Benchmarks add some gains in morning deals; RBI hikes rate by 50 bps

Indian equity benchmarks added some gains in morning deals, after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) raised the benchmark lending rate by 50 basis points to 5.40 per cent to tame inflation. It has also retained its FY23 gross domestic product (GDP) growth forecast at 7.2%. Some support also came with private report stated that upgrading labour laws, simplifying taxation and creating a stable tariff environment are imperatives to facilitate a larger trade between India and the world. Meanwhile, SEBI has amended mutual fund rules to remove the applicability of the definition of associate to sponsors that invest in various companies on behalf of the beneficiaries of insurance policies. The new rules will become effective from September 3. On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly in green ahead of an update on the health of the US jobs market.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 58561.29, up by 262.49 points or 0.45% after trading in a range of 58330.15 and 58581.81. There were 26 stocks advancing against 4 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.44%, while Small cap index was up by 0.58%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Basic Materials up by 1.07%, Telecom up by 0.94%, Bankex up by 0.92%, TECK up by 0.84% and IT up by 0.71%, while Oil & Gas down by 0.56%, Energy down by 0.33%, Consumer Durables down by 0.12%, Utilities down by 0.11% and Auto down by 0.06% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Ultratech Cement up by 2.32%, ICICI Bank up by 1.88%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.25%, Wipro up by 1.22% and Axis Bank up by 1.18%. On the flip side, Reliance Industries down by 0.91%, Maruti Suzuki down by 0.68%, Power Grid Corporation down by 0.34% and HDFC down by 0.07% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has said that, within days of conducting 5G auctions, the government has completed the spectrum 'harmonisation' process, paving the way for players' holdings to be streamlined within a particular band for greater efficiency. The spectrum harmonisation process, critical for 5G services, brings together a bunch of radio wave holdings within a band into one contiguous block with the consensus of all telecom service providers.

Vaishnaw said that the government is on course for the timely allocation of radiowaves bought by players (in the auction) by August 12. The process of approvals from the Committee of Secretaries has also been completed. The harmonisation of the spectrum leads to greater efficiencies for players, as chunks of radio-wave holdings in one band are brought together or consolidated with the consensus of all players.

India's biggest ever auction of telecom spectrum that concluded on August 1 received a record Rs 1.5 lakh crore of bids, with Mukesh Ambani's Jio cornering nearly half of all the airwaves sold with an Rs 88,078 crore bid. Richest Indian Gautam Adani's group, whose entry in the auction was billed by some as another flash point in the rivalry with Ambani, paid Rs 212 crore for 400 MHz, or less than one per cent of all spectrum sold, in a band that is not used for offering public telephony services. Telecom tycoon Sunil Bharti Mittal's Bharti Airtel made a successful bid of Rs 43,084 crore, while Vodafone Idea bought spectrum for Rs 18,799 crore.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17451.40, up by 69.40 points or 0.40% after trading in a range of 17389.30 and 17462.60. There were 37 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Ultratech Cement up by 2.59%, Grasim Industries up by 1.85%, ICICI Bank up by 1.73%, Wipro up by 1.25% and Bharti Airtel up by 1.18%. On the flip side, Hindalco down by 1.11%, Reliance Industries down by 0.94%, Hero MotoCorp down by 0.67%, Maruti Suzuki down by 0.64% and Cipla down by 0.53% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in green; Taiwan Weighted strengthened 330.67 points or 2.25% to 15,032.87, Nikkei 225 surged 234.96 points or 0.84% to 28,167.16, KOSPI rose 19.37 points or 0.78% to 2,492.48, Jakarta Composite soared 13.22 points or 0.19% to 7,070.57, Shanghai Composite gained 9.06 points or 0.28% to 3,198.10 and Straits Times advanced 5.62 points or 0.17% to 3,275.48.

On the flip side, Hang Seng decreased 6.25 points or 0.03% to 20,167.79.