Domestic markets trade firm in early deals

Indian equity benchmarks made positive start on Thursday tracking gains in Asian peers. Markets are trading higher with gains of around half a percent each in early deals on account of buying in Healthcare and Consumer Durables counters. Some support came in as a private report stated that Indian economy is projected to grow 7.1-7.6 per cent in the current financial year despite shifting geopolitical realities across the world. However, upside remained capped as continues FIIs selling dented the sentiments in markets. Foreign Institutional Investors (FII) were net sellers once again on Wednesday. FIIs pulled out Rs 2,839 crore from domestic markets. Also, India was ranked low at 135th place in terms of gender parity, despite an improvement of five places since last year on better performance in areas of economic participation and opportunity. Meanwhile, investors are eyeing macro data as wholesale inflation figures for the month of June to be out later in the day.

Most of the Asian markets are trading higher despite the broadly negative cues from global markets overnight, as hotter than expected US inflation data raised the prospect of more aggressive Federal Reserve tightening to rein in 41-year high inflation. Back home, auto stocks were in focus as the latest data released by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) showed that passenger vehicle (PV) wholesales in India rose by 19 per cent year-on-year in June on the back of improvement in semiconductor supplies. The data showed PV dispatches to dealers stood at 275,788 units last month against 231,633 units in June 2021. In stock specific development, Mindtree traded lower despite reporting a 37% rise in Q1 net profit.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 53754.05, up by 239.90 points or 0.45% after trading in a range of 53600.83 and 53790.04. There were 25 stocks advancing against 5 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.31%, while Small cap index was up by 0.23%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Healthcare up by 1.11%, Consumer Durables up by 0.61%, Auto up by 0.53%, FMCG up by 0.53%, Capital Goods up by 0.51%, while IT down by 0.13%, Power down by 0.12%, Utilities down by 0.12% were the few losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bajaj Finserv up by 1.37%, Sun Pharma up by 1.34%, Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 1.26%, Titan Company up by 1.00% and Maruti Suzuki up by 0.84%. On the flip side, Axis Bank down by 0.46%, SBI down by 0.11%, Tech Mahindra down by 0.08%, TCS down by 0.06% and NTPC down by 0.03% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has said the new Australian government supports the trade pact signed with India, and they are expected to soon approach their parliament for approval of the agreement. India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA) signed in April needs ratification by Australian parliament before its implementation.

The agreement, once implemented, will provide duty-free access to the Australian market for over 6,000 broad sectors of India, including textiles, leather, furniture, jewellery and machinery. Goyal had earlier said that the agreement would help in taking bilateral trade from $27.5 billion at present to $45-50 billion in the next five years.

Under the pact, Australia is offering zero-duty access to India for about 96.4 per cent of exports (by value) from day one. This covers many products that currently attract 4-5 per cent customs duty in Australia.  Labour-intensive sectors, which would gain immensely include textiles and apparel, few agricultural and fish products, leather, footwear, furniture, sports goods, jewellery, machinery, electrical goods and railway wagons.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 16046.40, up by 79.75 points or 0.50% after trading in a range of 15993.70 and 16049.40. There were 40 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining, while 1 stock remain unchanged on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Consumer Products up by 2.00%, Apollo Hospital up by 1.92%, Sun Pharma up by 1.33%, Bajaj Finserv up by 1.27% and Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 1.25%. On the flip side, UPL down by 0.77%, JSW Steel down by 0.42%, Adani Ports & SEZ down by 0.38%, Axis Bank down by 0.24% and HDFC Life Insurance down by 0.14% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 surged 185.83 points or 0.70% to 26,664.60, Hang Seng advanced 53.13 points or 0.26% to 20,851.08, Taiwan Weighted gained 75.05 points or 0.52% to 14,399.73, KOSPI added 1.03 points or 0.04% to 2,329.64, Jakarta Composite rose 25.03 points or 0.38% to 6,666.02 and Shanghai Composite was up by 10.21 points or 0.31% to 3,294.50, while Straits Times was down by 25.52 points or 0.82% to 3,103.17.