Benchmarks continue to trade in green in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks trimmed some gains but continued to trade in green in morning deals, led by gains in Metal, IT and Basic Materials stocks. Traders took some support as the finance ministry released the fifth instalment of revenue deficit grant of Rs 7,183 crore to 14 states for the current fiscal. Traders also took a note of a report that the Confederation of Indian Industry president Sanjiv Bajaj asked the Central government to contemplate reducing the personal income tax rates to spur economic activities. He also said the country's underlying growth drivers are strong and the economy would grow in the range of 7.4 per cent to 8.2 per cent in the next fiscal. Meanwhile, SEBI has restructured its advisory committee on market data that recommends policy measures pertaining to securities market data access and privacy.

On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly in green as geopolitical tensions ebbed and encouraging U.S. economic data helped ease concerns about a recession. Back home, Railways stocks remained in limelight as Indian Railways transported 122.14 million tonnes (mt) freight in July, marking an 8.25 per cent increase against the same period last year as it ferries coal to power plants.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 58465.75, up by 115.22 points or 0.20% after trading in a range of 58456.31 and 58712.66. There were 20 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.26%, while Small cap index was up by 0.77%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 1.70%, IT up by 1.38%, Basic Materials up by 1.11%, TECK up by 1.07% and Healthcare up by 1.04%, while Realty down by 1.12%, Telecom down by 0.70%, PSU down by 0.26%, Utilities down by 0.22% and Power down by 0.18% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Infosys up by 1.94%, Tata Steel up by 1.21%, Nestle up by 1.18%, Sun Pharma up by 1.11% and Wipro up by 1.10%. On the flip side, NTPC down by 1.44%, Reliance Industries down by 1.06%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.62%, Maruti Suzuki down by 0.60% and SBI down by 0.55% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the finance ministry has released the fifth instalment of revenue deficit grant of Rs 7,183 crore to 14 states for the current fiscal (FY23). The states for which Post Devolution Revenue Deficit (PDRD) Grant has been recommended by the 15th Finance Commission during 2022-23 are -- Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tripura, Uttarakhand and West Bengal.

The 15th Finance Commission has recommended a total PDRD grant of Rs 86,201 crore to 14 states for the financial year 2022-23. The grant is released in 12 equated monthly instalments. The ministry said with the release of the fifth instalment for the month of August 2022, the total amount of PDRD grants released to the states in 2022-23 stands at Rs 35,917.08 crore.

The eligibility of states to receive this grant and the quantum of grant for the period from 2020-21 to 2025-26 was decided by the 15th Finance Commission based on the gap between assessment of revenue and expenditure of the states concerned after taking into account the assessed devolution during this period.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17421.45, up by 33.30 points or 0.19% after trading in a range of 17419.55 and 17490.70. There were 33 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Hindalco up by 3.60%, Cipla up by 1.89%, Infosys up by 1.87%, JSW Steel up by 1.50% and Nestle up by 1.23%. On the flip side, Tata Consumer Product down by 2.76%, NTPC down by 1.63%, Reliance Industries down by 1.05%, Maruti Suzuki down by 0.79% and Coal India down by 0.73% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 surged 177.45 points or 0.64% to 27,919.35, Hang Seng increased 287.37 points or 1.45% to 20,054.46, Jakarta Composite soared 20.33 points or 0.29% to 7,066.97, KOSPI rose 9.96 points or 0.4% to 2,471.41, Shanghai Composite gained 4.72 points or 0.15% to 3,168.39 and Straits Times advanced 4.76 points or 0.15% to 3,256.82.

On the flip side, Taiwan Weighted dropped 109.53 points or 0.74% to 14,667.49.