Indian equity benchmarks remained in green in morning deals, led by gains in Telecom, Energy and Metal stocks. Traders took support with Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal’s statement that the free trade agreement with New Zealand is the seventh such pact signed under his tenure in the past three-and-a-half years and two more agreements with the European Union and the US are expected in the coming months. Some support also came as the report stated that India and the Russia-led EAEU group are expected to hold next round talks for a proposed free trade agreement in June in Moscow. Issues related to non-trade measures are likely to figure in that meeting. Sector-wise, textile stocks remained in watch as the Ministry of Textiles said New Zealand remains an important market and the free trade agreement with the nation signed on Monday provides a growth opportunity for India's textiles, apparel and made-ups sectors. On the flip side, Asian markets were trading mixed following the mixed cues from Wall Street on Monday, as traders remain cautious amid the uncertainty about the opening of the Strait of Hormuz even as crude oil prices keep soaring. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 77425.27, up by 121.64 points or 0.16% after trading in a range of 76973.54 and 77493.53. There were 19 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 1.48%, Energy up by 1.28%, Metal up by 1.26%, Oil & Gas up by 0.88% and Basic Materials up by 0.85%, while Bankex down by 0.45%, Realty down by 0.20%, IT down by 0.15% and FMCG down by 0.04% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Steel up by 1.85%, TCS up by 1.39%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.39%, Sun Pharma up by 1.04% and Mahindra & Mahindra up by 0.97%. On the flip side, Eternal down by 2.95%, Axis Bank down by 1.34%, Ultratech Cement down by 1.25%, HCL Technologies down by 0.94% and Infosys down by 0.93% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has said that India has not provided any duty concessions in the dairy sector under any of its free trade agreements so far, including agreements with the European Union, the UK, New Zealand, and Australia. He stated that India’s dairy industry is largely powered by small and marginal farmers who have limited land and only a few cattle. 

These farmers have a very low production and needs to be protected against large farms that Europe, America, Australia, or New Zealand have. He mentioned ‘India has had a very consistent stand in all our FTAs across the world, whether it is European Union, Switzerland... UK, USA, Australia, New Zealand. Never has India opened the dairy sector. Everybody in this room knows it. Everybody in the world knows it.’ 

However, he noted that under India’s foreign trade policy, the government allows foreign companies to bring raw materials or ingredients into India, process them to make high-quality products and then re-export 100 per cent of those goods. That product is not allowed to be sold in the country. He stated ‘So it doesn't hurt the Indian market, doesn't hurt the Indian farmers, but adds to our foreign exchange income, adds jobs to our youth, provides opportunities for our farmers also to possibly supplement for further re-export. So it's a win-win for both countries.’

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 24166.80, up by 74.10 points or 0.31% after trading in a range of 23999.25 and 24181.80. There were 31 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Coal India up by 3.94%, Adani Enterprises up by 3.22%, ONGC up by 2.55%, Grasim Industries up by 2.09% and Tata Steel up by 1.98%. On the flip side, Eternal down by 2.93%, Axis Bank down by 1.37%, Ultratech Cement down by 1.25%, HCL Technologies down by 0.85% and Infosys down by 0.81% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; Nikkei 225 slipped 573.36 points or 0.95% to 59,964.00, Jakarta Composite plunged 27.68 points or 0.39% to 7,078.84, Shanghai Composite weakened 7.97 points or 0.2% to 4,078.37 and Hang Seng declined 222.65 points or 0.86% to 25,703.00.

On the flip side, Straits Times rose 15.81 points or 0.32% to 4,908.54, Taiwan Weighted added 154.57 points or 0.39% to 39,771.20 and KOSPI increased 59.95 points or 0.91% to 6,674.98.