traction. Everybody is concerned about the growth numbers’. She added that a lot more steps are required to strengthen the country's exports across the board, wherever there is potential.

She said ‘So, I am sure the commerce minister (Piyush Goyal) is quite seized of this, and he would take this (trade) agreement to meet the ambitions that we have in terms of promoting growth, in terms of ensuring that our supply chains are intact and smooth and flowing well, and therefore, that would guide his negotiations, I would think’. India and the US are negotiating a bilateral trade agreement, with an aim to double trade to $500 billion by 2030. 

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 22637.85, up by 85.35 points or 0.38% after trading in a range of 22498.65 and 22676.75. There were 34 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Power Grid up by 3.36%, Hindustan Unilever up by 1.97%, JSW Steel up by 1.66%, Adani Ports & SEZ up by 1.57% and Bajaj Finserv up by 1.50%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 3.12%, Trent down by 2.08%, Bajaj Auto down by 1.13%, Larsen & Toubro down by 1.01% and Titan Company down by 0.77% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in red; Hang Seng lost 511.04 points or 2.15% to 23,720.26, Taiwan Weighted declined 66.17 points or 0.29% to 22,509.90, Jakarta Composite plunged 37.01 points or 0.56% to 6,598.99, Shanghai Composite weakened 19.96 points or 0.6% to 3,352.59 and Straits Times fell 6.49 points or 0.17% to 3,907.99. On the other hand, Nikkei 225 surged 84.17 points or 0.23% to 36,971.34 and KOSPI was up by 15.41 points or 0.6% to 2,578.89.