Bourses trade with healthy gains in early afternoon session

Indian equity markets continued to trade with healthy gains in early afternoon session following positive cues from other Asian markets. Globally, traders were hoping that Federal Reserve is likely to keep interest rates unchanged.  Investors continued to get support as government data has showed that net direct tax collection grew 13.13 per cent to over Rs 21.26 lakh crore so far (till March 16, 2025) this fiscal aided by higher advance tax mop up. Meanwhile, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in its latest report has said that India is likely to remain the fastest-growing major economy over the next two years with the GDP growth rate projected at 6.4 per cent for 2025 and at 6.6 per cent in 2026. On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly in green ahead of the US Fed's monetary policy announcement on Wednesday. Besides, traders continued to pick up stocks at reduced levels following recent weakness. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 75008.98, up by 839.03 points or 1.13% after trading in a range of 74480.15 and 75094.30. There were 26 stocks advancing against 4 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 1.60%, while Small cap index was up by 2.22%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Industrials up by 2.07%, Consumer discretionary up by 2.07%, Consumer Durables up by 2.04%, Power up by 1.80% and Auto was up by 1.78%, while there were no losing sectoral indices on the BSE. 

The top gainers on the Sensex were Zomato up by 4.22%, Asian Paints up by 2.62%, Tata Motors up by 2.44%, ICICI Bank up by 2.43% and Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.36%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finserv down by 1.67%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.45%, Tech Mahindra down by 0.11% and Reliance Industries down by 0.11% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Aluminium Association of India (AAI) has urged the government to extend the Remission of Duties or Taxes on Export Products (RoDTEP) Scheme for aluminium-producing units in special economic zones (SEZs). Under the RoDTEP Scheme, the government allows refunds of embedded central, state and local duties/taxes to exporters. 

Industry body said aluminium-producing units located within Advance Authorisation (AA) holders, Export Oriented Units (EOUs), and SEZs were covered under the RoDTEP scheme till February this year. Given the ongoing global trade uncertainties, the AAI has stressed on the urgent need to further extend the applicability of the RoDTEP Scheme for exports from aluminium producers located in AA/EOU/SEZ units.

AAI said with over $20 billion invested in growing domestic capacity, India is the second-largest aluminium producer globally with an annual capacity of 4.1 million tonnes and added that nearly 45 per cent of the nation's aluminium exports originates from AA/EOU/SEZ-based units. Further delay could leave Indian industries vulnerable to the impact of global trade uncertainties, leading to extensive production cuts, job losses, and hampered domestic growth. 

It further said that export-oriented aluminium producing units bear a high incidence of both central and state taxes, constituting up to 10 per cent of production costs. Without an extension of the RoDTEP scheme, the global competitiveness of Indian aluminium exports will be impacted. The government had notified RoDTEP rates for aluminium smelters in AA/EOU/SEZ units in March 2024 and later granted an extension till February 2025.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 22756.95, up by 248.20 points or 1.10% after trading in a range of 22599.20 and 22781.40. There were 45 stocks advancing against 5 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Asian Paints up by 2.72%, Tata Motors up by 2.56%, Hindalco up by 2.48%, ICICI Bank up by 2.35% and Shriram Finance up by 2.33%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finserv down by 1.68%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.42%, Indusind Bank down by 0.06%, Reliance Industries down by 0.06% and Tech Mahindra down by 0.05% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in green; Hang Seng advanced 516.45 points or 2.09% to 24,662.02, Nikkei 225 surged 448.9 points or 1.19% to 37,845.42, Taiwan Weighted added 153.04 points or 0.69% to 22,271.67, Straits Times rose 42.99 points or 1.1% to 3,902.35, Shanghai Composite strengthened 2.2 points or 0.06% to 3,428.33 and KOSPI was up by 1.65 points or 0.06% to 2,612.34. On the flip side, Jakarta Composite was down by 281.49 points or 4.55% to 6,190.46.