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Local equity benchmarks erased all the losses to turn positive in noon session, both Sensex and Nifty were trading above 57900 and 17,250 marks, respectively. Buying in frontline stocks such as Indusind Bank, ICICI Bank and Maruti Suzuki were aiding sentiment, while selling in TCS, Titan Co and Sun Pharma kept the gains in the markets in check. Traders took some solace with Crisil Research’s statement that India's industrial activity is expected to gather pace in the coming months owing to a gradual pick-up in consumption as well as investment demand. Notably, the latest Index of Industrial Production (IIP) printed at 138 (index reading) in December 2021, representing a 0.4 per cent on-year growth, down from 1.3 per cent growth in November. However, upside remain capped as Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data showed India's foreign exchange (forex) reserves declined by $1.763 billion to $630.19 billion in the week ended February 11 due to a sharp drop in the value of foreign currency assets.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed as investors continued to watch the situation surrounding Ukraine. Back on street, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman stated that the government wants a sustained recovery and the budget proposals on infrastructure building are an attempt to create the multiplier effect to help the economy.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 57946.56, up by 113.59 points or 0.20% after trading in a range of 57167.02 and 57948.75. There were 15 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index lost 0.01%, while Small cap index was down by 1.03%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Bankex up by 0.95%, Auto up by 0.12% and Telecom was up by 0.11%, while Oil & Gas down by 0.95%, Metal down by 0.67%, Capital Goods down by 0.64%, Industrials down by 0.60% and Utilities was down by 0.60% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Indusind Bank up by 1.59%, ICICI Bank up by 1.39%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.08%, Power Grid up by 1.05% and Axis Bank was up by 0.94%. On the flip side, TCS down by 1.61%, Titan Co down by 1.19%, Sun Pharma down by 0.87%, Larsen & Toubro down by 0.73% and Mahindra & Mahindra was down by 0.68% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Services Export Promotion Council (SEPC) Chairman Sunil H Talati has said that the country's services export is expected to reach $325 billion in 2022-23 on account of increasing demand for all kinds of services and gradual resumption of regular international travels. He said services exports would reach about $250 billion by the end of the ongoing fiscal year (FY22).

Talati has stated that the estimated value of services export for April-January 2021-22 is $209.83 billion, exhibiting a growth of 25.31 per cent as compared to the year-ago period's $167.45 billion. He said support measures for the sector in the new foreign trade policy would help further boost the outbound shipments. It had earlier proposed an alternative scheme to SEIS (Services Export from India Scheme) -- DRESS (Duty Remission on Export of Services Scheme) to boost exports.

SEPC Chairman further said despite the pandemic, the services sector has managed to retain 90-91 per cent of its last year's performance in terms of overall exports and added that services exports have been growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8-9 per cent for the last 20 years and the sector is eighth largest in the world and second in Asia Pacific region.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17299.05, up by 22.75 points or 0.13% after trading in a range of 17070.70 and 17303.00. There were 22 stocks advancing against 28 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Shree Cement up by 2.06%, Indusind Bank up by 1.50%, ICICI Bank up by 1.28%, Power Grid up by 1.05% and Axis Bank was up by 0.83%. On the flip side, Coal India down by 3.77%, ONGC down by 2.20%, UPL down by 1.88%, Hindalco down by 1.74% and TCS was down by 1.58% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; Taiwan Weighted dropped 10.86 points or 0.06% to 18,221.49, Hang Seng decreased 280.56 points or 1.15% to 24,047.15, Nikkei 225 slipped 211.20 points or 0.78% to 26,910.87 and Shanghai Composite was down by 14.16 points or 0.41% to 3,476.60.

On the other hand, KOSPI rose 0.07 points or 0% to 2,744.59, Straits Times advanced 5.71 points or 0.17% to 3,434.61 and Jakarta Composite was up by 7.56 points or 0.11% to 6,900.38.

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