Indian markets trimmed some of their gains but continued to trade in green in early afternoon session. Some cautiousness came amid renewed trade-related uncertainties and selling in Telecom and FMCG stocks. However, traders took a note of report that India is expanding footprint with its proactive trade strategy. This was emphasized by Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal while virtually addressing the 5th CII National Exports Competitiveness Summit in Chennai. He said that despite global uncertainty, India is building bridges of trade, trust and transformation, and now enjoys preferential trade access to nearly two-thirds of global trade owing to a series of high-quality FTAs concluded under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. Besides, Producer prices in Japan were up 2.6 percent on year in January. That was in line with expectations and unchanged from the December reading. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 82512.17, up by 286.25 points or 0.35% after trading in a range of 82477.18 and 82957.91. There were 18 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index. 

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 2.91%, IT up by 2.17%, Auto up by 1.96%, Basic Materials up by 1.61%, Healthcare up by 1.35% while, Telecom down by 0.64% and FMCG was down by 0.33% were the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Steel up by 3.44%, HCL Tech up by 3.19%, TCS up by 2.55%, Interglobe Aviation up by 2.22% and Infosys up by 2.18%. On the flip side, SBI down by 1.00%, ITC down by 0.99%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.89%, Eternal down by 0.77% and Bharti Airtel down by 0.42% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in an increasingly uncertain global economic landscape, India is expanding footprint with its proactive trade strategy. This was emphasized by Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal while virtually addressing the 5th CII National Exports Competitiveness Summit in Chennai. He said that despite global uncertainty, India is building bridges of trade, trust and transformation, and now enjoys preferential trade access to nearly two-thirds of global trade owing to a series of high-quality free trade agreements (FTAs) concluded under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The Minister underlined that all nine FTAs signed under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership have been with developed economies that complement, rather than compete with, India’s growth journey. The Minister also emphasized that no nation can become developed without opening its doors to the global economy, reiterating Prime Minister Narendra Modi government’s commitment to reform, perform and transform the Indian economy.

Describing this strategic network of FTAs as part of India’s approach to de-risking through diversified trade partnerships, Goyal has called it unprecedented in scale and ambition. The Minister stated that tangible results are already visible. Merchandise trade with Australia and the UAE has doubled since the signing of FTAs with these countries a few years ago. Goyal further said that the summit theme - Reform, Perform and Transform - is not merely a tagline but a living mantra and the core philosophy of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi Government.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 25536.20, up by 111.55 points or 0.44% after trading in a range of 25507.90 and 25652.60. There were 35 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index. 

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Steel up by 3.43%, HCL Tech up by 3.14%, Bajaj Auto up by 3.05%, Shriram Finance up by 2.80% and TCS up by 2.58%. On the flip side, ITC down by 0.96%, SBI down by 0.94%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.90%, Tata Consumer down by 0.76% and Eternal down by 0.69% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 surged 1354.91 points or 2.31% to 58,676.00, Taiwan Weighted added 712.25 points or 2.01% to 35,413.07, Hang Seng advanced 156.68 points or 0.59% to 26,747.00, KOSPI increased 114.22 points or 1.88% to 6,083.86, Jakarta Composite gained 65.35 points or 0.79% to 8,346.18 and Shanghai Composite was up by 29.82 points or 0.72% to 4,147.23. On the flip side, Straits Times was down by 12.26 points or 0.24% to 5,008.53.