Domestic indices trade higher in early deals; Nifty above 17,850 mark

Indian equity benchmarks extended their previous session’s northward journey on Friday with positive start. Markets are trading higher with notable gains of around half a percent each in early deals tracking gains in global markets. Some support came in with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's statement that India has ramped up the import of crude oil from Russia at discounted prices amid sanctions on Moscow as part of the country's inflation management. Adding more optimism, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) have net bought shares worth Rs 2,913.09 crore on September 8, as per provisional data available on the NSE. Though, upside remained limited as the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy said consumer sentiments in India deteriorated in August 2022 and in the first week of September, after having improved substantially in the previous month, with significant dip in urban sentiments. According to CMIE, the Index of Consumer Sentiments (ICS) shrunk by 0.5% in August, after having risen by an impressive 6.7% in July, and further by a 3.1% in the first week of September.

Asian markets are trading higher following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, with support coming from technology and financial stocks. Traders also remain cautious and concerned about the outlook for interest rates, even as they digest hawkish comments from US Fed Chair Jerome Powell that signaled aggressive rate hikes in the coming months. Meanwhile, South Korea is closed for Chuseok Festival holiday and Taiwan is closed for Mid-Autumn Festival holiday. Back home, power stocks were in focus as a draft government plan showed India expects annual electricity demand to grow at an average of 7.2% over five years ending March 2027, nearly double the growth rate of over 4% seen during the five years to March 2022. In stock specific development, PNC Infratech gained on winning HAM project bid from NHAI.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 59954.81, up by 266.59 points or 0.45% after trading in a range of 59899.03 and 60119.80. There were 27 stocks advancing against 3 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 0.69%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 1.21%, Basic Materials up by 1.05%, Healthcare up by 1.02%, Bankex up by 0.80%, PSU up by 0.67%, while there was no loser on the BSE Sectoral front.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Indusind Bank up by 2.90%, Hindustan Unilever up by 1.40%, SBI up by 1.33%, Tata Steel up by 0.99% and NTPC up by 0.96%. On the flip side, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.17%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.12% and Asian Paints down by 0.02% were the few losers.

Meanwhile, as part of the country's inflation management, Finance Minister (FM) Nirmala Sitharaman said India has ramped up the import of crude oil from Russia at discounted prices amid sanctions on Moscow. She said India ramped up its import from Russia from about 2 per cent of the total shipment of petroleum products to 12-13 per cent in a couple of months as part of inflation management. Amid sanctions imposed on Moscow due to the Russia-Ukraine war, some countries, including India, entered into bilateral deals for the purchase of oil and gas at discounted prices.

She also said ‘I give credit to the statesmanship of the Prime Minister to make sure that we did keep our relationship with all countries but yet manage to get the Russian crude... Sanctions, sanctions but countries (including Japan and Italy, among others) are finding their own way to get that Russian fuel (crude, gas) That also is a part of inflation management’.

Oil prices shot up over $100 per barrel due to ongoing the Russia-Ukraine war stoking inflation globally. It affected those countries most that largely depended on imports. India is heavily dependent on oil-producing countries for meeting its energy needs. It imports 80-85 per cent of total energy requirements from abroad. India is the world's third-biggest consumer and importer of crude oil. Retail inflation declined to 6.71 per cent in July due to moderation in food prices but remained above the Reserve Bank's comfort level of 6 per cent for the seventh consecutive month.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17883.45, up by 84.70 points or 0.48% after trading in a range of 17868.45 and 17925.95. There were 43 stocks advancing against 7 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Shree Cement up by 3.25%, Indusind Bank up by 2.92%, Adani Ports & SEZ up by 2.20%, Hindalco up by 1.90% and UPL up by 1.72%. On the flip side, BPCL down by 1.07%, Coal India down by 0.59%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.39%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.26% and Larsen & Toubro down by 0.06% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading in green; Nikkei 225 surged 147.72 points or 0.53% to 28,213.00, Straits Times rose 27.78 points or 0.86% to 3,261.39, Hang Seng jumped 471.00 points or 2.50% to 19,325.62, Jakarta Composite added 0.36 points to 7,232.38 and Shanghai Composite was up by 22.62 points or 0.70% to 3,258.21.