Domestic markets trade slightly higher in early deals

Indian equity benchmarks made cautious start on Tuesday despite overnight gains on Wall Street. But, soon markets gained momentum and are trading slightly higher in early deals on account of buying in Auto, Industrials and Utilities stocks. Sentiments got boost as domestic rating agency Brickwork Ratings revised its growth estimate for the country's gross domestic product (GDP) to 10-10.5 per cent in the current financial year from an earlier expectation of a 9 per cent growth. It said many economic growth indicators are suggesting a faster-than-expected revival in economic activities. Though, there was some cautiousness as Rating agency Crisil’s latest report stated that higher diesel prices will shave off the overall profitability of transporters despite an improvement in freight rates since last month following the withdrawal of the monsoons, consumption recovery and higher infrastructure activity.

On the global front, Asian markets traded mostly lower as traders seemed reluctant to make more significant moves amid some uncertainty about the near-term outlook for the markets following the recent upward trend. Back home, power stocks were in focus as the Union power ministry said that peak power demand deficit in the country was almost wiped out in 2020-21 period. Providing statistics, the ministry said the deficit stood at 0.4 per cent in 2020-21 compared to 16.6 per cent in 2007-08 and 10.6 per cent in 2011-12. In scrip specific development, TVS Motor Company surged amid reports that the company is evaluating the possibility of a fund raising exercise for its Electric Vehicle business.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 60648.17, up by 102.56 points or 0.17% after trading in a range of 60464.70 and 60670.47. There were 22 stocks advancing against 8 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.90%, while Small cap index was up by 0.74%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Auto up by 1.39%, Industrials up by 1.02%, Utilities up by 0.91%, Healthcare up by 0.86%, Capital Goods up by 0.86%, while FMCG down by 0.11%, Metal down by 0.06% were the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.60%, Indusind Bank up by 1.59%, Bajaj Auto up by 1.02%, Larsen & Toubro up by 0.82% and TCS up by 0.78%. On the flip side, Nestle down by 0.80%, HDFC Bank down by 0.61%, HDFC down by 0.58%, Power Grid down by 0.58% and Titan Company down by 0.39% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, domestic rating agency Brickwork Ratings in its latest report has revised its growth estimate for India’s gross domestic product (GDP) to 10-10.5 per cent in the current financial year (FY22) from an earlier expectation of a 9 per cent growth. It said many economic growth indicators are suggesting a faster-than-expected revival in economic activities.

It expects the GDP growth for Q2 FY22 to be at 8.3 per cent (year-on-year), on the back of a 7.4 per cent contraction in Q2FY21. The country’s GDP grew at 20.1 per cent in the first quarter of fiscal 2022. The agency believes that the subsequent quarters too will see recovery if there is no resurgence of the virus in the form of a third wave.

It added ‘Amid the waning possibility of a third wave, we expect the economy to register better growth in the remaining part of the year’. The downside risks of a possible third wave to growth too are limited due to the progress achieved in vaccination. However, the agency said downside risks emanating from rising crude oil prices, mineral products, increasing costs of raw materials and freight rates, disruptions in semiconductor supply and coal supply shortages are likely to downplay the growth momentum.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 18099.45, up by 30.90 points or 0.17% after trading in a range of 18052.85 and 18112.60. There were 32 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.58%, Hero MotoCorp up by 1.94%, Indusind Bank up by 1.49%, Divi's Lab up by 1.44% and Bajaj Auto up by 1.37%. On the flip side, Britannia Industries down by 3.14%, Nestle down by 0.74%, Power Grid down by 0.69%, HDFC Bank down by 0.66% and HDFC down by 0.53% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in red; Nikkei 225 slipped 200.64 points or 0.68% to 29,306.41, Straits Times fell 9.26 points or 0.28% to 3,254.64, Hang Seng declined 15.93 points or 0.06% to 24,747.84, KOSPI lost 9.55 points or 0.32% to 2,950.65 and Shanghai Composite was down by 0.73 points or 0.02% to 3,497.90. On the other hand, Taiwan Weighted surged 116.23 points or 0.67% to 17,531.53 and Jakarta Composite rose 19.77 points or 0.30% to 6,652.07.