Sensex, Nifty cut some gains in late morning session

Indian equity benchmarks cut some gains in late morning session but remained in green terrain. Sentiments remained positive, amid a private reports stating that the corporate profit to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ratio rebounded to a decade high of 4.3 per cent and 4.5 per cent for the Nifty-500 universe and listed India companies, respectively. The recovery was driven by the expansion in the economy, after a Covid-led contraction in 2021, while corporate profit rose at a faster rate of 48 per cent year-on-year for the Nifty 500 companies. However, gains got cut, as traders got cautious after another private report that India is opposed to providing any capital gains tax waivers to overseas debt investors even if it delays its goal of getting its bonds included in global bond indexes.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed, after the manufacturing sector in Japan continued to expand in June, albeit at a slower rate, the latest survey from Jibun Bank revealed on Thursday with a manufacturing PMI score of 52.7. That's down from 53.3 in May, although it remains above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 52201.27, up by 378.74 points or 0.73% after trading in a range of 51809.18 and 52516.79. There were 25 stocks advancing against 5 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.94%, while Small cap index was up by 0.74%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Auto up by 2.97%, Consumer Disc up by 1.61%, Realty up by 1.49%, Telecom up by 1.19% and TECK up by 1.17%, while Energy down by 0.27%, Oil & Gas down by 0.06% and Utilities down by 0.01% were the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Maruti Suzuki up by 4.80%, Asian Paints up by 2.52%, Bharti Airtel up by 2.34%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.94% and ICICI Bank up by 1.75%. On the flip side, Power Grid down by 1.85%, Titan Co down by 0.90%, NTPC down by 0.69%, Reliance Industries down by 0.48% and Bajaj Finance down by 0.24% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Department of Telecom (DoT) has issued a new order that will enable telecommunication operator (telcos) to reduce spectrum usage charges proportionately on buying fresh radiowaves in the upcoming 5G auction. The DoT, in the order dated June 21, has removed spectrum usage charge (SUC) from the radiowaves that will be bought in the auction scheduled to start from July 26.

The government will, next month, auction about Rs 4.3 lakh crore worth of airwaves capable of offering fifth-generation or 5G telecom services including ultra-high-speed internet. The DoT collects SUC from a company based on a weighted average method, where charges applicable for each auction and spectrum acquired is taken into account and the sum is divided by the total spectrum acquired by it in various auctions.

The order notifies a new formula which makes the SUC rate nil for the upcoming auction. Till the previous auction, telecom operators were required to pay SUC based on 3 per cent of the amount at which they purchased the spectrum. The Cabinet in September 2021 had approved removal of SUC from future auctions.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 15528.90, up by 115.60 points or 0.75% after trading in a range of 15411.55 and 15628.45. There were 40 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining, while 1 stock remained unchanged on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Maruti Suzuki up by 4.67%, Eicher Motors up by 4.43%, Hero MotoCorp up by 4.43%, Tata Motors up by 3.01% and Asian Paints up by 2.61%. On the flip side, Power Grid down by 1.88%, Coal India down by 1.64%, Titan Co down by 0.98%, NTPC down by 0.84% and Reliance Industries down by 0.51% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; Hang Seng increased 200.75 points or 0.96% to 21,209.09, Straits Times advanced 19.14 points or 0.62% to 3,112.45, Shanghai Composite gained 18.79 points or 0.58% to 3,285.99 and Nikkei 225 surged 0.61 points to 26,150.16. On the flip side, KOSPI fell 13.15 points or 0.56% to 2,329.66, Jakarta Composite lost 36.42 points or 0.52% to 6,947.89 and Taiwan Weighted dropped 76.40 points or 0.5% to 15,271.35.