Benchmarks manage to keep heads above water in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks erased initial losses and managed to keep their heads above water in morning deals, led by gains in Consumer Durables, Auto and Consumer Discretionary stocks. Traders took some support with Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) President Ashwini Kumar’s statement that the country's merchandise exports are expected to increase about $60-70 billion to $500 billion by the end of FY25 on account of gradual improvement in global demand. In 2023-24, exports dipped over 3 per cent to $437.1 billion. He also said the country's services exports are also likely to reach $390-400 billion this fiscal. However, gains remain capped as concerns over election results continued to weigh. Besides, foreign institutional investors continued to sell Indian equities, with net sales of Rs 776 crore worth of shares on May 16. On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly in red as U.S. rate-cut hopes faded after three Federal Reserve officials argued in favor of keeping borrowing costs high until there's more evidence of easing inflation. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 73697.85, up by 34.13 points or 0.05% after trading in a range of 73459.80 and 73760.49. There were 11 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.56%, while Small cap index was up by 0.61%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 1.64%, Auto up by 1.44%, Consumer Discretionary up by 1.03%, Basic Materials up by 0.67% and Telecom up by 0.52%, while IT down by 0.52%, TECK down by 0.32%, Capital Goods down by 0.06%, Healthcare down by 0.06% and FMCG down by 0.04% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 5.99%, Tata Motors up by 0.94%, SBI up by 0.81%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 0.72% and Ultratech Cement up by 0.71%. On the flip side, Larsen & Toubro down by 1.06%, Nestle down by 0.93%, TCS down by 0.85%, Axis Bank down by 0.68% and Infosys down by 0.68% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the United Nations (UN) in its report on ‘The World Economic Situation and Prospects as of mid-2024’ said that it has revised upwards India's growth projections for 2024, with the country's economy now forecast to expand by close to seven per cent this year, mainly driven by strong public investment and resilient private consumption.

It said India's economy is forecast to expand by 6.9 per cent in 2024 and 6.6 per cent in 2025, mainly driven by strong public investment and resilient private consumption. Although subdued external demand will continue to weigh on merchandise export growth, pharmaceuticals and chemicals exports are expected to expand strongly. The 6.9 per cent economic growth projections for India in the mid-year update is an upward revision from the 6.2 per cent GDP forecast made by the UN in January this year. 

The UN World Economic Situation and Prospects (WESP) 2024 report that was launched in January had said that growth in India was projected to reach 6.2 per cent in 2024, amid robust domestic demand and strong growth in the manufacturing and services sectors. The projection in January for India's GDP growth for 2025 remains unchanged at 6.6 per cent in the latest assessment of the economic situation.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 22410.60, up by 6.75 points or 0.03% after trading in a range of 22345.65 and 22431.25. There were 19 stocks advancing against 31 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 6.05%, Grasim Industries up by 1.53%, Adani Enterprises up by 1.21%, Tata Motors up by 0.91% and SBI up by 0.84%. On the flip side, Cipla down by 1.20%, Larsen & Toubro down by 1.11%, Eicher Motors down by 1.06%, SBI Life Insurance down by 1.03% and Nestle down by 1.01% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in red; Shanghai Composite weakened 3.13 points or 0.1% to 3,119.27, Straits Times fell 8.53 points or 0.26% to 3,296.46, KOSPI dropped 26.04 points or 0.95% to 2,726.96, Nikkei 225 slipped 168.87 points or 0.43% to 38,751.39 and Taiwan Weighted lost 52.51 points or 0.25% to 21,251.75.

On the flip side, Hang Seng advanced 56.61 points or 0.29% to 19,433.14 and Jakarta Composite gained 81.46 points or 1.11% to 7,328.16.