Markets trade higher despite weak cues from other Asian markets

Indian markets were trading in fine fettle in late morning deals, on the back of buying by funds and retail investors, despite weak cues from other Asian markets. Meanwhile, the broader indices on the BSE were trading mixed.  Sentiments got boost as India may become the third-biggest economy behind the US and China by FY28, two years earlier than initially expected, overtaking Germany and Japan, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) World Economic Outlook database. It also projects India going past the UK this year to become the 5th biggest economy. Further, support also came in as Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has expressed confidence that the country will achieve the export target for goods and services to USD 2 trillion by 2030. He emphasised on sustaining the export momentum and said that he is confident that Indian exports will be able to wither the global headwinds and will surpass growth in exports by a big margin.  On the BSE sectoral front, Bankex, PSU, Power, Utilities and TECK witnessed the maximum gains in trade, while Metal, Oil & Gas, Energy, Realty and Telecom remained the top losers.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street on Friday, reflecting lingering concerns about a recession after recent hotter than expected U.S. inflation data raised expectations of further aggressive interest rate hikes by central banks around the world to control rising consumer prices. Back home, in stock specific developments, Avenue Supermarts dropped after the company reported subdued operational performance in the September quarter (Q2FY23). However, Electronics Mart India (EMIL) has made a strong market debut, with its shares listed at a 53 per cent prmium at Rs 90 as against its issue price of Rs 59 per share on the National Stock Exchange (NSE). On the BSE, the stock opened at Rs 89.40, a 52 per cent premium over its issue price.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 58198.40, up by 278.43 points or 0.48% after trading in a range of 57639.80 and 58277.43. There were 22 stocks advancing against 8 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.02%, while Small cap index up by 0.01%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Bankex up by 1.01%, PSU up by 0.89%, Power up by 0.73%, Utilities up by 0.72% and TECK up by 0.35%, while Metal down by 0.71%, Oil & Gas down by 0.59%, Energy down by 0.51%, Realty down by 0.33% and Telecom down by 0.27% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were SBI up by 2.30%, ICICI Bank up by 1.24%, Infosys up by 1.10%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 0.97% and Bajaj Finance up by 0.80%. On the flip side, Larsen & Toubro down by 1.39%, Ultratech Cement down by 0.64%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.47%, Wipro down by 0.29% and Bharti Airtel down by 0.22% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, with an aim to strengthen domestic manufacturing and generate employments, the government is considering proposals to extend Rs 35,000 crore production linked incentive (PLI) scheme to various sectors like leather, bicycle, some vaccine materials, and certain telecom products. PLI benefits are also being considered for toys, some chemicals and shipping containers.

The proposals are at discussion stage. Inter-ministerial talks are going on to extend PLI benefits to all these different sectors as there has been demand from industry and certain departments. The government has already rolled out the scheme with an outlay of about Rs 2 lakh crore for as many as 14 sectors, including automobiles and auto components, white goods, pharma, textiles, food products, high efficiency solar PV modules, advance chemistry cell and speciality steel. The objective of the scheme is to make domestic manufacturing globally competitive and create global champions in manufacturing.

Last month, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal stated that the government is working to extend incentives under the PLI scheme to more sectors. The PLI scheme is also aimed at making Indian manufacturers globally competitive, attracting investment in the areas of core competency and cutting-edge technology; ensuring efficiencies; creating economies of scale; enhancing exports and make India an integral part of the global supply chain. 

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17256.50, up by 70.80 points or 0.41% after trading in a range of 17098.55 and 17284.30. There were 35 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bajaj Auto up by 2.33%, SBI up by 2.17%, Eicher Motors up by 1.22%, ICICI Bank up by 1.22% and Infosys up by 1.07%. On the flip side, JSW Steel down by 1.76%, Hindalco down by 1.57%, Larsen & Toubro down by 1.40%, BPCL down by 0.84% and Ultratech Cement down by 0.84% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red, Nikkei 225 slipped 338.91 points or 1.25% to 26,751.85, Taiwan Weighted dropped 151.96 points or 1.16% to 12,976.16, Hang Seng decreased 112.42 points or 0.68% to 16,475.27, Jakarta Composite lost 27.32 points or 0.4% to 6,787.21, KOSPI rose 7.76 points or 0.35% to 2,220.31 and Straits Times trembled 31.48 points or 1.04% to 3,008.13. However, Shanghai Composite gained 4.22 points or 0.14% to 3,076.21.