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Indian equity markets continued their firm trade in the afternoon session on account of buying in front line counters as investors took cues from a rally in global markets after the U.S. Federal Reserve hiked its interest rates. US Federal Reserve raised interest rates, marking the first hike since 2018. The Fed also indicated that more hikes would be needed to fight inflation. Also, FPIs turning buyers after a long time and softness in crude also supported the markets. Foreign institutional investors emerged as net buyers after they bought shares worth Rs 311.99 crore on Wednesday, as per exchange data. Traders cheered Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Anupriya Patel’s statement that the bilateral trade in goods is projected to increase from the current $60 billion to $100 billion annually within five years of the implementation of the India-UAE free trade agreement. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly higher after the Federal Reserve announced its first interest rate hike since 2008 and China promised support for its real estate and internet industries.

Back home, the BSE Sensex is currently trading at 57883.36, up by 1066.71 points or 1.88% after trading in a range of 57518.06 and 57958.33. There were 28 stocks advancing against 2 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 1.26%, while Small cap index was up by 1.19%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 3.10%, Metal up by 2.37%, Consumer Discretionary up by 2.23%, Bankex up by 2.14% and Basic Materials was up by 2.01%, while there were no losing sectoral indices on the BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were HDFC up by 5.04%, Titan Co up by 4.49%, Asian Paints up by 3.60%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 3.40% and Tata Steel was up by 2.85%. On the flip side, HCL Tech down by 0.60% and Power Grid was down by 0.10% were the only losers.

Meanwhile, Power Minister R K Singh has said electricity demand can beat all previous records and cross the 200 GW mark in March 2022 itself in view of soaring temperatures. He noted that the peak power demand met or the highest supply in a day was recorded at 200.57 GW on July 7, 2021.

Singh said the government is committed towards achieving its energy transmission goals and it would require support from all section of the industry. He said renewable energy capacity of 68 GW is under installation and additional 27 GW is under tendering process. He also exhorted the electricals industry to expand its manufacturing base to meet the growing demand.

According to power ministry data, peak power demand met stood at 197.01 GW on March 15. This is the highest peak power demand met during March 1 to 15. Peak power demand met was 170.16 GW in March 2020 and 185.89 GW in March 2021.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17287.65, up by 312.30 points or 1.84% after trading in a range of 17175.75 and 17305.75. There were 44 stocks advancing against 6 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were JSW Steel up by 4.97%, HDFC up by 4.84%, Titan Co up by 4.51%, Eicher Motors up by 3.77% and Asian Paints was up by 3.58%. On the flip side, Indian Oil Corporation down by 1.11%, ONGC down by 0.75%, HCL Tech down by 0.60%, Cipla down by 0.09% and NTPC was down by 0.08% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly higher, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 507.39 points or 3% to 17,448.22, Shanghai Composite gained 54.66 points or 1.72% to 3,225.37, KOSPI rose 41.28 points or 1.55% to 2,700.51, Hang Seng increased 1114.27 points or 5.55% to 21,201.77, Straits Times advanced 15.26 points or 0.46% to 3,306.16 and Nikkei 225 was up by 890.88 points or 3.46% to 26,652.89. On the other hand, Jakarta Composite was down by 6.59 points or 0.09% to 6,985.81.

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