Key gauges end at record closing high on Thursday

Extending gains to the third straight day, Indian equity benchmarks closed at an all-time closing high on Thursday, tracking a firm trend in global markets after the US Fed minutes indicated a slower pace of rate increase that bolstered investors’ sentiment. Key indices started on a positive note and extended the gains during the day as sentiments got a boost as Revenue Secretary Tarun Bajaj said India's tax collection will exceed the budget estimate by nearly Rs 4 lakh crore in the current fiscal on the back of buoyant income tax, customs duty and GST mop-up. Sentiments remained up-beat as the S&P Global Market Intelligence projected India’s real gross domestic product (GDP) growth to average 6.3 per cent annually between financial years 2021 and 2030, enabling it to overtake Japan and Germany to become the world’s third-largest economy in nominal US dollar terms.

Markets witnessed strong momentum towards the end of the session, taking support from report stated that Indian banking system is much better placed than the last cycle, and will be able to sustain the current round of high loan growth. It also said learnings from the last cycle of high loan growth which ultimately led to a huge spurt in sour loans have been internalised by the banking system. Sentiments remained positive as the government approved the continuation of interest subvention scheme for short-term loans of up to Rs 3 lakh for agriculture and allied activities availed through Kisan Credit Card (KCC) during the current and the next fiscals. Adding more optimism among traders, Amit Shah said ‘we are moving at a fast pace towards achieving target of $5 trillion economy by 2025’. The optimism was further boosted by falling crude prices and the declining dollar index.

On the global front, Asian markets settled mostly higher on Thursday, while European markets were trading higher as optimism over a less hawkish Fed outweighed concerns that a surge in COVID cases in China would weigh on growth. After the release of dovish Federal Reserve November meeting minutes, market participants are now convinced that the U.S. Federal Reserve will temper its pace of interest rate hikes in its upcoming meetings.

Back home, sugar stocks were in focus as the Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA) said India is likely to extend the limit of sugar exports by 2-4 million tonnes in the 2022-23 season. The move will leave total exports at 8-10 million tonnes and below last year's level. Stocks related to Telecom sector were in watch as telecom regulator Trai said telecom service providers' adjusted gross revenue grew 17.91 per cent on a year-over-year basis to Rs 60,530 crore in April-June 2022 with Jio leading in terms of revenue share.

Finally, the BSE Sensex rose 762.10 points or 1.24% to 62,272.68 and the CNX Nifty was up by 216.85 points or 1.19% to 18,484.10.

The BSE Sensex touched high and low of 62,412.33 and 61,600.42, respectively. There were 26 stocks advancing against 4 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.52%, while Small cap index was up by 0.42%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 2.30%, TECK up by 2.12%, Oil & Gas up by 1.25%, PSU up by 1.09%, Financial Services up by 1.03%, while Consumer Durables down by 0.02% was the lone losing index on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Infosys up by 2.93%, HCL Technologies up by 2.59%, Power Grid Corporation up by 2.56%, Wipro up by 2.43% and Tech Mahindra up by 2.39%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 0.14%, Bajaj Finserv down by 0.11%, Bajaj Finance down by 0.10% and Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.09% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) in its latest data has showed that Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) equity inflows into India contracted by 14 per cent to USD 26.9 billion during the April-September (first half) this fiscal (FY23). The inflows had stood at USD 31.15 billion during the corresponding period of the previous year. The total FDI inflows (which includes equity inflows, re-invested earnings and other capital) too declined to USD 39 billion during the first six months of the current fiscal year as against USD 42.86 billion in the year-ago period.

Further, it mentioned during the first half of this fiscal, Singapore emerged as the top investor with USD 10 billion FDI. It was followed by Mauritius (USD 3.32 billion), UAE (USD 2.95 billion), USA (USD 2.6 billion), the Netherlands (USD 1.76 billion), and Japan (USD 1.18 billion), the data showed.

Besides, it showed that the computer software and hardware sector attracted the highest inflows of USD 6.3 billion during the six-month period of this fiscal. It was followed by services (USD 4.16 billion), trading (USD 3.28 billion), chemicals (USD 1.3 billion), automobile industry (USD 932 million) and construction (infrastructure) activities (USD 990 million).

The CNX Nifty traded in a range of 18,529.70 and 18,294.25. There were 44 stocks advancing against 5 stocks declining, while 1 stock remains unchanged on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Apollo Hospital up by 4.56%, HDFC Life Insurance up by 4.55%, BPCL up by 3.32%, Infosys up by 3.28% and Tata Consumer Product up by 2.99%. On the flip side, Cipla down by 0.98%, Coal India down by 0.69%, Bajaj Finserv down by 0.25%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.19% and Tata Motors down by 0.04% were the top losers.

European markets were trading higher, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 18.45 points or 0.25% to 7,483.69, France’s CAC increased 45.87 points or 0.69% to 6,724.96 and Germany’s DAX was up by 124.14 points or 0.86% to 14,551.73.

Asian markets settled mostly higher on Thursday, tracking Wall Street gains overnight after the Federal Reserve November meeting minutes showed signs of slowing down of pace of interest rate hikes in its upcoming meetings. The Japanese Nikkei marked the highest level since September 13. Seoul shares rose sharply after the Bank of Korea delivered a modest 25-basis point rate hike in line with expectations. However, Chinese shares dropped, even as property shares jumped after four of China's biggest banks agreed to provide fundraising support to property developers. Meanwhile, China's daily Covid cases have hit a record high since the beginning of the pandemic.