Domestic indices trade in fine-fettle after gap-up opening

Indian equity benchmarks magnified their previous session’s gains and made gap-up opening on Wednesday following firm global cues. Markets are trading in fine-fettle in early deals with solid gains of over a percent each on the back of board based buying in all the sector indices. Sentiments got a boost with Finance ministry’s statement that the economy is on course to achieve projected 8-8.5 per cent growth based on high-frequency indicators for the first quarter of the current fiscal. Sustained buying by FIIs also aided the sentiment in the markets. Foreign Institutional Investors (FII) were net buyers for the second day running on Dalal Street. FIIs pumped in Rs 976 crore on July 19. Traders also took note of Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said the mass consumption items such as pulses, wheat, rice, flour, and curd will not attract the 5 per cent goods and services tax (GST) when sold loose, and not pre-packed or pre-labelled.

Global cues remained supportive with all the Asian markets trading higher following the broadly positive cues from the global markets overnight, amid fading concerns about an aggressive rate hike by the US Federal Reserve at its upcoming monetary policy meeting later this month. Investors also remained optimistic over upcoming earnings, with a majority of the US companies beating expectations so far this season. Traders are also looking ahead to the Bank of Japan's two-day monetary policy meeting starting later today, which is expected to keep its ultra-loose policy in place.

Back home, oil industry stocks were in focus with a private report stating that India has cut a windfall tax on diesel and aviation fuel shipments by 2 rupees a liter. In stock specific development, Wipro remained on buyers’ radar ahead of its Q1 results to be out later in the day. However, Rallis India fell on reporting a 18.1 per cent decline in Q1FY23 net profit at Rs 67.47 crore when compared with Rs 82.42 crore in Q1FY22.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 55443.75, up by 676.13 points or 1.23% after trading in a range of 55313.85 and 55523.52. There were 29 stocks advancing against 1 stock declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.78%, while Small cap index was up by 0.90%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 1.78%, TECK up by 1.55%, Energy up by 1.53%, Metal up by 1.45%, Oil & Gas up by 1.37%, while there was no loser on the BSE sectoral front.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tech Mahindra up by 2.67%, Reliance Industries up by 2.55%, Infosys up by 1.94%, Indusind Bank up by 1.93% and TCS up by 1.65%. On the flip side, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.20% was the sole loser.

Meanwhile, expressing optimism over the economic condition of the country, Finance Ministry has said that the economy is on course to achieve projected 8-8.5 per cent growth based on high-frequency indicators for the first quarter of the current fiscal. Minister of state for finance Pankaj Chaudhary said ‘since then, sustained growth momentum has been observed in several High Frequency Indicators (HFIs), indicating that the projected growth path is on course in the first quarter of FY 2022-23’.

In order to ensure continued growth momentum, he said the government has taken several steps to address high inflation imported from abroad. He said these include cut in excise duty on petrol and diesel and special excise duty/cess on the export of petrol, diesel and aviation turbine fuel that are likely to alleviate inflationary pressures. Further, to rein in inflation, he said RBI in its June Monetary Policy Committee meeting hiked the repo rate by 50 basis points, on top of the earlier hike of 40 basis points in May 2022.

On the impact of geopolitical tension on Indian economy, he said, Russia-Ukraine war has led to global supply disruptions resulting in steep increase in global commodity prices, including prices of crude oil, gas, edible oils and fertilizers, among others. He highlighted that the government is closely monitoring the global price movements and their impact on India’s economy through trade.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 16538.80, up by 198.25 points or 1.21% after trading in a range of 16501.55 and 16565.45. There were 47 stocks advancing against 3 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ONGC up by 4.18%, Reliance Industries up by 2.71%, Tech Mahindra up by 2.51%, Indusind Bank up by 2.18% and Infosys up by 1.89%. On the flip side, HDFC Life Insurance down by 1.10%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.16% and ITC down by 0.15% were the few losers.

All the Asian markets are trading in green; Nikkei 225 surged 664.50 points or 2.46% to 27,626.18, Straits Times rose 40.62 points or 1.30% to 3,158.41, Hang Seng jumped 385.43 points or 1.87% to 21,046.49, Taiwan Weighted soared 156.17 points or 1.06% to 14,850.25, KOSPI added 23.70 points or 1.00% to 2,394.67, Jakarta Composite advanced 119.32 points or 1.77% to 6,855.41 and Shanghai Composite was up by 21.82 points or 0.67% to 3,301.25.