Markets trade higher with gains of quarter percent

Domestic equity markets remained in green and were trading higher by quarter a percent in late morning deals on account of buying in Mahindra & Mahindra, Ultratech Cement, JSW Steel, Tata Motors and ITC companies’ stocks. Meanwhile, broader indices outperformed their large peers with BSE Mid cap index and Small cap index gaining in the range of 0.75-0.90%. Traders were getting encouragement as a private report said India registered ‘very robust’ economic growth performance and has become an alternative investment destination for many western companies as ‘less and less’ foreign investment is going into China. Besides, support came in as Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM) member Sanjeev Sanyal said India will be a $4 trillion economy in 2024-25 and surpass Japan by early next fiscal to become the world's fourth largest economy. 

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed following negative cues from the US markets overnight. Traders were cautious after Federal Reserve officials argued in favor of keeping borrowing costs high until there's more evidence of easing inflation. Back home, on the BSE sectoral front, traders were seen pilling up position in Consumer Durables, Auto, Consumer Disc, Basic Materials and Telecom, while selling was witnessed in IT, TECK  and Healthcare.  

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 73845.34, up by 181.62 points or 0.25% after trading in a range of 73459.80 and 73968.58. There were 15 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.79%, while Small cap index up by 0.87%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 1.90%, Auto up by 1.58%, Consumer Disc up by 1.21%, Basic Materials up by 0.99% and Telecom up by 0.98%, while IT down by 0.45%, TECK down by 0.22% and Healthcare down by 0.08% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 6.27%, Ultratech Cement up by 1.40%, JSW Steel up by 1.28%, Tata Motors up by 1.05% and ITC up by 0.99%. On the flip side, Wipro down by 0.74%, Nestle down by 0.69%, Infosys down by 0.68%, Sun Pharma down by 0.54% and Asian Paints down by 0.53% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) President Ashwini Kumar has said 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. He said traditional markets like the US and Europe will help boost India's exports. Sectors such as electronics, electricals, engineering, and pharma will play a key role in boosting shipments.

However, the President said they are concerned as labour-intensive sectors like knitted and woven garments, footwear, gem and jewellery are doing good. In the footwear sector, while global imports grew at a CAGR of 5 per cent, India's exports contracted. The focus on skilling is still lacking as per piece production in many segments is much less as compared to Vietnam, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Cambodia. He suggested that the government address certain issues such as credit flow, interest subsidy and set up e-commerce hubs in the country to provide a cushion to the exporting community.

He further said the share of export credit in the net bank credit is extremely low and not commensurate with the share of India's exports in the GDP, which is over 20 per cent. The demand for the credit has gone up with rising inflation, high commodity prices and abnormal increase in sea as well as air freight. 

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 22459.20, up by 55.35 points or 0.25% after trading in a range of 22345.65 and 22479.15. There were 26 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 6.42%, Grasim Industries up by 1.97%, Ultratech Cement up by 1.43%, JSW Steel up by 1.33% and Tata Motors up by 1.06%. On the flip side, Cipla down by 1.07%, SBI Life down by 1.03%, Britannia down by 0.92%, Bajaj Auto down by 0.81% and LTIMindtree down by 0.80% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; Hang Seng advanced 75.84 points or 0.39% to 19,452.37, Jakarta Composite gained 81.46 points or 1.11% to 7,328.16, Shanghai Composite strengthened 5.01 points or 0.16% to 3,127.41. However, Straits Times fell 9.7 points or 0.29% to 3,295.29, KOSPI dropped 27.65 points or 1% to 2,725.35, Nikkei 225 slipped 162.52 points or 0.42% to 38,757.74 and Taiwan Weighted lost 45.79 points or 0.21% to 21,258.47.