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Indian equity benchmarks ended higher for the third day in a row in a choppy session on Tuesday led by gains in Power, Utilities and IT stocks. Key gauges were volatile in early morning trade after opening on a slightly positive note, as traders were concerned with a private report stating that sluggish growth momentum in the December quarter and emerging risk from the third Covid-19 wave may shave 80 basis points (bps) off India’s real gross domestic product (GDP) growth to 9 per cent for FY22. Some cautiousness came in as data from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) showed outward foreign direct investment by Indian companies fell by over 8 per cent to $2.05 billion in December 2021 in the current fiscal. Adding to the pessimism, a domestic rating agency said lockdowns to contain the spread of the third COVID wave hurt loan collections and new lending by non-banks, and will in turn impact securitisation volumes. Rising coronavirus cases also dampened sentiments in the markets.

However, key indices inched up as they recovered from some early morning volatility, taking support from the Quarterly Employment Survey (QES) report released by Union Labour Minister Bhupender Yadav stating that total employment in nine select sectors stood at 3.10 crore in the July-September 2021 quarter (Q2FY22), which is 2 lakh more than that of the April-June period. He said the rise shows improvement in economic activities after lifting of lockdown restrictions by states to curb the spread of deadly virus after the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic hit the country in April 2021. Traders got support after Tata group’s Chairman N Chandrasekaran said that coronavirus pandemic has not impacted India’s long-term growth trajectory although it has delayed it and in this decade, the country will lead the global growth rates.

On the global front, Asian markets ended mixed on Tuesday amid continuing worries about the Omicron coronavirus and an earlier-than-expected U.S. rate hike. Investors looked for clues to the timing of expected policy tightening when Fed Chair Powell makes his appearance before the Senate Banking Committee later in the day. Upcoming U.S. December consumer inflation data was also on investors' radar. European markets were trading in green despite rising bets for quicker interest rate hikes. Back home, on the sectoral front, telecom stocks were in focus as a Trai report released showed that telecom service providers' gross revenue declined by 1.36 per cent on a year-on-year basis to Rs 67,300 crore in the July-September 2021 quarter. Insurance industry’s stocks too were in limelight as data from Irdai showed the gross direct premium underwritten by non-life insurance companies grew by 7.3 per cent to Rs 18,953.09 crore in December 2021.

Finally, the BSE Sensex rose 221.26 points or 0.37% to 60,616.89 and the CNX Nifty was up by 52.45 points or 0.29% to 18,055.75.          

The BSE Sensex touched high and low of 60,689.25 and 60,281.52, respectively and there were 16 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.      

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.01%, while Small cap index was up by 0.15%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Power up by 1.80%, Utilities up by 1.73%, IT up by 0.88%, Realty up by 0.70% and TECK up by 0.63%, while Metal down by 2.75%, Basic Materials down by 0.90%, Telecom down by 0.63%, FMCG down by 0.35% and PSU down by 0.28% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were HCL Technologies up by 4.30%, HDFC up by 1.90%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.58%, TCS up by 0.99% and Reliance Industries up by 0.71%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 3.32%, Bajaj Finance down by 0.89%, ITC down by 0.65%, Asian Paints down by 0.51% and Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.51% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its latest data on Outward Foreign Direct Investment (OFDI) for December 2021 has showed that outward foreign direct investment (FDI) by Indian companies fell by over 8 per cent to $2.05 billion in December 2021 in the current fiscal. The domestic companies had invested $2.23 billion in their overseas joint ventures and fully-owned subsidiaries during December 2020 in the previous financial year.

According to the data, of the total investment made by the Indian companies overseas during the month, $1.22 billion was in the form of issuance of guarantees, $464.39 million was equity participation and $367.17 million investment was made through loans. The major investors who infused capital in their overseas ventures included ANI Technologies -- the promoter of mobility solutions provider Ola -- which invested $675 million in its wholly-owned subsidiary in Singapore, and Dr Reddy's investment of $149.99 million in a joint-venture in the US.

The data also showed that Reliance New Energy Solar invested a total of $168.60 million in a JV and wholly-owned subsidiary in Germany and Norway, while energy PSU Gail India infused $70.17 million in a joint-venture and a wholly-owned unit in Myanmar and the US. State-owned oil explorer ONGC invested $74.15 million in five different ventures in various countries during the month.

The CNX Nifty traded in a range of 18,081.25 and 17,964.40 and there was 25 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining, while 1 stock remain unchanged on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were HCL Technologies up by 4.49%, Adani Ports &SEZ up by 3.53%, HDFC up by 1.80%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.66% and ONGC up by 1.58%. On the flip side, JSW Steel down by 3.41%, Tata Steel down by 2.92%, BPCL down by 1.65%, Hindalco down by 1.32% and Coal India down by 1.15% were the top losers.

European markets were trading in green; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 41.87 points or 0.56% to 7,487.12, France’s CAC increased 107.21 points or 1.51% to 7,222.98 and Germany’s DAX increased 201.06 points or 1.28% to 15,969.33.

Asian markets ended mixed on Tuesday on concerns over earlier-than-expected US interest rate hike. Investors are now looking ahead to retail inflation data for December due on Wednesday as well as US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s Senate Banking Committee hearing later in the day for fresh clues on the timing and pace of policy normalization. Japanese shares declined sharply tracking Wall Street's weakness in overnight amid caution about the US Federal Reserve's possible rate increase as soon as March. Chinese shares finished lower with an uptick in Covid-19 cases in the country. Meanwhile, Seoul shares finished flat ahead of this week's Bank of Korea's monetary policy decision for directional cues, while data showed South Korean exports jumped an annual 24.4% in January 1-10 period followed by strong demand in semiconductors petrochemical goods and cars.

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