Benchmarks extend gains in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks extended gains in morning deals, helped by a rally in Asian markets and continuous foreign fund inflow. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were buyers on Monday as they bought shares worth Rs 4,178.61 crore, as per exchange data. Sentiments remained up-beat as private survey showed that India's factory activity expanded at a stronger pace in October as demand and output remained solid, encouraging firms to hire workers at the fastest pace in nearly three years. The Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index, compiled by S&P Global, rose to 55.3 in October from September's 55.1, remaining above the 50-level separating growth from contraction for a sixteenth month. Some optimism also came with Chief Economic Adviser V Anantha Nageswaran’s statement that India is expected to clock better growth than IMF’s projections next year aided by enhanced capital formation. Recently, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) projected 6.8 per cent real growth for this year and 6.1 per cent for next year for India.

On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly in green, as a two-day policy meeting of the U.S. Federal Reserve gets underway later today, with market participants waiting to see what comments the FOMC and Powell make regarding the future path of U.S. monetary policy given a weakening economic backdrop. Back home, gold industry stocks remained in watch as the World Gold Council (WGC) said India's gold consumption in the months of October to December could fall by around a quarter from a year ago as inflation depresses rural demand.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 61200.09, up by 453.50 points or 0.75% after trading in a range of 60998.86 and 61242.37. There were 25 stocks advancing against 5 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.70%, while Small cap index was up by 0.31%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Healthcare up by 1.38%, PSU up by 1.29%, Power up by 1.20%, Utilities up by 1.04% and IT up by 0.96%, while there were no losing sectoral indices on the BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were NTPC up by 3.47%, Power Grid Corp up by 2.59%, Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 2.42%, HDFC Bank up by 1.78% and Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.55%. On the flip side, Axis Bank down by 2.90%, Tata Steel down by 1.08%, Larsen & Toubro down by 0.59%, Maruti Suzuki down by 0.27% and Bharti Airtel down by 0.23% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Controller General of Accounts (CGA) in its latest data has said that the India's fiscal deficit in the first half of the current financial year works out to be 37.3 percent of the full-year target. In actual terms, the fiscal deficit - the difference between expenditure and revenue - was Rs 6,19,849 crore during the April-September period of 2022-23. It was 35 percent of Budget Estimates (BE) in the corresponding period last fiscal.

As per the data released by CGA, the total receipts, including taxes, stood at Rs 12.03 lakh crore or 52.7 percent of BE for 2022-23. During the year-ago period, the collection was 55.6 percent of BE 2021-22. The tax revenue stood at about Rs 10.11 lakh crore or 52.3 percent of this year’s BE.

The total expenditure was Rs 18.23 lakh crore or 46.2 percent of the BE 2022-23. It was 46.7 percent of BE 2021-22. For 2022-23, the fiscal deficit of the government is estimated to be Rs 16.61 lakh crore or 6.4 percent of the GDP.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 18156.60, up by 144.40 points or 0.80% after trading in a range of 18084.90 and 18164.70. There were 41 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Divi's Lab up by 3.88%, NTPC up by 3.47%, Grasim Industries up by 2.68%, Power Grid Corporation up by 2.54% and Apollo Hospital up by 2.47%. On the flip side, Axis Bank down by 2.90%, Tata Steel down by 1.13%, UPL down by 0.50%, Larsen & Toubro down by 0.50% and Eicher Motors down by 0.42% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in green; Hang Seng increased 346.26 points or 2.36% to 15,033.28, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 51.20 points or 0.4% to 13,000.95, Nikkei 225 surged 34.72 points or 0.13% to 27,622.18, Straits Times advanced 32.22 points or 1.04% to 3,125.33, KOSPI rose 28.03 points or 1.22% to 2,321.64 and Shanghai Composite gained 24.80 points or 0.86% to 2,918.28.

On the flip side, Jakarta Composite lost 46.24 points or 0.65% to 7,052.65.