Domestic equity indices staged a recovery, wiping out all of their earlier losses to trade higher in late morning deals on the back of buying by funds and retail investors. Positive cues from other Asian markets and a decline in crude oil prices supported domestic market sentiment. Crude oil prices fell after U.S. President Donald Trump said he was highly unlikely to order new Iran attacks while talks to end the conflict make progress, despite both nations’ reports of attacks on ships in or near the Strait of Hormuz.
The Sensex advanced 0.22%, while the Nifty edged up 0.13% ahead of the weekly expiry of Nifty F&O contracts. On the global front, most Asian markets traded in positive territory, supported by gains in Taiwan, Japan amid a recovery in semiconductor stocks after last week's decline.
The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 81179.72, up by 180.32 points or 0.22% after trading in a range of 80519.31 and 81339.41. There were 9 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.
The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Bankex up by 1.23%, Healthcare up by 1.15%, PSU up by 0.89%, Realty up by 0.58% and Power up by 0.21%, while Telecom down by 1.90%, TECK down by 1.25%, IT down by 1.11%, Basic Materials down by 0.66%, Metal down by 0.62% were the top losing indices on BSE.
The top gainers on the Sensex were State Bank of India up by 2.21%, HDFC Bank up by 0.99%, ICICI Bank up by 0.85%, Trent up by 0.81% and NTPC up by 0.77%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 2.56%, HCL Technologies down by 2.36%, Infosys down by 2.14%, Ultratech Cement down by 2.05% and Bajaj Finance down by 1.64% were the top losers.
Meanwhile, India and the European Union (EU) have finalised negotiations on India’s association with Horizon Europe, the Euro 93.5 billion European Union research and innovation programme. The development comes weeks before India and the 27-nation bloc are set to seal a landmark free trade agreement -- billed as the ‘mother of all deals’ -- to create a market of two billion people. The EU said the development marks an important step forward for EU-India relations, strengthening scientific cooperation, creating new opportunities in research, and deepening the strategic partnership. India's association with the Horizon programme is seen as part of the comprehensive strategic agenda of the two sides for the next five years.
The EU said for researchers, businesses and research organisations across Europe, India's association will open up more opportunities to collaborate with Indian partners and build lasting scientific and technological links. It mentioned once the agreement is signed and the necessary procedures are completed on both sides, researchers and organisations in India will be able to receive funding directly from Horizon Europe and lead collaborative projects under its Pillar II: 'Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness’.
This is the largest part of the programme which funds collaborative, multi-national research and innovation projects tackling societal and technological issues, such as health, digital, industry, space, climate, energy, and bioeconomy. It added the move will create new opportunities for European and Indian partners to pool expertise, develop technologies and address shared challenges.
The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 25019.50, up by 33.10 points or 0.13% after trading in a range of 24838.75 and 25084.05. There were 23 stocks advancing against 27 stocks declining on the index.
The top gainers on Nifty were State Bank of India up by 2.66%, HDFC Bank up by 2.00%, HDFC Life Insurance up by 1.57%, NTPC up by 1.21% and Dr. Reddy's up by 1.17%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 2.73%, HCL Technologies down by 2.16%, Ultratech Cement down by 1.84%, Infosys down by 1.72% and Bharti Airtel down by 1.32% were the top losers.
Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 surged 1295.23 points or 2.21% to 58,730.00, Taiwan Weighted added 1960.06 points or 4.7% to 41,661.70, Jakarta Composite gained 41.32 points or 0.81% to 5,091.75, Shanghai Composite strengthened 15.82 points or 0.43% to 3,665.00 and Hang Seng advanced 13.14 points or 0.05% to 24,495.00. However, KOSPI dropped 41.42 points or 0.83% to 5,018.27 and Straits Times fell 117.08 points or 2.26% to 5,179.17.