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Showing valiant effort, the Indian markets are back in green in the noon session of trade, good buying was being witnessed in power, utilities and energy sector, while gains in index heavyweights too were supporting the recovery mood. Traders took some support with finance ministry’s statement that the muted impact of the third wave of the pandemic on economic activity, the Indian economy may undergo an economic reset by end of the year, clocking 9 per cent growth in 2021-22 (FY22) and around 8 per cent in 2022-23 (FY23). However, upside remain capped after Fed minutes showed the US rates will be raised if inflation does not ease. Also, investors were on edge after Western countries including the US warned that Russia's military presence on Ukraine's borders is growing, rather than shrinking as Moscow has insisted.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed as investors weighed risks of a Ukraine invasion. Back home, Reserve Bank of India turned net seller of the US currency in December 2021 after it sold $2.917 billion on a net basis in the spot market. In the reporting month, the RBI bought $7.475 billion and sold $10.392 billion in the spot market.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 58027.46, up by 30.78 points or 0.05% after trading in a range of 57635.43 and 58346.00. There were 13 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.28%, while Small cap index was up by 0.01%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Power up by 2.28%, Utilities up by 2.03%, Energy up by 1.07%, Oil & Gas up by 0.98% and Metal was up by 0.86%, while Bankex down by 0.72%, Telecom down by 0.12%, Healthcare down by 0.10% and PSU was down by 0.03% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were HDFC up by 1.41%, Reliance Industries up by 1.17%, Tata Steel up by 1.07%, Larsen & Toubro up by 0.75% and Titan Company was up by 0.53%. On the flip side, ICICI Bank down by 1.46%, Axis Bank down by 1.36%, Ultratech Cement down by 0.95%, Indusind Bank down by 0.88% and Maruti Suzuki was down by 0.41% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) article 'Impact of COVID-19 on Sentiments of Indian Manufacturers' published in RBI bulletin has said that the manufacturing sector will need continued policy support for smoother and faster recovery to attain the long-term trend path. Although, it said the sector may soon attain its pre-COVID level, the process of attaining the long-term trend levels may take some time. It said that just when the manufacturers' outlook started looking up, the COVID-19-induced lockdown measures slowed down the revival process.

The article further said the pandemic affected the producers' sentiments negatively by bringing down various parameters to historic lows. It said although the major macroeconomic variables are supposed to achieve their pre-COVID trend in near-term with improvement in demand conditions, they are expected to take time to return to their long-term trend path. It further said the accelerated rollout of vaccines, 2022-23 Budget proposals and other reforms are expected to provide a strong impetus for revival of the economy and will facilitate regaining of the growth potential over the medium-term.

As per the article, the first and second waves of the pandemic slowed down the economic activity, and the perception of the manufacturers was impacted adversely. It said the conditions improved with gradual resumption of normalcy. Concurrently, it said the subsequent waves of the pandemic and the reimposition of virus containment measures may dampen the manufacturers' sentiments and slow down the recovery process.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17347.00, up by 24.80 points or 0.14% after trading in a range of 17235.85 and 17442.90. There were 29 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Consumer Products up by 2.15%, HDFC up by 1.69%, Bajaj Auto up by 1.48%, ONGC up by 1.42% and JSW Steel was up by 1.41%. On the flip side, Axis Bank down by 1.43%, ICICI Bank down by 1.34%, Indusind Bank down by 0.96%, Ultratech Cement down by 0.88% and ITC was down by 0.54% were the top losers.

Asian market were trading mixed, Straits Times advanced 15.26 points or 0.44% to 3,454.56, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 37.10 points or 0.2% to 18,268.57, KOSPI rose 16.81 points or 0.62% to 2,746.49 and Shanghai Composite was up by 7.04 points or 0.2% to 3,472.87.

On the other hand, Hang Seng decreased 69.86 points or 0.28% to 24,649.04, Nikkei 225 slipped 227.53 points or 0.83% to 27,232.87 and Jakarta Composite was down by 52.56 points or 0.77% to 6,797.64.

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