Indian equity benchmarks cut some of their gains in late morning session, with both Sensex and Nifty trading marginally higher. Positive cues from other Asian markets helped key indices to remain in green terrain. Domestic sentiments were positive, amid reports that Indians are among the most optimistic globally in terms of their expectations for a return to pre-COVID normal, with over 70 per cent expecting it to happen in less than a year. Importantly, the survey was conducted just before the COVID-19 pandemic was seen moving towards a new peak in India and some other countries.
However, some gains got trimmed, as the consumer price index (CPI) based retail inflation rose to a four-month high of 5.52 per cent in March over 5.03 per cent in February on account of rising food prices as well as costlier fuel, though it remained within the comfort zone of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The Reserve Bank, which mainly factors in the retail inflation while arriving at its monetary policy, has been asked to keep CPI inflation at 4 per cent with a margin of 2 per cent on either side.
On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green, after Indonesia retail sales grew in March as demand continued to improve amid favorable weather. The results of a survey by Bank Indonesia showed that retail sales rose 2.9 percent month-on-month in March, after a 2.7 percent decline in February. In January, sales fell 4.3 percent. The latest growth was due to increasing public demand amid favorable weather. Sales of other goods, clothing sub-group and culture and recreational goods increased in March.
The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 47937.13, up by 53.75 points or 0.11% after trading in a range of 47775.32 and 48315.09. There were 22 stocks advancing against 8 stocks declining on the index.
The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.22%, while Small cap index was up by 0.38%.
The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Auto up by 1.57%, PSU up by 1.42%, Realty up by 1.39%, Oil & Gas up by 1.33% and Bankex up by 1.15%, while IT down by 3.21%, TECK down by 2.70%, Healthcare down by 0.97% and Power down by 0.02% were the top losing indices on BSE.
The top gainers on the Sensex were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 4.67%, Bajaj Finserv up by 3.49%, ONGC up by 3.31%, Power Grid up by 2.66% and Maruti Suzuki up by 2.50%. On the flip side, TCS down by 4.30%, Tech Mahindra down by 3.84%, Dr. Reddy’s Lab down by 3.75%, Infosys down by 2.87% and HCL Tech down by 2.58% were the top losers.
Meanwhile, with poor performance of manufacturing and mining sectors, India’s factory output, measured in terms of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), contracted for the second straight month by 3.6 per cent in February. This is the sharpest contraction the factory output has seen in six months. The index had grown by 5.2 per cent in February 2020. The IIP data for January 2021 has been revised to 0.9 per cent contraction from a 1.6 per cent decline. During April-February, the IIP contracted by 11.3 per cent compared to one per cent growth in the corresponding period of 2019-20.
The data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO) under Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation showed that for the month of February 2021, the Quick Estimates of IIP with base 2011-12 stood at 129.4. The manufacturing sector -- which constitutes 77.63 per cent of the IIP -- declined by 3.7 per cent in February 2021. The mining sector output declined by 5.5 per cent in February 2021. However, power generation grew marginally by 0.1 per cent in the month under review. The Indices of Industrial Production for the Mining, Manufacturing and Electricity sectors for the month of February 2021 stand at 116.5, 129.3 and 153.9 respectively.
The output of capital goods, which is a barometer of investment, slipped 4.2 per cent in February 2021, as against a contraction of 9.6 per cent a year ago. Consumer durables output grew by 6.3 per cent in the month under review, compared to a 6.2 per cent decline in February 2020. Consumer non-durable goods production fell 3.8 per cent the month, compared to a contraction of 0.3 per cent a year ago.
As per Use-based classification, the indices stand at 124.3 for Primary Goods, 93.3 for Capital Goods, 137.6 for Intermediate Goods and 138.2 for Infrastructure/ Construction Goods for the month of February 2021. Further, the indices for Consumer durables and Consumer non-durables stand at 124.7 and 147.6 respectively for the month of February 2021.
The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 14312.25, up by 1.45 points or 0.01% after trading in a range of 14274.90 and 14449.05. There were 36 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.
The top gainers on Nifty were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 4.67%, Bajaj Finserv up by 3.33%, ONGC up by 3.11%, Power Grid up by 2.49% and Maruti Suzuki up by 2.40%. On the flip side, Adani Ports & SEZ down by 4.72%, TCS down by 4.66%, Tech Mahindra down by 4.30%, Dr. Reddy’s Lab down by 3.84% and Wipro down by 3.17% were the top losers.
Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 surged 209.92 points or 0.71% to 29,748.65, Straits Times added 8.97 points or 0.28% to 3,182.90, Hang Seng jumped 295.91 points or 1.04% to 28,749.19, Taiwan Weighted rose 124.46 points or 0.74% to 16,984.16, and KOSPI soared 33.65 points or 1.07% to 3,169.24. On the flip side, Jakarta Composite fell 43.56 points or 0.73% to 5,905.01 and Shanghai Composite was down by 16.74 points or 0.49% to 3,396.21.