Bourses widen gains in late afternoon session

The Indian benchmarks widened their gains in late afternoon session on sustained buying activities in index heavyweights, viz Reliance Industries, ITC, NTPC among others. The broader indices, the BSE Mid cap index and Small cap index were also trading higher. Traders took encouragement after India has overtaken the U.K. to become the world's fifth-largest economy and is now behind only the US, China, Japan and Germany. A decade back, India was ranked 11th among the large economies while the U.K. was at the fifth position. In scrip specific development, Tamilnad Mercantile Bank’s IPO subscribed 30% on Day 1 of bidding process. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed as U.S. rate hike worries persisted, and China tightened COVID-19 curbs in some big cities. European markets were trading lower after Wall Street stocks reversed course to finish sharply lower on Friday.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 59,308.02, up by 504.69 points or 0.86% after trading in a range of 58812.20 and 59307.90. There were 24 stocks advancing against 6 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.45%, while Small cap index was up by 0.92%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 2.01%, Capital Goods up by 1.09%, Basic Materials up by 0.98%, Telecom up by 0.96% and Bankex was up by 0.95%, while Oil & Gas was down by 0.04% were the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ITC up by 1.81%, Reliance Industries up by 1.72%, NTPC up by 1.67%, Sun Pharma up by 1.47% and Larsen & Toubro up by 1.38%. On the flip side, Nestle down by 1.46%, Wipro down by 0.58%, Asian Paints down by 0.45%, Ultratech Cement down by 0.44% and Hindustan Unilever down by 0.44% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, rating agency ICRA in its latest report has said that steel prices in India are likely 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.

ICRA also expects the steel demand in the domestic market to grow at 7-8 per cent in the current financial year (FY23), making the country the fastest-growing large steel markets globally this year. It said domestic steel mills face a tough time ahead as the external environment is becoming more and more challenging in key global consumption markets.

It further said the steel demand in China, which accounted for 52 per cent of the global demand in 2021, is witnessing a decline as the economy prepares for the combined impact of the property bubble, strict zero Covid lockdowns, and a severe ongoing heatwave.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17,679.65, up by 140.20 points or 0.80% after trading in a range of 17540.35 and 17681.75. There were 35 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Hindalco up by 3.28%, JSW Steel up by 2.83%, Reliance Industries up by 1.80%, ITC up by 1.79% and Grasim Industries up by 1.52%. On the flip side, Nestle down by 1.50%, Bajaj Auto down by 1.49%, Britannia down by 0.92%, Apollo Hospital down by 0.64% and Eicher Motors down by 0.53% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed, Hang Seng decreased 226.39 points or 1.16% to 19,225.70, Nikkei 225 slipped 31.23 points or 0.11% to 27,619.61, Taiwan Weighted dropped 11.94 points or 0.08% to 14,661.10 and KOSPI was down by 5.73 points or 0.24% to 2,403.68. On the flip side, Straits Times advanced 9.51 points or 0.3% to 3,215.20, Shanghai Composite gained 13.43 points or 0.42% to 3,199.91 and Jakarta Composite was up by 54.70 points or 0.76% to 7,231.88.

European markets were trading lower, UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 69.71 points or 0.96% to 7,211.48, France’s CAC decreased 125.93 points or 2.04% to 6,041.58 and Germany’s DAX was down by 378.52 points or 2.9% to 12,671.75.