Markets continue to trade in fine fettle amid firm global cues

Indian equity markets continued to trade in fine fettle in late morning deals, mirroring firm global cues amid investors awaited this week's Federal Reserve meeting for clues on whether a pivot on the pace of rate hikes is on the table. Meanwhile, broader indices on the BSE were trading with gains in the range of 0.40-0.75%.  Sentiments were supported by Indian rupee appreciating over 8 paise to 82.38 against the dollar at the Interbank Foreign Exchange on increased selling of the US currency by exporters and banks. Further,  some support came in as private report stated that India is likely to start next month negotiations with the Gulf Cooperation Council for a free trade agreement that will not only boost economic ties between the regions but also be a shot in the arm for New Delhi's ambition to significantly shore up its share in global exports. On the sectoral front, all the sectoral indices on the BSE were trading in green led by Auto, TECK, Capital Goods, IT and Telecom.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green following the broadly positive cues from US markets on Friday, as traders remained optimistic the US Fed will slow the pace of interest rate hikes in the coming months. The Japanese markets was trading sharply higher led by exporters and technology stocks after the Bank of Japan maintained its ultra-low interest rates and dovish stance. Back home, in stock specific development, Titan Company rose on hopes of strong September quarter (Q2FY23) earnings.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 60640.20, up by 680.35 points or 1.13% after trading in a range of 60246.96 and 60645.42. There were 25 stocks advancing against 5 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.75%, while Small cap index up by 0.43%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Auto up by 1.68%, TECK up by 1.34%, Capital Goods up by 1.27%, IT up by 1.20% and Telecom up by 1.07%, while there were no losers.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 3.07%, Sun Pharma up by 2.85%, Ultratech Cement up by 2.27%, Maruti Suzuki up by 2.16% and Larsen & Toubro up by 1.94%. On the flip side, Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 1.46%, NTPC down by 0.78%, Tata Steel down by 0.54%, Nestle down by 0.05% and Indusind Bank down by 0.02% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman has asked states to adopt a multi-modal approach and ensure logistics did not become a burden on exporters. She said the PM Gati Shakti was a beautiful protocol with which a synergy could be brought in. She also said the commerce ministry was working on getting an export policy that would help the exporters by giving them incentives and promoting many things.

Sitharaman said ‘there’s a repetitive and very relevant line that the commerce minister refers to … 'We can’t be exporting taxes.' We also should identify ways in which those taxes - whether Centre, State or local - that are on these products should be removed so that we don’t burden their exporters’. She noted that the governments did not get much revenue from those products but burdened the exporters nevertheless. She also said the growing cost of electricity and logistics was also affecting the exports.

The minister said with better roads and ports coming… electronic facilitation for the customs operations coming…surely, the logistics element is being addressed little by little. State governments should also spend some time to see that logistics doesn’t become a burden on exporters.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17977.80, up by 191.00 points or 1.07% after trading in a range of 17899.90 and 17980.90. There were 45 stocks advancing against 5 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Sun Pharma up by 3.06%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.93%, Ultratech Cement up by 2.29%, Larsen & Toubro up by 2.08% and Maruti Suzuki up by 2.05%. On the flip side, Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 1.57%, Apollo Hospital down by 1.47%, NTPC down by 0.72%, Tata Steel down by 0.59% and Indusind Bank down by 0.13% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green, Nikkei 225 surged 448.72 points or 1.66% to 27,553.92, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 148.04 points or 1.16% to 12,936.46, Hang Seng increased 91.20 points or 0.61% to 14,954.26, Jakarta Composite soared 43.85 points or 0.62% to 7,099.89, KOSPI rose 21.99 points or 0.97% to 2,290.39 and Straits Times advanced 59.48 points or 1.94% to 3,118.67. However, Shanghai Composite declined 10.68 points or 0.37% to 2,905.25.