Domestic benchmark indices trim some gains in late afternoon session

Domestic benchmark indices trimmed some their gains in late afternoon session owing to profit booking. However, markets continued to trade in green amid firm cues from global markets. Meanwhile, broader indices were trading with gains in the range of 0.45-0.60%. Almost all the sectoral indices on BSE were trading into positive territory; however, stocks from Telecom counter was only exception. Stocks from Metal, Consumer Durables, PSU, Utilities and Industrials counters were the prominent gainers of the session. Sentiments remained upbeat as RBI data showed Bank credit growth accelerated to 14.2 per cent in the quarter ended June 2022 from 6 per cent in the same period of the previous year.

On the Global front, Asian markets were trading mostly higher following positive cues from US markets overnight, as traders remained cautious in making large moves as they brace for the US Fed Chair Jerome Powell's speech at the Jackson Hole Symposium later today. European markets were trading mostly higher as global attention turned to US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s speech at the Jackson Hole economic symposium.

Back home, there were some reaction in fertilizer industry stocks as India and Saudi Arabia signed a pact for an annual supply of 2.5 million tonnes of ammonia and DAP, NPK fertilisers for the next three years. Stock specific development, Shares of Titan Company rose as the Tata Group's jewellery company mulls expansion plan in the US.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 58981.10, up by 206.38 points or 0.35% after trading in a range of 58880.33 and 59321.65. There were 22 stocks advancing against 8 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.59%, while Small cap index was up by 0.49%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 2.03%, Consumer Durables up by 1.72%, PSU up by 1.57%, Utilities up by 1.46% and Industrials up by 1.43%, while Telecom down by 0.04% was the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were NTPC up by 3.27%, Titan Co up by 3.12%, Tata Steel up by 2.17%, Power Grid Corp up by 2.12% and Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 2.06%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 1.84%, HDFC down by 0.83%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.76%, Asian Paints down by 0.72% and Reliance Industries down by 0.48% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its latest report on ‘the private corporate sector performance’ has showed that the manufacturing sector recorded impressive sales growth of 41.6 per cent (y-o-y) in Q1 FY23, aided by both volume and price effects along with broad based demand expansion across industries. Besides, sales growth (y-o-y) of listed private non-financial companies surged to 41 per cent in Q1 FY23 from 22.3 per cent in the previous quarter.

The report further said that annual sales growth of information technology (IT) companies, which remained steady in positive terrain even during the COVID-19 pandemic, stood at 21.3 per cent during the latest quarter, while sales of non-IT services companies swelled by 62.1 per cent (y-o-y) in Q1 FY23, as the service activities continued their ascend on strong revival path after the second wave of the pandemic a year ago.

On the expenditure front, manufacturers’ expenses on raw materials increased by 52.0 per cent (y-o-y) in tandem with robust demand expansion; the ratio of raw material expenditure to sales moved up on both sequential as well as annual basis. Further, annual growth in staff cost for manufacturing, IT and non-IT services companies stood at 10.3 per cent, 23.5 per cent and 20.0 per cent, respectively, whereas the ratio of their staff cost to sales stood at 5.0 per cent, 50.1 per cent and 8.0 per cent, respectively.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17596.05, up by 73.60 points or 0.42% after trading in a range of 17563.90 and 17685.85. There were 38 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were NTPC up by 3.27%, Titan Co up by 3.11%, JSW Steel up by 3.10%, Grasim Industries up by 3.09% and Coal India up by 2.51%. On the flip side, Eicher Motors down by 3.70%, Indusind Bank down by 1.85%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.15%, Asian Paints down by 0.76% and HDFC down by 0.65% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly higher; Straits Times rose 7.74 points or 0.24% to 3,255.54, Hang Seng increased 201.66 points or 1.01% to 20,170.04, Nikkei 225 surged 162.37 points or 0.57% to 28,641.38, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 78.40 points or 0.52% to 15,278.44 and KOSPI was up by 3.77 points or 0.15% to 2,481.03. On the flip side, Shanghai Composite fell 10.03 points or 0.31% to 3,236.22 and Jakarta Composite was down by 38.96 points or 0.54% to 7,135.25.

European markets were trading mostly higher, UK’s FTSE 100 rose 18.88 points or 0.25% to 7,498 and France’s CAC gained 5.76 points or 0.09% to 6,387.66, while Germany’s DAX was down by 2.09 points or 0.04% to 13,267.18.