The Indian equity benchmarks trimmed most of their gains in late afternoon session, but managed to keep their head above water. Traders took support after India’s merchandise exports rose 0.67 percent year-on-year to $27.93 billion in February 2021 over the same period of last year, following healthy growth in pharma and chemicals sectors. Meanwhile, Ministry of Finance, Department of Expenditure has released the final weekly instalment of Rs 4,104 crore to the States. Out of this, an amount of Rs 4,086.97 crore has been released to 23 States and an amount of Rs 17.03 crore has been released to the 3 UTs with Legislative Assembly. However, upside remain capped with the government’s statement that Cinema halls, hotels, restaurants and offices except those related to health and essential services in Maharashtra will function at 50 percent capacity till March 31. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green as investors looked to key central bank meetings this week, starting with the United States Federal Reserve. European markets were trading higher, as German online fashion retailer Zalando and carmaker Volkswagen jumped following upbeat earnings forecasts, while investors awaited the U.S. Federal Reserve's views on a recent pick-up in inflation.
The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 50475.63, up by 80.55 points or 0.16% after trading in a range of 50320.56 and 50857.98. There were 14 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.
The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.27%, while Small cap index was up by 0.32%.
The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 1.57%, TECK up by 1.32%, Telecom up by 1.26%, FMCG up by 0.62% and Consumer Discretionary was up by 0.33%, while Bankex down by 0.78%, Metal down by 0.70%, Capital Goods down by 0.68%, Consumer Durables down by 0.61% and Realty was down by 0.55% were the top losing indices on BSE.
The top gainers on the Sensex were Asian Paints up by 3.74%, Dr. Reddys Lab up by 2.10%, TCS up by 1.98%, HCL Tech up by 1.97% and Bharti Airtel up by 1.45%. On the flip side, Larsen & Toubro down by 1.58%, SBI down by 1.07%, ICICI Bank down by 1.01%, HDFC Bank down by 0.99% and HDFC down by 0.90% were the top losers.
Meanwhile, in order to meet the GST compensation shortfall, the Ministry of Finance, Department of Expenditure has released the final weekly instalment of Rs 4,104 crore to the States. Out of this, an amount of Rs 4,086.97 crore has been released to 23 States and an amount of Rs 17.03 crore has been released to the 3 UTs with Legislative Assembly.
With the current release, 100 percent of the total estimated GST compensation shortfall of Rs.1.10 lakh crore for the year 2020-21 has now been released to the States & UTs with Legislative Assembly. Out of this, an amount of Rs.101,329 crore has been released to the States and an amount of Rs.8,879 crore has been released to the 3 UTs with Legislative Assembly.
The amount released this week was the 20th instalment of such funds provided to the States. The amount has been borrowed this week at an interest rate of 4.9288%. The total amount of Rs.1,10,208 crore has been borrowed by the Central Government through the special borrowing window at an weighted average interest rate of 4.8473%.
The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 14938.25, up by 8.75 points or 0.06% after trading in a range of 14892.85 and 15051.60. There were 25 stocks advancing against 25 stocks declining on the index.
The top gainers on Nifty were Asian Paints up by 3.86%, Dr. Reddys Lab up by 2.15%, TCS up by 2.07%, HCL Tech up by 1.97% and Bharti Airtel up by 1.42%. On the flip side, Larsen & Toubro down by 1.70%, Tata Steel down by 1.64%, Cipla down by 1.52%, BPCL down by 1.21% and SBI down by 1.16% were the top losers.
Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Hang Seng increased 193.93 points or 0.67% to 29,027.69, Nikkei 225 surged 154.12 points or 0.52% to 29,921.09, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 63.83 points or 0.39% to 16,313.16, Shanghai Composite gained 26.78 points or 0.78% to 3,446.73 and KOSPI was up by 21.46 points or 0.7% to 3,067.17. On the flip side, Straits Times trembled 4.28 points or 0.14% to 3,101.72 and Jakarta Composite was down by 14.56 points or 0.23% to 6,309.70.
European markets were trading higher; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 41.10 points or 0.61% to 6,790.80, France’s CAC increased 13.15 points or 0.22% to 6,049.12 and Germany’s DAX was up by 71.25 points or 0.49% to 14,532.67.