Benchmarks continue to trade higher in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade higher in morning deals, tracking gains in index majors NTPC, HCL Technologies and Kotak Mahindra Bank amid a mixed trend in global markets. Sentiments remained positive as S&P Global in a report said India’s Services PMI rose to 57.2 in August from July’s 4-month low of 55.5, on stronger expansion in new work intakes, upturn in business activity, and the sharpest rise in employment for over 14 years. Some optimism came with Commerce Secretary BVR Subrahmanyam’s statement that within a few years from now India will be among the top four economies globally and by 2047 it will become the second largest economy in the world. Traders also found some solace with report that foreign investors have pumped in a little over Rs 51,200 crore into the Indian equity markets in August, making it the highest inflow in 20 months, amid improving risk sentiment and stabilisation in oil prices. 

On the global front, Asian markets are trading mixed following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street on Friday, as traders remain concerned aver the outlook for the global economy amid the energy crisis in Europe and the report of fresh COVID-19 related lockdowns in China following new virus outbreaks, with the sixth-largest city Chengdu entering full lockdown. Back home, steel industry’s stocks remained in watch despite Icra expects steel prices to remain under pressure in the country over the near future as the prices in the domestic market cannot be cushioned from the global trends.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 59214.19, up by 410.86 points or 0.70% after trading in a range of 58812.20 and 59233.62. There were 23 stocks advancing against 7 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.56%, while Small cap index was up by 0.91%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 1.53%, Telecom up by 1.15%, Bankex up by 0.96%, Capital Goods up by 0.91% and Realty up by 0.90%, while Oil & Gas down by 0.01% was the lone losing index on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were NTPC up by 1.82%, HCL Technologies up by 1.68%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.36%, ICICI Bank up by 1.34% and Tata Steel up by 1.23%. On the flip side, Nestle down by 0.56%, Power Grid Corporation down by 0.49%, Asian Paints down by 0.36%, Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 0.18% and Wipro down by 0.17% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Former RBI governor D Subbarao has said India's GDP growth of 13.5 per cent in the April-June quarter of 2022-23 (Q1FY23) has turned out be a cause for 'disappointment and concern', as there was expectation of a bigger bounce back from the first quarter of last year when economic activity was crippled by the Delta wave of COVID-19.

He added that risk factors for the country's growth outlook in the short term include high commodity prices, possibility of a global recession, monetary tightening by the RBI and an uneven monsoon that could threaten crop output, especially of rice.

Besides, he stated that ‘in order to get to $5 trillion over the next 4-5 years, India should be growing consistently at 8-9 per cent which requires us to be firing on all cylinders, but most of the country's growth drivers are ebbing’. In 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi envisioned to make India a $5 trillion economy by 2024-25.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17653.00, up by 113.55 points or 0.65% after trading in a range of 17540.35 and 17657.70. There were 34 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Hindalco up by 2.36%, NTPC up by 1.79%, JSW Steel up by 1.73%, HCL Tech. up by 1.60% and Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.47%. On the flip side, Apollo Hospital down by 0.85%, Shree Cement down by 0.64%, Eicher Motors down by 0.59%, Nestle down by 0.52% and Divi's Lab down by 0.51% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mixed; Jakarta Composite soared 41.38 points or 0.58% to 7,218.56, Straits Times advanced 8.81 points or 0.27% to 3,214.50, Shanghai Composite gained 7.47 points or 0.23% to 3,193.95 and Taiwan Weighted strengthened 3.97 points or 0.03% to 14,677.01.

On the flip side, KOSPI fell 7.44 points or 0.31% to 2,401.97, Nikkei 225 slipped 8.22 points or 0.03% to 27,642.62 and Hang Seng decreased 248.13 points or 1.28% to 19,203.96.