Indian markets remained in green during early afternoon session following positive cues from other Asian markets. Traders were braced for India's Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation data due on February 12. Investors took note of the government's statement that India will grant quota-based duty concessions in the automobile sector, while access to alcoholic beverages has been offered under tariff reduction and minimum import price-based formulations under the trade pact with the US. Sector wise, steel stocks remained in limelight as Government of India has taken a decisive step towards building a resilient and globally competitive speciality steel ecosystem with the launch of the third round of the PLI Scheme (PLI 1.2) for Speciality Steel, aimed at 8.7 million tonnes of capacity addition of the upgraded alloy steel.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, aided by continued strong gains in Japan following Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's landslide victory in Sunday's general election. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 84367.43, up by 301.68 points or 0.36% after trading in a range of 84063.47 and 84447.37. There were 17 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Auto up by 1.60%, Consumer discretionary up by 1.36%, Metal up by 0.91%, IT up by 0.78% and Industrials was up by 0.63%, while Capital Goods down by 0.04% and FMCG down by 0.02% were the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Eternal up by 5.14%, Tata Steel up by 2.50%, Maruti Suzuki up by 2.38%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.89% and Tech Mahindra up by 1.82%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finance down by 1.62%, Asian Paints down by 0.90%, HCL Tech down by 0.63%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.62% and Adani Ports down by 0.49% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, government of Indian has taken a decisive step towards building a resilient and globally competitive speciality steel ecosystem with the launch of the third round of the PLI Scheme (PLI 1.2) for Speciality Steel, aimed at 8.7 million tonnes of capacity addition of the upgraded alloy steel. Relatedly, around 85 MoUs were signed between 55 companies, including SAIL's Salem Steel plant and the Steel Ministry, committing Rs 13,203 crore worth of investments. The Union Steel Minister HD Kumaraswamy noted that the scheme advances the twin priorities of Make in India and Aatmanirbhar Bharat by encouraging domestic capacity creation in advanced and strategic steel products.

He highlighted that PLI Scheme has been launched in response to strong industry demand and the need for sustained capacity expansion in specialty steel, which is essential for sectors including automobiles, railways, defence, electrical equipment, and aerospace. Designed to promote investment, technology upgradation, and value addition while integrating Indian manufacturers into global value chains, the Scheme provides incentive rates ranging from 4% to 15% over a five-year period. Besides, it seeks to address structural gap by incentivising domestic production, conserving foreign exchange, and positioning India as a reliable global supplier of advanced steel.

The minister has hailed achievements under earlier rounds of the PLI Scheme, saying committed investments of Rs 43,874 crore across PLI 1.0 and 1.1 have already translated into substantial on-ground progress, including significant capacity creation and employment generation. Meanwhile, Steel Secretary Sandeep Poundrik urged the players to stick to the timeline and avail the benefits of the scheme which provides incentives on production of special steel grades. He informed that timeline of scheme will is not going be extended further. He also pointed that the country's installed steel capacity is currently 218 million tonnes per annum (mtpa), rising by 18 mtpa in the current fiscal itself. He added that India will comfortably achieve the target of having 300 mtpa installed steel manufacturing capacity in 2031, and maybe 400 mtpa by 2035-36.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 25959.65, up by 92.35 points or 0.36% after trading in a range of 25870.45 and 25978.90. There were 28 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index, while 1 stock remained unchanged. 

The top gainers on Nifty were Eternal up by 6.08%, Bajaj Auto up by 2.48%, Tata Steel up by 2.40%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.35% and Maruti Suzuki up by 2.05%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finance down by 1.75%, Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 1.31%, Shriram Finance down by 1.29%, Asian Paints down by 1.04% and Tata Consumer down by 0.88% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 surged 1356.06 points or 2.35% to 57,720.00, Taiwan Weighted added 668.35 points or 2.02% to 33,072.97, Hang Seng advanced 147.84 points or 0.55% to 27,175.00, Jakarta Composite gained 50.81 points or 0.63% to 8,082.68, Shanghai Composite strengthened 7.17 points or 0.17% to 4,130.26 and KOSPI was up by 3.65 points or 0.07% to 5,301.69. On the flip side, Straits Times was down by 4.68 points or 0.09% to 4,956.15.