Benchmark indices trade higher in early deals

Indian equity benchmark indices made optimistic start on Wednesday following Asian counterparts. Markets are trading higher with gains of over half a percent each in early deals on account of healthy buying in Metal, Utilities and Power counters. Sentiments got support with the government data showing that the factory output rose 1.7 per cent in February, mainly on account of rise in the mining sector and power generation. The Index of Industrial Production (IIP) had declined 3.2 per cent in February 2021. Mining output rose 4.5 percent year-on-year in February and electricity was up by 4.5 percent. Adding more optimism, Chief Economic Adviser V Anantha Nageswaran expressed hope that the private sector is expected to accelerate capital expenditure from the second half of the current fiscal and he also asserted that the economic situation is likely to improve during the year. Though, upside remained capped as consumer price-based inflation jumped to 6.95 per cent in March, mainly on account of costlier food items. The inflation in the food basket was 7.68 per cent in March, up from 5.85 per cent in the preceding month.

Most of the Asian markets are trading higher. The core inflation figure (excluding food and energy prices) showed a fall, helping ease fears around inflation and interest rate-rises. Customs data which showed China's exports rose 13.4 percent in yuan terms year on year in January-March, while imports increased 7.5 percent. Back home, real estate industry stocks were in focus with a private report stating that institutional investments in real estate jumped over two-fold to $1.1 billion (Rs 8,375 crore) in the three months ended March 2022 with the opening up of the economy after the third COVID wave. In scrip specific development, shares of Anand Rathi Wealth zoomed after the company reported strong results with its profit after tax (PAT) and operating profit more-than-doubling in the March quarter (Q4FY22).

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 58885.97, up by 309.60 points or 0.53% after trading in a range of 58787.03 and 59003.82. There were 24 stocks advancing against 6 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.51%, while Small cap index was up by 0.89%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 1.42%, Utilities up by 1.10%, Power up by 1.09%, Basic Materials up by 1.08%, Energy up by 1.06%, while there was no loser on BSE sectoral front.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel up by 1.48%, Hindustan Unilever up by 1.46%, Tata Steel up by 1.40%, Mahindra Mahindra up by 1.39% and Larsen Toubro up by 1.17%. On the flip side, Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 1.05%, Asian Paints down by 0.46%, HDFC Bank down by 0.22%, Titan Company down by 0.22% and Ultratech Cement down by 0.02% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the index of industrial production (IIP) or factory output grew 1.7 per cent in February as against 1.3 per cent in January. The IIP had declined 3.2 per cent in February 2021. The industrial production jumped in February mainly on account of rise in the mining sector and power generation. IIP growth slumped to a 10-month low of 0.4 per cent in December last year. For the month of February 2022, the Quick Estimates of IIP with base 2011-12 stood at 132.1. The cumulative growth in April-February 2021-22 worked out to be 12.5 per cent. In the year-ago period, there was a contraction of 11.1 per cent.

As per the data released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, the manufacturing sector, which makes up over three-fourths of the IIP, grew by a mere 0.8 per cent in February, down from 1.3 per cent in the first month of 2022. However, mining and electricity saw an appreciable improvement. While mining output rose 4.5 per cent year-on-year in February, up from 2.8 per cent in January, that of electricity was also up by 4.5 per cent. In January, electricity production was up a mere 0.9 per cent. The Indices of Industrial Production for the Mining, Manufacturing and Electricity sectors for the month of February 2022 stood at 123.2, 130.8 and 160.8 respectively.

Growth in capital goods output, however, slowed to 1.1 per cent on a year-on-year basis from 1.4 per cent in January, while consumer durables and non-durables witnessed a contraction compared to the same month last year. As per Use-based classification, the indices stood at 130.8 for Primary Goods, 94.3 for Capital Goods, 144.0 for Intermediate Goods and 153.0 for Infrastructure/ Construction Goods for the month of February 2022. Further, the indices for Consumer durables and Consumer non-durables stood at 114.7 and 139.5 respectively for the month February 2022.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17626.80, up by 96.50 points or 0.55% after trading in a range of 17585.45 and 17663.65. There were 41 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were UPL up by 3.30%, JSW Steel up by 2.45%, ONGC up by 2.40%, Apollo Hospital up by 2.23% and Coal India up by 1.51%. On the flip side, Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 0.95%, Asian Paints down by 0.34%, Titan Company down by 0.32%, HDFC Bank down by 0.27% and Divi's Lab down by 0.19% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 jumped 479.34 points or 1.82% to 26,814.32, Straits Times rose 21.35 points or 0.64% to 3,351.60, Hang Seng added 33.85 points or 0.16% to 21,352.98, Taiwan Weighted surged 294.52 points or 1.73% to 17,285.43, KOSPI advanced 38.59 points or 1.45% to 2,705.35 and Jakarta Composite inched up by 10.24 points or 0.14% to 7,225.02, while Shanghai Composite was down by 14.19 points or 0.44% to 3,199.14.