Domestic bourses maintain momentum

Domestic bourses continued to trade in fine contour on continued buying by funds and retail investors as traders cheered Reserve Bank of India's policy announcement. RBI has raised the benchmark lending rate by 50 basis points to 5.90 per cent in a bid to check inflation, which has remained above its tolerance level for the past 8 months. Sentiments were also upbeat with Union Minister Piyush Goyal’s statement that India will be the pillar of the global economic revival as it exhibited steady growth and emerged as the fastest-growing country among large economies of the world. Additional support also came as Economic Affairs Secretary Ajay Seth said India’s economic recovery remains on course, supported by key structural reforms, despite exogenous shocks and challenges. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly lower pressured by the risk aversion in the market spooked by global economic slowdown risks amid peaking borrowing costs, and persistent inflation.

Back home, buying in utilities, power and telecom stocks helped markets to trade higher. The overall market breadth on BSE was in the favour of advances which thumped declines in the ratio of 2084: 1174; while 137 shares remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 57106.88, up by 696.92 points or 1.24% after trading in a range of 56147.23 and 57116.83. There were 22 stocks advancing against 7 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.54%, while Small cap index was up by 0.75%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Utilities up by 2.41%, Power up by 2.37%, Telecom up by 2.18%, Bankex up by 2.16% and Metal was up by 1.79%, while IT down by 0.36%, FMCG down by 0.18% and TECK was down by 0.06% were the few losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were HDFC Bank up by 2.76%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 2.60%, HDFC up by 2.36%, Indusind Bank up by 2.26% and Bajaj Finserv was up by 2.25%. On the flip side, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.16%, Asian Paints down by 1.00%, Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 0.92%, TCS down by 0.82% and Tech Mahindra was down by 0.67% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has raised repo rate by 50 basis points (bps) to 5.90 percent in a bid to check inflation, which has remained above its tolerance level for the past 8 months. Consequently, the standing deposit facility (SDF) rate stands adjusted to 5.65 per cent and the marginal standing facility (MSF) rate and the Bank Rate to 6.15 per cent.

The Monetary Policy Committee also decided to remain focused on withdrawal of accommodation to ensure that inflation remains within the target going forward, while supporting growth. These decisions are in consonance with the objective of achieving the medium-term target for consumer price index (CPI) inflation of 4 per cent within a band of +/- 2 per cent, while supporting growth.

On the inflation front, inflation is projected at 6.7 per cent in 2022-23, with Q2 at 7.1 per cent; Q3 at 6.5 per cent; and Q4 at 5.8 per cent, and risks are evenly balanced. CPI inflation for Q1:2023-24 is projected at 5.0 per cent. Besides, real GDP growth for 2022-23 is projected at 7.0 per cent with Q2 at 6.3 per cent; Q3 at 4.6 per cent; and Q4 at 4.6 per cent, and risks broadly balanced. For Q1:2023-24, it is projected at 7.2 per cent.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17019.65, up by 201.55 points or 1.20% after trading in a range of 16747.70 and 17025.65. There were 35 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Hindalco up by 3.73%, ONGC up by 2.88%, HDFC Bank up by 2.73%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 2.63% and HDFC was up by 2.54%. On the flip side, Asian Paints down by 1.06%, Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 1.05%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.03%, TCS down by 0.78% and Infosys was down by 0.69% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly lower; Nikkei 225 slipped 484.84 points or 1.83% to 25,937.21, Taiwan Weighted dropped 109.68 points or 0.81% to 13,424.58, KOSPI fell 15.44 points or 0.71% to 2,155.49, Straits Times trembled 12.17 points or 0.39% to 3,102.91. Shanghai Composite declined 8.09 points or 0.27% to 3,033.11 and Jakarta Composite was down by 20.49 points or 0.29% to 7,015.71.

On the flip side, Hang Seng was up by 28.52 points or 0.17% to 17,194.39.