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Indian equity benchmarks remained under a grip of bulls in late morning session, with both Sensex and Nifty maintaining their gaining rally, on the back of positive cues from other Asian markets. Domestic sentiments remained positive, as Sanjiv Mehta, President of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) said that the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), India's Free Trade Agreement with UAE, is good for all types of businesses and industries be it small scale or large scale and holds benefit for both goods and services sector. Besides, Underlining that India dealt with the pandemic with ingenious methods, Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said the country converted a crisis into an opportunity.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green, even after the total value of retail sales in Japan was down 0.8 percent on year in February, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said on Wednesday - coming in at 11.537 trillion yen. That missed expectations for a loss of 0.3 percent following the downwardly revised 1.1 percent increase in January (originally 1.6 percent).

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 58603.51, up by 659.86 points or 1.14% after trading in a range of 58176.00 and 58656.27. There were 25 stocks advancing against 5 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.80%, while Small cap index was up by 1.36%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.48%, Bankex up by 1.34%, Consumer discretionary up by 1.29%, Auto up by 1.28% and Industrials up by 1.28%, while Metal down by 2.12%, Basic Materials down by 0.31%, Oil & Gas down by 0.10% and Healthcare down by 0.03% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bajaj Finserv up by 3.32%, Bajaj Finance up by 3.03%, Axis Bank up by 2.99%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.04% and Maruti Suzuki up by 1.99%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 1.96%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.53%, ITC down by 1.04%, Sun Pharma down by 0.82% and NTPC down by 0.26% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Domestic ratings agency ICRA has cut its FY23 real Gross domestic product (GDP) growth estimate by a sharp 0.8 per cent to 7.2 per cent. It attributed the downward revision to elevated commodity prices and also fresh supply chain issues arising from the conflict in Ukraine. It noted that real GDP growth is likely to moderate to 3-4 per cent in Q4FY22 from 5.4 per cent in Q3FY22, which will lead to FY22 real GDP growth rate at 8.5 per cent.

The report said as expected, the third wave had a much smaller impact on confidence levels relative to the first two waves. It said while the early data for March 2022 is mixed, the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the associated surge in commodity prices has heightened uncertainty, and the expected margin compression is likely to squeeze GVA growth. It stated that higher prices of fuels and items such as edible oils are likely to compress disposable incomes in the mid to lower income segments, constraining the demand revival in FY23.

According to the report, exports of some items will rise to meet global demand amid the supply crunch, and the capacity utilisation levels will rise to 74-75 per cent in Q3 FY23 from 71-72 per cent in Q4 FY22, and this can lead to a modest delay in the much awaited broad-basing of capacity expansion by the private sector. It said an early kick-off of the Centre's budgeted capex programme remains crucial to boost investment activity in first half of FY23.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17503.50, up by 178.20 points or 1.03% after trading in a range of 17387.20 and 17513.90. There were 38 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Consumer Products up by 3.54%, Bajaj Finserv up by 3.36%, Bajaj Finance up by 3.06%, Axis Bank up by 3.06% and Hero MotoCorp up by 2.98%. On the flip side, ONGC down by 4.39%, Hindalco down by 3.68%, JSW Steel down by 2.26%, Tata Steel down by 1.85% and Tech Mahindra down by 1.60% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Hang Seng increased 253.06 points or 1.15% to 22,180.69, KOSPI rose 1.27 points or 0.05% to 2,742.34, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 182.22 points or 1.04% to 17,730.88, Jakarta Composite soared 24.72 points or 0.35% to 7,036.41, Straits Times advanced 1.95 points or 0.06% to 3,435.85 and Shanghai Composite gained 41.28 points or 1.29% to 3,245.22. On the flip side, Nikkei 225 slipped 472.37 points or 1.67% to 27,780.05.

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