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Indian equity markets were trading in fine fettle with Sensex and Nifty crossing 52,700 and 15,850 levels in the afternoon session due to buying in Realty, Oil & Gas and Consumer Discretionary stocks. Gains in frontline blue chip stocks such as Asian Paints, ONGC and Indusind Bank also helped to lift the markets. Traders remain energized amid private report stating that calibrated reopening of the economy by states as the number of fresh COVID-19 cases subside increased mobility and aided in a fast-paced increase in an index of business resumption last week. Meanwhile, a private report stated that 72 per cent of the revenue of Indian firms (India Inc) is derived from the domestic / home market -the sixth highest in percentage terms in the emerging market (EM) and the Asian region. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed as investors looking to a much-anticipated Federal Reserve policy meeting.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 52791.30, up by 239.77 points or 0.46% after trading in a range of 52671.29 and 52869.51. There were 21 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.62%, while Small cap index was up by 0.73%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.21%, Oil & Gas up by 1.12%, Consumer Discretionary up by 0.97%, Basic Materials up by 0.71% and Bankex was up by 0.66%, while Power down by 0.28%, Healthcare down by 0.14% and Utilities was down by 0.11% were the few losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Asian Paints up by 2.37%, ONGC up by 2.20%, Indusind Bank up by 1.54%, Axis Bank up by 1.39% and Tech Mahindra was up by 0.81%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finserv down by 0.68%, Bajaj Finance down by 0.28%, Sun Pharma down by 0.18%, SBI down by 0.17% and TCS was down by 0.13% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) has said that the order book position of exporters are healthy and the growth story will continue to be a mixed one as outbound shipments of both value added goods and raw material will contribute to push the overall exports of the country. It also said that India has started on a good note in 2021 and exports figures so far have been encouraging.

Further, the federation said that India's export growth in food and agriculture sectors has been remarkable and many of the products including processed ones have shown encouraging trend in 2020 despite logistics challenges and extraordinary hike in freight rates. At the same time, it said the buoyancy in agriculture commodities also helped India's agriculture exports. It said ‘we need to build the momentum particularly as China's image has taken a dent subsequent to the pandemic and many countries are reluctant to imports from China particularly the edible products.’

However, it said ‘raw material exports have been a double-edge sword. While such exports do add to our export numbers and also generate economic activity, they also put pressure on logistics and deprive the country of value-added exports.’ It added that the government has to play an extremely delicate role to strike a balance between the varying interests of the two. It noted that there have been cases where the same raw material has been exported from the country and then imported back, putting pressure on logistics besides remitting avoidable freight charges.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 15889.75, up by 77.90 points or 0.49% after trading in a range of 15842.40 and 15901.60. There were 36 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Asian Paints up by 2.58%, ONGC up by 2.36%, Axis Bank up by 1.71%, Indusind Bank up by 1.68% and Tata Steel was up by 1.26%. On the flip side, Divis Lab down by 1.23%, Coal India down by 1.04%, Adani Ports down by 0.58%, Bajaj Finserv down by 0.51% and Cipla was down by 0.44% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; KOSPI rose 6.50 points or 0.2% to 3,258.63, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 157.77 points or 0.92% to 17,371.29, Nikkei 225 surged 279.50 points or 0.96% to 29,441.30 and Straits Times was up by 19.07 points or 0.6% to 3,172.21.

On the other hand, Hang Seng decreased 212.34 points or 0.74% to 28,629.79, Jakarta Composite lost 15.57 points or 0.26% to 6,064.81 and Shanghai Composite was down by 33.52 points or 0.93% to 3,556.23.

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