Firm trade persists on Dalal Street in late morning deals

Indian equity bourses continued to trade in fine fettle in late morning deals helped by a drop in Crude oil prices. Crude oil prices settled lower on Tuesday on fears of higher U.S. supply combined with an economic slowdown and lower Chinese fuel demand. Sentiments were also supported by Indian rupee appreciating 5 paise to 82.35 against the dollar at the Interbank Foreign Exchange on increased selling of the US currency by exporters and banks. Besides, traders were getting encouragement from ICRA Ratings’ statement that the cost of market borrowing for states declined sharply on Tuesday with the weighted average cut-off falling by 11 basis points to 7.72 per cent from 7.83 per cent last week. Meanwhile, kick-starting stakeholder consultation for 2023-24 Budget, the finance ministry has sought suggestions from industry and trade associations regarding direct and indirect taxes. Along with the suggestions, the industry has to submit justification for their demand which, if found with merit, could become part of the Union Budget for 2023-24 (April-March), to be tabled in Parliament on February 1, 2023

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed amid China indefinitely delayed release of economic indicators originally scheduled to be published on Tuesday, indicating to the market that fuel demand is significantly depressed in the region. It is not a good sign when China decides not to publish economic figures. Back home, there were some buzz in FMCG related stocks as private report stated that India is examining whether there is a need to raise palm oil import taxes as part of efforts by the world’s biggest vegetable oil importer to help millions of its farmers reeling from lower oilseed prices. Stock septic development, Mishra Dhatu Nigam (Midhani) rallied after reports said that the company will work with Boeing India to develop raw materials for aerospace parts.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 59349.05, up by 388.45 points or 0.66% after trading in a range of 59148.52 and 59399.69. There were 17 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.31%, while Small cap index was up by 0.42%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Energy up by 1.21%, Oil & Gas up by 1.03%, Realty up by 1.01%, FMCG up by 0.56% and Auto up by 0.55%, while TECK down by 0.25%, IT down by 0.22%, PSU down by 0.19%, Metal down by 0.15% and Healthcare down by 0.08% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Reliance Industries up by 2.81%, Axis Bank up by 2.59%, HDFC up by 2.42%, ITC up by 1.73% and HDFC Bank up by 1.43%. On the flip side, SBI down by 1.32%, Sun Pharma down by 0.79%, Infosys down by 0.70%, Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 0.61% and HCL Tech down by 0.61% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Government of India is taking major policy initiatives for Agriculture Startups with a latest announcement of Rs 500 crore accelerator programme and creation of a high-level steering committee among others. The Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Narendra Singh Tomar made these several key announcements mentioned above.

Tomar said that a high-level steering committee will be constituted under the chairmanship of Agriculture Minister for overall guidance of the Agriculture Startup ecosystem and a Rs 500 crore accelerator programme for taking forward and popularizing the successful initiatives of Agri Startups will be started.

Besides, Tomar said that an Executive Committee would be constituted under the chairmanship of Secretary Agriculture, comprising of concerned agencies like DARE, DPIIT, agricultural incubators and knowledge partners, agricultural universities, research institutes, top investors and other stakeholders.

Also, a separate Division will be created under the chairmanship of Joint Secretary for Agriculture Startups in the Ministry of Agriculture. A cell will also be created to work as a single window agency for Agri Startups to facilitate all linkages required with certification agencies, financial institutions, agricultural universities etc.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17586.50, up by 99.55 points or 0.57% after trading in a range of 17535.75 and 17607.60. There were 26 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Reliance Industries up by 2.65%, Axis Bank up by 2.65%, HDFC up by 2.42%, ITC up by 1.65% and Bajaj Auto up by 1.65%. On the flip side, Coal India down by 1.41%, SBI down by 1.29%, JSW Steel down by 1.04%, Sun Pharma down by 0.78% and Infosys down by 0.72% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed, Nikkei 225 surged 123.60 points or 0.46% to 27,279.74, Jakarta Composite soared 45.37 points or 0.66% to 6,879.86, Straits Times advanced 8.57 points or 0.28% to 3,034.45. However, Taiwan Weighted dropped 147.92 points or 1.13% to 12,976.76, Hang Seng decreased 286.13 points or 1.69% to 16,628.45, KOSPI fell 9.77 points or 0.43% to 2,240.18 and Shanghai Composite declined 34.20 points or 1.11% to 3,046.76.