Sensex, Nifty continue record closing run on Wednesday

Extending their winning streak to a seventh consecutive session, Indian equity benchmarks ended at fresh record closing highs with gains of over half percent each on Wednesday. Markets made slightly positive start and managed to keep heads in green terrain in the first half as investors reluctant to make any significant move ahead of the Q2 gross domestic product (GDP) numbers to be out later in the day. There are expectations that annual growth in the Indian economy likely slowed in the July-September quarter as COVID distortions faded. As per a private report, the economy is likely to post annual growth of 6.2% in the three months to September 30, down from explosive growth of 13.5% in the previous quarter, which was inflated by comparison with weak activity during COVID-19 lockdowns.

However, key gauges picked up momentum in the last hour with Sensex crossing 63,000 and Nifty 18,750 for the first time. Traders found solace amid a private report stating that global investors are bullish on Indian equities market in spite of the 86 per cent premium it commands over emerging market peers and on the back of a 17 per cent outperformance so far this year. Some support also came as provisional data available on the NSE showed foreign institutional investors (FIIs) have net-bought shares worth Rs 1,241.57 crore on November 29, 2022. Besides, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the Union government has saved Rs 2,00,000 crore by using technology as systems like Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) stopped leakages.

On the global front, Asian markets ended mostly higher on Wednesday despite weak data from China and worries about the worsening COVID-19 situation in the country. Investors also awaited U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's speech later in the day for interest-rate clues. European markets were trading higher as investors awaited the release of November inflation data for the single-currency bloc for directional cues. Ahead of the ECB's interest-rate decision next month, ECB President Christine Lagarde said earlier this week that inflation in Europe hasn't reached its peak yet and it risks turning out even higher than currently expected.

Back home, stocks related to telecom sector were in watch as Fitch Ratings expects telecom operators to raise tariffs in 2023, given the focus on profitability by the service providers. The rating agency categorically said Vodafone Idea, the third-largest telco, needs to increase tariffs as its EBITDA generation is insufficient to meet finance costs and to invest sufficiently in capital expenditure. Metal stocks were in focus as private report stated that India's finished steel imports from Russia during April-October rose to their highest in at least four years, underscoring Moscow's bid to divert shipments in the wake of Western sanctions.

Finally, the BSE Sensex rose 417.81 points or 0.67% to 63,099.65 and the CNX Nifty was up by 140.30 points or 0.75% to 18,758.35.

The BSE Sensex touched high and low of 63,303.01 and 62,648.38, respectively. There were 22 stocks advancing against 8 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 1.06%, while Small cap index was up by 0.61%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Utilities up by 2.52%, Power up by 2.35%, Metal up by 1.96%, Auto up by 1.74% and Realty up by 1.54%, while there were no losing sectoral indices on the BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 4.00%, Ultratech Cement up by 2.16%, Power Grid Corporation up by 2.14%, Hindustan Unilever up by 1.78% and Bharti Airtel up by 1.55%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 1.07%, SBI down by 0.97%, HCL Technologies down by 0.66%, ITC down by 0.64% and Sun Pharma down by 0.50% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri has said India will at the upcoming G20 meeting plans to pitch for a global alliance on biofuels on lines of the highly-successful international solar alliance. India, the world's third largest oil-consuming and importing nation, is now pushing for greater use of biofuels extracted from sugarcane, cereals and agri waste as a means to cut reliance on crude oil. He stated ‘We will utilise our G20 presidency to try and set up an international biofuel alliance like the International Solar Alliance.’

India is taking over the presidency of the group of 20 major economies, also called G20, and will host a meeting of the member nations in September next year. With nations from Brazil to the US producing biofuels, the alliance would look to develop an ecosystem for fuel standards and engines and collaboration on technology for faster adoption.

Puri said India is already using petrol mixed with 10 per cent ethanol extracted from sugarcane and other agri products (90 per cent petrol, 10 per cent ethanol). India imports 85 per cent of its oil needs and doping ethanol with petrol is aimed at reducing the import dependence. Also, biofuels have lesser emissions and aid in meeting carbon goals.

The CNX Nifty traded in a range of 18,816.05 and 18,616.55. There were 45 stocks advancing against 4 stocks declining, while 1 stock remains unchanged on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 4.05%, Hindalco up by 3.19%, Grasim Industries up by 2.55%, SBI Life Insurance Company up by 2.44% and Ultratech Cement up by 2.18%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 1.07%, SBI down by 0.92%, HCL Technologies down by 0.62% and ITC down by 0.58% were the top losers.

European markets were trading higher; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 39.20 points or 0.52% to 7,551.20, , France’s CAC increased 46.83 points or 0.70% to 6,715.80 and Germany’s DAX was up by 74.14 points or 0.52% to 14,429.59.

Asian markets ended mostly higher on Wednesday ahead of US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's speech later in the day for interest-rate clues. Chinese shares rose marginally with expectations that China will eventually relax Covid-19 restrictions and reopen its economy, despite disappointing factory and services sector data. Although, Japanese shares declined following a mixed Wall Street overnight and after data showed industrial production in Japan shrank more than expected in October.