Bourses continue gaining momentum in early afternoon session

Indian equity markets continued their up move in early afternoon session as sentiments remained upbeat after United States President Donald Trump paused steep tariffs on America’s trading partners for 90 days. Besides, traders turned their focus towards India's industrial production data, which is due later in a day. Traders took note of report that India and Russia have agreed on six new strategic projects aimed at enhancing bilateral investment cooperation during the eighth Session of the India-Russia Working Group on Priority Investment Projects. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed as Malaysia's industrial output expanded at the slowest pace in the current sequence of growth that began in January 2024, and retail sales growth eased notably in February. Industrial production increased 1.5 percent year-on-year in February, slower than the 2.1 percent rise in the previous month. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 75426.88, up by 1579.73 points or 2.14% after trading in a range of 74762.84 and 75467.33. There were 29 stocks advancing against 1 stock declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 2.05%, while Small cap index was up by 2.73%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 4.59%, Basic Materials up by 3.59%, Consumer Durables up by 2.75%, Energy up by 2.57% and Realty was up by 2.57%, while there were no losing sectoral indices on the BSE. 

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Steel up by 5.19%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 3.65%, Bajaj Finserv up by 3.42%, Power Grid up by 3.24% and Tata Motors up by 3.12%. On the flip side, Asian Paints down by 0.46% was the top loser.

Meanwhile, Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI) has urged the government to consider introducing an interim Textile Exports Protection Scheme to mitigate the burden of additional tariff costs faced by exporters, terming the 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs announced by the Trump administration as a stopgap measure. The textiles industry body stressed that the government must intensify its engagement with US counterparts to arrive at a more sustainable and mutually beneficial solution. The US is the largest destination for Indian textiles and apparel exports. 

US President Donald Trump deferred by 90 days the reciprocal tariffs that were scheduled to come into effect from April 9 on 75 countries with which the US has a trade imbalance. The US, however, raised the tax rate on Chinese imports to 125 per cent effective immediately. However, the higher 10 per cent tariff, which was effective from April 5, will continue. In the case of India, the additional duty of 16 per cent has been put on hold for 90 days.

CITI Chairman Rakesh Mehra stated that the temporary relief will bring short-term respite to Indian textile and apparel (T&A) exporters, who were bracing for higher tariff barriers. However, this measure is only a stopgap. It is crucial that the government intensifies its engagement with US counterparts to arrive at a more sustainable and mutually beneficial solution. 

Highlighting the importance of the US market, CITI Chairman said the United States is the largest destination for Indian T&A exports. He also said while the government is actively pursuing bilateral negotiations for better tariff access, the industry urges the government to consider introducing an interim Textile Exports Protection Scheme. Such a measure would help mitigate the impact of additional tariff costs, particularly given the wafer-thin margins that T&A exporters operate on.  

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 22906.10, up by 506.95 points or 2.26% after trading in a range of 22695.40 and 22923.90. There were 47 stocks advancing against 3 stocks declining on the index

The top gainers on Nifty were Hindalco up by 6.40%, Tata Steel up by 5.21%, JSW Steel up by 5.12%, Coal India up by 4.30% and Trent up by 4.29%. On the flip side, Asian Paints down by 0.60%, Apollo Hospital down by 0.50% and Nestle down by 0.10% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; Taiwan Weighted added 528.74 points or 2.71% to 19,528.77, Hang Seng advanced 215.78 points or 1.04% to 20,897.56, Jakarta Composite gained 13.69 points or 0.22% to 6,267.71 and Shanghai Composite was up by 7.1 points or 0.22% to 3,230.74. On the flip side, KOSPI dropped 12.34 points or 0.51% to 2,432.72, Straits Times fell 60.32 points or 1.69% to 3,517.51 and Nikkei 225 was down by 1023.42 points or 3.05% to 33,585.58.