In a choppy trading session, Indian equity benchmarks traded marginally higher in morning deals, led by gains in Auto, Realty, Consumer Discretionary and FMCG stocks. Traders took some support with State Bank of India (SBI) in its Ecowrap research report stated that the ongoing conflict between Ukraine and Russia is unlikely to have any major impact on the Indian rupee and the forex volatility in the country (USD/INR) has been much less now as compared to the global financial crisis which took place in 2008. Some support also came as industry body Retailers Association of India (RAI) stating that retail business in India grew 10 percent in February this year compared to the sales level in the same month last year, signaling that the sector is inching towards normalcy. However, gains remain capped as the government data showed retail inflation rose to 6.07 per cent in February mainly due to an uptick in food prices. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) based retail inflation was 5.03 per cent in February 2021 and 6.01 per cent in January. On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly in red as surging Covid-19 cases in China hit the confidence of investors who are already worried about the Russia-Ukraine war.

Benchmarks give up opening gains; trade lower in early deals

Indian equity benchmarks have continued their bull run with optimistic start on Tuesday as investors reacted to falling oil prices, easing of tensions between Russia and Ukraine. Soon, markets give up their all gains and slipped below neutral lines to trade lower with cut of around 0.25% each in early deals amid lackluster global cues. Weak inflation data also dampened sentiments in the markets. Data released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation showed that India's retail inflation in February rate rose to an eight-month high of 6.07 percent from 6.01 percent in the previous month, remaining above the upper limit of the central bank’s comfort level of 6 per cent for the second consecutive month. Traders were concerned as SBI forecast more pain for the rupee if the ongoing Ukraine war lingers, plumbing to a new low of 77.5 to a dollar by June and marginally improving to 77 by end-December. It also said the current account deficit (CAD) will be at 3.5 per cent if crude oil trades at $130 a barrel, pulling down growth to 7.1 per cent. Besides, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) continue selling in India as they have net sold shares worth Rs 176.52 crore on March 14, the lowest offloading in a single day in the last one month.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 56348.60, down by 137.42 points or 0.24% after trading in a range of 56304.17 and 56720.60. There were 16 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.39%, while Small cap index was up by 0.38%.

Some of the big shares will play very important in stock market, find below few leading shares with current price, so keep eyes on that shares.

SBI share price - 490.70

DLF share price - 349.40

Tata Steel Share Price - 1,260.45

HDFC bank share price - 1,444.95

ITC Share Price - 240.20