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Indian markets extended gains to a third straight day on Tuesday, led by financial, oil & gas and IT stocks, though losses in healthcare stocks played spoilsport. Today, the start of session is likely to be weak amid mixed global market cues and the rapidly rising cases of covid-19 in the country. According to the Union health ministry's data updated a total of 1,892 cases of Omicron variant of coronavirus have been detected across 23 states and Union Territories so far. India's Covid tally rose to 3,49,60,261 with 37,379 new cases, while the active cases increased to 1,71,830. There will be some cautiousness as a private report indicated that growth might be impacted by up to 0.30 per cent in the March quarter as normal economic activities come under pressure due to restrictions being imposed by more states to curb rising Omicron cases. However, some support may come as State Bank of India former chairman Rajnish Kumar said the country needs to accelerate economic growth to above eight per cent to achieve its target of becoming a $5-trillion economy by 2025. For a growth of eight per cent and above, he said, the country needs a huge investment in the economy, lower tax rates that can ensure surplus in the hands of the people as well as of corporates, ease of doing business at the lower level and availability of land. Traders may take note of report that with the country’s outbound shipments all set to cross $400 billion this fiscal year, the commerce ministry is planning to launch Brand India Campaign to give momentum to exports of both services and products in new markets. There will be some reaction in road sector stocks as domestic rating agency Icra said the Indian road logistic sector is likely to witness healthy growth in FY2022 on the back of demand recovery and improved business activities. The optimism stems from the favourable scenario wherein most players reported strong growth in freight volumes on a sequential basis in the second quarter of FY'22, and the momentum is likely to continue in the third quarter of the ongoing fiscal. Textile industry stocks will be in focus as Union Minister Piyush Goyal said the government is making efforts towards gaining access to new markets and getting concessional duties on textile products through free-trade agreements.

The US markets ended mostly lower on Tuesday amid selective profit-taking. Asian markets are trading mixed on Wednesday amid concerns about the increasing Omicron cases across regions.

Back home, Indian equity benchmarks traded buoyantly and ended higher for the third consecutive day on Tuesday, taking positive cues from global markets. After making positive start, key gauges turned volatile as traders got anxious with the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) in its latest data has showed that the unemployment rate in the country touched a four-month high of 7.91 percent in December 2021. The unemployment rate had stood at 7 percent in November, the highest since August which was at 8.3 percent. But, markets soon gained traction, taking support from government data showing that India’s exports surged 37 percent on an annual basis to $37.29 billion in December 2021, the highest-ever monthly figure, on the back of healthy performance by sectors like engineering, textiles and chemicals, even as the trade deficit widened to $21.99 billion. Imports in December too rose by 38 per cent to $59.27 billion on account of an increase in oil imports, which soared 65.17 per cent to $15.9 billion. Key gauges extended gains in late afternoon session, as traders remain energized with a another private report stating that export-dependent software companies are set to report a strong sequential revenue growth in the range of 2.6 to 6 per cent in the seasonally weak December quarter. Some optimism also came with Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal’s statement that the Omicron variant of COVID-19 will be a short-term disruption on businesses, adding that supply chains and industrial activities will continue at full speed. In another positive development, foreign institutional investors stood as buyer with net buying of shares worth Rs 902.64 crore, while domestic institutional investors’ net purchased shares worth Rs 803.11 crore in the Indian equity market on 3 January. Finally, the BSE Sensex rose 672.71 points or 1.14% to 59,855.93 and the CNX Nifty was up by 179.55 points or 1.02% to 17,805.25

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