Benchmarks continue to trade in green in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade in green in morning deals, led by gains in Capital Goods, Power, Industrials and Auto stocks. Traders took some support with industry body FICCI stating that the Reserve Bank of India has maintained consistency in the recent monetary policy statement by focusing on the ‘withdrawal of accommodation’ as its stance to contain inflation. It said inflation has been over the comfort range of the Central Bank, however, the recent moderation in global commodity prices should hopefully offer some respite going ahead. Some support also came as data with depositories showed after turning net buyers last month, foreign investors continued their positive stance on Indian equities and invested over Rs 14,000 crore in the first week of August amid softening of the dollar index. This was way higher than the net investment of nearly Rs 5,000 crore by Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) in entire July.

On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly in red after a stunning US payrolls report pushed back against talk of recession but bolstered the case for more super-sized rate hikes. Back home, travel and tourism industry stocks remained in watch with a private report that outbound trips from India will surpass $42 billion by 2024 and the government could bring about certain policy changes to boost this growing market.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 58604.37, up by 216.44 points or 0.37% after trading in a range of 58266.65 and 58632.36. 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 0.11%, while Small cap index was up by 0.34%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Capital Goods up by 1.30%, Power up by 0.98%, Industrials up by 0.73%, Auto up by 0.72% and Utilities up by 0.69% ,while IT down by 0.60%, TECK down by 0.54%, PSU down by 0.54%, Oil & Gas down by 0.44% and Telecom down by 0.32% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.15%, Indusind Bank up by 1.79%, HDFC Bank up by 1.77%, Axis Bank up by 1.58% and Larsen & Toubro up by 1.38%. On the flip side, SBI down by 2.43%, Ultratech Cement down by 0.89%, Infosys down by 0.85%, Wipro down by 0.74% and TCS down by 0.73% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, The Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) president Vinkesh Gulati has said the auto industry expects car sales to be on the fast lane this festive season on the back of new launches and improved production but is cautiously optimistic on the road ahead once the festivities peter out. The festive season, which usually witnesses a spike in automobile sales, begins this year on August 11 with Rakshabandhan stretching up to Diwali on October 25.

He mentioned ‘We expect the festive season this year to be the best in terms of passenger vehicle sales on the back of new launches and improved production activity. The industry has been rolling out over 3 lakh units on an average in the past 4-5 months which is helping in retails.’

He listed erratic monsoon in some parts of the country, inflationary pressures and the looming threat of a China-Taiwan war as some of the challenges to watch out for in the days ahead. FADA represents over 15,000 automobile dealers across the country.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17455.30, up by 57.80 points or 0.33% after trading in a range of 17359.75 and 17455.65. There were 24 stocks advancing against 26 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.25%, HDFC Bank up by 1.85%, Hindalco up by 1.83%, Indusind Bank up by 1.76% and Axis Bank up by 1.63%. On the flip side, BPCL down by 3.83%, SBI down by 2.42%, Britannia Industries down by 0.95%, Cipla down by 0.86% and Infosys down by 0.85% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in red; Straits Times trembled 20.64 points or 0.63% to 3,262.24, Jakarta Composite lost 21.27 points or 0.3% to 7,063.39, Taiwan Weighted dropped 32.69 points or 0.22% to 15,003.35 and Hang Seng decreased 151.79 points or 0.75% to 20,050.15.

On the flip side, Nikkei 225 surged 75.81 points or 0.27% to 28,251.68, Shanghai Composite gained 6.04 points or 0.19% to 3,233.07 and KOSPI rose 2.68 points or 0.11% to 2,493.48.