Bourses trade at day’s high points in late afternoon session

Indian equity markets traded at day’s high points in late afternoon session. The broader indices, the BSE Mid cap index and Small cap index were trading above a percent. Among heavy-weights, Mahindra & Mahindra, Maruti Suzuki and Reliance Industries exhibited a smart performance. Sentiments remained upbeat after finance ministry said that India collected Rs 1.49 lakh crore as Goods and Services Tax (GST) in July, posting an increase of 28 percent from the same month last year. Compared to the money collected in June, the July GST mop-up was 3 percent higher. Besides, India’s manufacturing sector activity hit the highest level in eight months in July, driven by a significant rise in business orders. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green as investors brushed off both weak data from China and comments indicating the Federal Reserve is wedded to its anti-inflation rate hike campaign. European markets were trading higher helped by some strong corporate earnings, although the gains looked tenuous after weak German retail sales data raised fresh doubts about the region’s economic recovery.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 58029.02, up by 458.77 points or 0.80% after trading in a range of 57540.36 and 58063.61. There were 20 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 1.33%, while Small cap index up by 1.32%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Auto up by 3.03%, Utilities up by 2.47%, Power up by 2.46%, Industrials up by 1.82% and Telecom was up by 1.73%, while Realty down by 0.05% and FMCG was down by 0.03% were the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 6.65%, Maruti Suzuki up by 2.72%, Reliance Industries up by 2.49%, Power Grid up by 1.92% and Ultratech Cement up by 1.69%. On the flip side, Sun Pharma down by 2.52%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.77%, Nestle down by 1.16%, Asian Paints down by 0.28% and Indusind Bank down by 0.21% were the top losers.

Meanehile, Indian manufacturing activity surged to eight-month high in the month of July, with marked gains in growth of new business and output. According to the report, the seasonally adjusted S&P Global India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) rose to 56.4 in July from 53.9 in June. The upturn was broad-based by sub-sector, and led by investment goods.

The report further noted that aggregate new order intakes rose substantially in July, recovering the growth momentum lost in June. The latest increase was in fact the most pronounced since last November, with quicker expansions recorded in all three broad areas of the manufacturing industry. Although international markets contributed to the latest upturn in total order books, there was a noticeably slowdown in external sales. New export orders rose at a moderate pace that was the weakest in the current four-month period of growth.

On the price front, goods producers registered a softer increase in their expenses during July. Chemicals, electronic components, metals, textiles and transportation fees were reportedly up on the month. Similar to input costs, there was a softer upturn in factory gate charges during July, one that was the slowest in four months. Inflation rates, for both input prices and output charges, were most acute in the capital goods segment. The weakest rises were noted in the intermediate goods sub-sector.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17309.70, up by 151.45 points or 0.88% after trading in a range of 17154.80 and 17318.40. There were 36 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 6.77%, Tata Motors up by 5.50%, Adani Ports up by 4.46%, ONGC up by 2.87% and Cipla up by 2.80%. On the flip side, Sun Pharma down by 2.52%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.77%, HDFC Life Insurance down by 1.43%, Britannia down by 1.32% and Nestle down by 1.21% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green, Nikkei 225 surged 191.71 points or 0.69% to 27,993.35, Straits Times advanced 33.46 points or 1.04% to 3,245.02, Jakarta Composite soared 17.66 points or 0.25% to 6,968.78, Hang Seng increased 9.33 points or 0.05% to 20,165.84, Shanghai Composite gained 6.72 points or 0.21% to 3,259.96 and KOSPI was up by 0.75 points or 0.03% to 2,452.25. On the flip side, Taiwan Weighted was down by 18.38 points or 0.12% to 14,981.69.

European markets were trading higher, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 35.48 points or 0.48% to 7,458.91, France’s CAC increased 24.14 points or 0.37% to 6,472.64 and Germany’s DAX was up by 38.81 points or 0.29% to 13,522.86.