Indian equity markets relinquished some gains but continued to trade higher in late afternoon session supported by buying in IT and Tech stocks. IT stocks have turned one of the best performers of today’s session after US President Donald Trump defended the H-1 B visa scheme, saying that the country needs to bring in talent for certain fields. Further, investors remained optimistic about a trade deal between India and US after the US President said that tariffs on India will be reduced in a fair-trade deal. 

On the global front, Asian equity markets were trading mostly in green tracking cues from Wall Street overnight. European equity markets were trading mostly in green as an effort to end the longest-ever U.S. government shutdown headed to a final vote in the House of Representatives.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 84499.43, up by 628.11 points or 0.75% after trading in a range of 84166.75 and 84652.01. There were 24 stocks advancing against 7 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index grew 0.42%, while Small cap index up was by 0.77%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 1.92%, TECK up by 1.71%, Auto up by 1.17%, Telecom up by 1.11%, Energy up by 1.00%, while Realty down by 0.43% and Power down by 0.03% were the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tech Mahindra up by 3.31%, Bajaj Finserv up by 2.44%, TCS up by 2.42%, Adani Ports & SEZ up by 2.16% and Reliance Industries up by 1.58%. On the flip side, TMCV down by 2.23%, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles down by 1.25%, Tata Steel down by 1.16%, Bharat Electronics down by 1.01% and Power Grid Corporation down by 0.21% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Union Minister of Commerce & Industry, Piyush Goyal has said that India’s healthcare sector has benefitted from the Government’s continued focus on affordability such as reducing GST on health and life insurance from 18 per cent to 0 per cent, and lowering duties on medical devices, cancer care drugs and several essential medicines to make treatments more accessible and affordable for citizens.

Goyal further said that the Government is open to exploring further reductions in duties or cesses on essential medicines and medical products to ensure that more medicines are available at affordable prices. The Minister said that the Government would be happy to receive specific inputs from the industry on medicines and products that could benefit from further reduction in duties. 

The Minister assured the industry that this is a listening government, receptive to feedback, suggestions and ideas, and committed to working collaboratively with stakeholders to strengthen both domestic healthcare delivery and medical value travel. Goyal added that all such collective efforts - by the Government, medical professionals, and the healthcare industry - will cumulatively help in serving the people of India better and in positioning the country as a preferred global destination for medical treatment and wellness.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 25894.15, up by 199.20 points or 0.78% after trading in a range of 25781.15 and 25934.55. There were 38 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Adani Enterprises up by 4.69%, Tech Mahindra up by 3.45%, HDFC Life Insurance up by 2.77%, TCS up by 2.53% and Bajaj Finserv up by 2.11%. On the flip side, TMCV down by 2.23%, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles down by 1.34%, Tata Steel down by 1.20%, Bharat Electronics down by 0.88% and Shriram Finance down by 0.80% were the top losers.

Asian equity markets were trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 surged 169.07 points or 0.33% to 51,012.00, Hang Seng advanced 232.59 points or 0.86% to 26,929.00, Taiwan Weighted added 162.14 points or 0.58% to 27,947.09, Straits Times rose 17.81 points or 0.39% to 4,560.01, KOSPI increased 44.00 points or 1.06% to 4,150.39 and Jakarta Composite gained 30.99 points or 0.37% to 8,397.51, while Shanghai Composite weakened 2.62 points or 0.07% to 4,000.14.

European equity markets were trading mostly in green; Germany’s DAX gained 231.34 points or 0.96% to 24,319.40 and France’s CAC rose 58.47 points or 0.72% to 8,214.70, while UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 1.1 points or 0.01% to 9,898.50.