Benchmarks remain in green in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade in green in morning deals, supported by gains across index-heavyweights like Reliance Industries, NTPC and Bajaj Finance. Sentiments remained positive with private report stated that India can accelerate green investments to $12.1 trillion by 2050 and reap a host of benefits. Traders also found some support with the provisional data available on the NSE showed that foreign institutional investors (FIIs) have net bought shares worth Rs 2,818.40 crore on October 27. Traders overlooked the International Monetary Fund (IMF) stating that the strong recovery in South Asia is expected to take a breather with India's economy expanding at 6.8% in FY23, revised down by 1.4 percentage points since the April 2022 World Economic Outlook, due to a weaker-than-expected recovery in the second quarter and subdued external demand.

On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly in red tracking sluggish cues from other Asian markets as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) cut Asia's economic forecasts, saying China's economic slowdown will weigh on the region's growth. Back home, textile industry stocks remained in limelight as Union minister Piyush Goyal said India’s textiles sector aims to hit $100 billion exports in 5-6 years, which would take the industry’s combined domestic and international economic value to $250 billion. Outbound shipments from the country’s textiles segment stood at around $42 billion in 2021-22.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 60086.16, up by 329.32 points or 0.55% after trading in a range of 59746.80 and 60133.17. There were 20 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell 0.11%, while Small cap index was down by 0.04%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Energy up by 1.55%, Oil & Gas up by 1.22%, Auto up by 1.05%, PSU up by 0.37% and Industrials up by 0.33%, while Metal down by 1.28%, Telecom down by 0.48%, Healthcare down by 0.28%, Realty down by 0.27% and IT down by 0.16% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Reliance Industries up by 2.42%, NTPC up by 1.61%, Bajaj Finance up by 1.54%, Bajaj Finserv up by 1.42% and Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.40%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 2.02%, Sun Pharma down by 1.87%, SBI down by 0.82%, Tech Mahindra down by 0.67% and ICICI Bank down by 0.56% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Rating agency CRISIL Ratings has said that the government's fertilizer subsidy bill could increase by Rs 40,000 crore this financial year from the already-announced allocation of Rs 2.15 lakh crore because of the continued surge in the prices of the key raw material -- natural gas -- for manufacturing urea. The agency said any delay in increased allocation and disbursement would lead to higher working capital requirements and moderate the credit metrics of fertiliser makers.

CRISIL Ratings’ Director -- Naveen Vaidyanathan said the price of imported urea, which accounts for the balance 15 per cent volume, remains elevated at over USD 650 per metric tonne, almost double the historical levels. Together, this could mean overall subsidies rising to Rs 2.55 lakh crore this fiscal. 

Besides, agency mentioned the government has been proactive in addressing the subsidy requirements of the industry. In addition to Rs 1.05 lakh crore approved in the Union Budget for this fiscal, an additional subsidy of Rs 1.10 lakh crore was announced in May 2022 to offset surging feedstock and product prices.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17827.05, up by 90.10 points or 0.51% after trading in a range of 17746.65 and 17838.90. There were 31 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bajaj Auto up by 2.47%, ONGC up by 2.39%, Reliance Industries up by 2.37%, Coal India up by 2.37% and NTPC up by 1.70%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 1.92%, Hindalco down by 1.85%, JSW Steel down by 1.73%, Sun Pharma down by 1.72% and Divi's Lab down by 1.31% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in red, Hang Seng decreased 358.25 points or 2.32% to 15,069.69, Nikkei 225 slipped 179.22 points or 0.66% to 27,166.02, Taiwan Weighted dropped 157.78 points or 1.22% to 12,768.59, Jakarta Composite lost 43.54 points or 0.61% to 7,048.22, Shanghai Composite declined 24.65 points or 0.83% to 2,958.25 and KOSPI fell 13.48 points or 0.59% to 2,275.30.

On the flip side, Straits Times advanced 55.94 points or 1.86% to 3,071.18.