Bourses continue to trade in positive terrain

Mirroring positive trends from Asian markets, Indian stock markets continued to trade in positive terrain in noon session with Sensex and Nifty trading above 54500 and 16250 levels respectively. Sentiments were upbeat with a private report stating that India’s economy maintained its momentum in April as a wider reopening from the pandemic kept rising prices from depressing demand for the time being. Activity in the services sector as well as factories gained last month, while the three-month weighted averages of monthly changes in indicators from exports to credit demand suggested enduring strength. Additional support came in as economic research think-tank Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) has estimated that labour participation rate (LPR) was higher in rural India during the period January to April 2022. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly higher following a strong performance on Wall Street with Hong Kong leading the way as forecast-beating earnings reports by tech titans Alibaba and Baidu sent their shares soaring.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 54545.99, up by 293.46 points or 0.54% after trading in a range of 54449.34 and 54791.78. There were 19 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.95%, while Small cap index was up by 0.79%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 1.46%, TECK up by 1.09%, Bankex up by 0.99%, Industrials up by 0.74% and Capital Goods was up by 0.66%, while Oil & Gas down by 1.67%, Energy down by 1.37%, Metal down by 1.04%, PSU down by 0.86%, Consumer Durables down by 0.27% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tech Mahindra up by 3.32%, Bajaj Finance up by 2.92%, Indusind Bank up by 2.44%, Bajaj Finserv up by 2.35% and Kotak Mahindra Bank was up by 1.75%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 1.49%, Asian Paints down by 1.41%, NTPC down by 1.39%, Reliance Industries down by 1.14% and Power Grid was down by 0.90% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Crisil Ratings in its latest report has said that India's organised dairy sector is likely to achieve 11-12 per cent revenue growth this financial year (FY23), the second straight year of double-digit growth, mainly driven by healthy demand for value-added products (VAP). It said revenue growth of the organized dairy sector this financial year will be a notch below the last fiscal's 13 per cent growth.

According to the report, this revenue growth will be driven by a healthy demand for VAP (28 per cent of overall sales), even as sales of liquid milk stays steady and the full-year benefit of retail price hikes implemented last fiscal is realised. Within VAP, strong recovery is expected in the demand for ice cream, curd and flavoured milk, the report stated. However, it said operating profitability would moderate to 5 per cent this fiscal, because of a rise in procurement prices as well as transportation and packaging costs. It also said the improved operating performance, along with adequately managed balance sheets and better control over working capital will support a revival in the capex plans of dairies and yet keep their credit outlooks 'stable'.

The report expects demand for ice cream, curd and flavoured milk items to peak this summer due to inordinately hot temperatures. The last two summers were affected by COVID-19. That, along with stable demand growth for household consumption-driven products such as ghee and paneer, strong recovery in the HoReCa (hotels, restaurants and cafe) segment, and price hikes of last fiscal will drive 13-14 per cent revenue growth in VAP this fiscal.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 16267.00, up by 96.85 points or 0.60% after trading in a range of 16221.95 and 16329.35. There were 35 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tech Mahindra up by 3.63%, HDFC Life Insurance up by 3.34%, Apollo Hospital up by 3.13%, Bajaj Finance up by 2.99% and Indusind Bank was up by 2.55%. On the flip side, ONGC down by 6.71%, JSW Steel down by 1.58%, Tata Steel down by 1.25%, Asian Paints down by 1.16% and BPCL down by 1.11% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly higher; Hang Seng increased 407.44 points or 2.03% to 20,523.64, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 297.39 points or 1.86% to 16,266.22, KOSPI rose 25.60 points or 0.98% to 2,638.05, Straits Times advanced 11.19 points or 0.35% to 3,220.37, Nikkei 225 surged 176.84 points or 0.66% to 26,781.68 and Jakarta Composite was up by 112.60 points or 1.64% to 6,996.10.

On the other side, Shanghai Composite was down by 3.84 points or 0.12% to 3,119.27.