Markets continue to trade higher in late afternoon session

The Indian bourses, despite early jitters, managed to hold their neck to trade higher in late afternoon session followed by fresh foreign fund inflows and positive investor sentiments. The markets turned jubilant on revival of FII’s fund inflow as the FII data showed that FIIs bought Rs 3,239.14 crore worth of shares in yesterday’s trading session. Traders opted to buy fundamentally good stocks at attractive valuation which supported the market’s up move. Moreover, the Indian rupee opened 14 paise up on March 21 and currently trading at Rs 86.01 against the dollar amid significant foreign fund inflow exhibiting best weekly gain in two years boosting investor sentiments.

On the global front, Asian equity markets were trading mostly in red as tariff worries and rising Middle East tensions prompted traders to book some profits after recent gains. The European equity markets were trading lower amid rising oil prices and tariff-related worries.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 76915.16, up by 567.10 points or 0.74% after trading in a range of 76095.26 and 77041.94. There were 22 stocks advancing against 8 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index up by 1.19%, while Small cap index was up by 1.80%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 3.37%, Energy up by 2.66%, Utilities up by 2.63%, PSU up by 2.09% and Telecom up by 1.84%, while Consumer Durables down by 0.39%, Metal down by 0.09% were the few losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were NTPC up by 3.32%, Bajaj Finance up by 2.93%, Larsen & Toubro up by 2.65%, Nestle up by 2.07% and Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.92%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 1.48%, Infosys down by 1.06%, Titan Company down by 0.62%, Tata Steel down by 0.47% and Bajaj Finserv down by 0.29% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Minister of State (I/C), for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, and Minister of State for Education, Government of India, Jayant Chaudhary has said that the world is eyeing India for the quality of its products, its citizens, and its businesses, which presents a significant competitive advantage. 

Union minister has urged industries to focus on product quality to distinguish themselves globally. He said in order to achieve this, industries need to invest in entrepreneurs and support them in every possible way for the economy to progress. 

Chaudhary further underlined that the recent Union Budget 2025 has emphasized initiatives targeting women and underserved categories, with loan sanctions of around Rs 10,000 crore under the Fund of Funds (FoF) made accessible for them to embark on their entrepreneurial journeys. He also said ‘the government has implemented various schemes to assist citizens in pursuing their dreams, but these will only be effective if we learn to utilize them as our right’.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 23361.45, up by 170.80 points or 0.74% after trading in a range of 23132.80 and 23402.70. There were 36 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ONGC up by 5.05%, BPCL up by 4.40%, Coal India up by 3.48%, NTPC up by 3.35% and SBI Life Insurance Company up by 3.02%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 1.58%, Infosys down by 1.17%, Trent down by 1.11%, Hindalco down by 1.06% and Bharat Electronics down by 0.84% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in red; Hang Seng declined 530.23 points or 2.24% to 23,689.72, Jakarta Composite plunged 127.93 points or 2.05% to 6,253.74, Nikkei 225 slipped 74.82 points or 0.2% to 37,677.06, Taiwan Weighted lost 168.16 points or 0.76% to 22,209.10, Straits Times fell 7.33 points or 0.19% to 3,923.16 and Shanghai Composite weakened 44.12 points or 1.31% to 3,364.83, while KOSPI increased 6.03 points or 0.23% to 2,643.13.

European markets were trading lower; UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 41.24 points or 0.48% to 8,660.75, France’s CAC fell 53.07 points or 0.66% to 8,041.13 and Germany’s DAX lost 183.68 points or 0.81% to 22,815.47.