Sensex, Nifty hold strong gains aided by rally in auto, industrials stocks

Gaining momentum continued over the Dalal Street in late morning session, with both Sensex and Nifty holding strong gains aided by rally in auto and industrials stocks. Domestic sentiments remained optimistic, as India's manufacturing sector activity gained momentum in July, hitting an eight-month high driven by a significant uptick in business orders. The seasonally adjusted S&P Global India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index rose from 53.9 in June, to 56.4 in July, highlighting the strongest improvement in the health of the sector in eight months. 

Traders were seen taking a note of reports that days after the US Fed raised the interest rate, the RBI may go in for its third consecutive policy rate hike by at least 35 basis points to check high retail inflation. The central bank has already announced to gradually withdraw its accommodative monetary policy stance. 

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green, after the manufacturing sector in China continued to expand in July, albeit at a slower pace, the latest survey from Caixin revealed on Monday with a manufacturing PMI score of 50.4. That's down from 51.7 in June, although it remains above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 57929.99, up by 359.74 points or 0.62% after trading in a range of 57540.36 and 57977.27. There were 19 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining, while 1 stock remained unchanged on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.87%, while Small cap index was up by 1.13%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Auto up by 2.66%, Industrials up by 1.51%, Telecom up by 1.29%, Consumer discretionary up by 1.26% and Power up by 1.24%, while Realty down by 0.30% and Healthcare down by 0.16% were the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 6.90%, Maruti Suzuki up by 2.16%, Reliance Industries up by 2.07%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.53% and Power Grid up by 1.47%. On the flip side, Sun Pharma down by 3.18%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.44%, Indusind Bank down by 1.09%, HDFC down by 0.51% and Larsen & Toubro down by 0.43% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the output of eight core infrastructure sectors expanded by 12.7 per cent in June 2022 as against 9.4 per cent in the year-ago period, with all sectors except crude oil registering an uptick in production. The production growth of eight infrastructure sectors was 19.3 per cent in May 2022. The Eight Core Industries - coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilizers, steel, cement and electricity - comprise 40.27 percent of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP). 

Coal production having 10.33 per cent weight increased by 31.1 per cent in June, 2022 over June, 2021 and its cumulative index increased by 31.2 per cent during April to June, 2022-23 over corresponding period of the previous year. Natural Gas production having 6.88 per cent weight increased by 1.2 per cent in June, 2022 over June, 2021 and its cumulative index increased by 4.8 per cent during April to June, 2022-23 over the corresponding period of previous year. Petroleum Refinery production having 28.04 per cent weight increased by 15.1 per cent in June, 2022 over June, 2021 and its cumulative index increased by 13.5 per cent during April to June, 2022-23 over the corresponding period of previous year.

Fertilizers production having 2.63 per cent weight increased by 8.2 per cent in June, 2022 over June, 2021 and its cumulative index increased by 13.2 per cent during April to June, 2022-23 over the corresponding period of previous year. Steel production having 17.92 per cent weight increased by 3.3 per cent in June, 2022 over June, 2021 and its cumulative index increased by 6.6 per cent during April to June, 2022-23 over the corresponding period of previous year.

Cement production having 5.37 per cent weight increased by 19.4 per cent in June, 2022 over June, 2021 and its cumulative index increased by 17.1 per cent during April to June, 2022-23 over the corresponding period of previous year. Electricity generation having 19.85 per cent weight increased by 15.5 per cent in June, 2022 over June, 2021 and its cumulative index increased by 16.8 per cent during April to June, 2022-23 over the corresponding period of previous year. However, Crude Oil production having 8.98 per cent weight declined by 1.7 per cent in June, 2022 over June, 2021, while its cumulative index increased by 0.6 per cent during April to June, 2022-23 over the corresponding period of previous year.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17273.10, up by 114.85 points or 0.67% after trading in a range of 17154.80 and 17286.95. There were 34 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 6.90%, Adani Ports & SEZ up by 4.27%, Tata Motors up by 4.15%, Cipla up by 2.46% and Hindalco up by 2.34%. On the flip side, Sun Pharma down by 3.12%, HDFC Life Insurance down by 1.57%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.56%, Indusind Bank down by 1.24% and Tata Consumer Products down by 1.07% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 surged 146.25 points or 0.53% to 27,947.89, Straits Times advanced 28.58 points or 0.89% to 3,240.14, Jakarta Composite soared 19.76 points or 0.28% to 6,970.88, Shanghai Composite gained 5.22 points or 0.16% to 3,258.46 and KOSPI rose 0.39 points or 0.02% to 2,451.89. On the flip side, Taiwan Weighted dropped 47.49 points or 0.32% to 14,952.58 and Hang Seng decreased 65.40 points or 0.32% to 20,091.11.