Benchmarks remain in green in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks remained in green in morning deals, led by gains in banking, Consumer Durables and Auto stocks amid largely positive global market trends. Traders took some support as exchange data showed foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net buyers on Thursday, buying shares worth Rs 1,799.32 crore. Traders also took note of Commerce Secretary BVR Subrahmanyam’s statement that negotiations for the India-UK free trade agreement will be concluded by August 31 and ready for signing by Diwali in October. However, gains remain capped as the Asian Development Bank (ADB) slashed its growth forecast for India to 7.2 per cent for FY23 from 7.5 per cent estimated earlier citing higher than anticipated inflation since April and subsequent monetary tightening by the central bank. Meanwhile, capital markets regulator Sebi has proposed a regulatory framework for the online bond platforms that are selling listed debt securities. Under the proposal, bond platforms should register as stock brokers (debt segment) with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) or be run by Sebi-registered brokers.

On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly in green after the European Central Bank (ECB) raised rates for the first time in over a decade. The ECB raised interest rates by a bigger-than-expected 50 basis points (bps) to zero per cent overnight, its first hike in 11 years and ending a policy of negative interest rates that had been in place since 2014. Back home, stocks related to pharma sector remained in watch as the government launched three schemes to strengthen Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the pharmaceutical sector. The schemes envisage technology upgradation, setting up of common research centres and effluent treatment plants in clusters for the pharma MSMEs.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 55810.39, up by 128.44 points or 0.23% after trading in a range of 55724.80 and 56006.22. There were 16 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.13%, while Small cap index was up by 0.16%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Bankex up by 0.90%, Consumer Durables up by 0.58%, Auto up by 0.37%, Realty up by 0.25% and Basic Materials up by 0.23%, while TECK down by 0.98%, IT down by 0.96%, Oil & Gas down by 0.53%, Telecom down by 0.53% and Power down by 0.34% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Titan Co up by 1.64%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.64%, HDFC Bank up by 1.18%, HDFC up by 1.13% and ICICI Bank up by 0.95%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 1.69%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.04%, HCL Technologies down by 1.00%, NTPC down by 0.80% and Wipro down by 0.77% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Asian Development Bank (ADB) in its supplement to the Asian Development Outlook (ADO) for 2022 said that it has lowered the economic growth forecast for India for current financial year (FY23) to 7.2 per cent, with impacts of COVID-19 and Russia-Ukraine war getting exacerbated by high inflation. In April, it had forecast the Indian economy to grow by 7.5 per cent.

It also revised downwards the economic growth in fiscal ended March 2022 to 8.7 per cent from 8.9 per cent estimated earlier. It stated India’s GDP (Gross Domestic Product) growth moderated to 4.1 per cent in Q4 of fiscal year ended March 2022 on disappointing growth in private consumption and a contraction in manufacturing.

Besides, for the South Asian region, it has lowered the growth forecast from 7 per cent to 6.5 per cent for 2022 and from 7.4 per cent to 7.1 per cent for 2023 mainly due to the economic crisis in Sri Lanka and high inflation and associated monetary tightening in India.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 16645.15, up by 39.90 points or 0.24% after trading in a range of 16623.10 and 16704.80. There were 27 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were UPL up by 3.23%, Eicher Motors up by 1.94%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.54%, Titan Company up by 1.52% and HDFC up by 1.21%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 1.69%, Tata Consumer Product down by 1.08%, Apollo Hospital down by 1.06%, HCL Technologies down by 1.02% and Tech Mahindra down by 0.89% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 surged 119.34 points or 0.43% to 27,922.34, Hang Seng increased 34.01 points or 0.17% to 20,608.64, Jakarta Composite soared 28.45 points or 0.41% to 6,892.58 and Straits Times advanced 22.82 points or 0.72% to 3,175.12.

On the flip side, Shanghai Composite declined 7.61 points or 0.23% to 3,264.39, KOSPI fell 13.32 points or 0.55% to 2,395.84 and Taiwan Weighted dropped 19.50 points or 0.13% to 14,918.20.