Benchmark indices open at record highs; IT stocks lead

Indian equity benchmarks opened at record highs on Thursday on firm global cues. Markets are trading in fine-fettle with gains of over half a percent each in early deals. Investors are eyeing the manufacturing PMI data for November to be out later in the day. Traders took encouragement as the government data showed that retail inflation for industrial workers rose to 6.08 per cent in October from 6.49 per cent in September 2022 mainly due to lower prices of certain food items. Support also came in as Chief Economic Advsior V Anantha Nageswaran said the Indian economy is on track to achieve a 6.8-7 per cent GDP growth in the current fiscal. He said the economic recovery momentum is continuing and the GDP is averaging the 2019-20 level. Foreign fund inflows also aided domestic sentiments. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) net bought shares worth Rs 9,010.41 crore on 30 November, according to the provisional data available on the NSE.

Most of the Asian markets are trading higher, following the broadly positive cues from global markets overnight, as traders cheered US Fed Chair Jerome Powell's comments about interest rate hikes, which provided further evidence the central bank plans to slow its aggressive pace of interest rate hikes as soon as next month. Back home, auto stocks remain in focus as the companies are going to announce their sales numbers for the month of November. Bajaj Auto traded lower as it reported 19 percent declined in its total sales at 3,06,552 units against 3,79,276 units and total domestic sales were down 4 percent at 1,52,716 units against 1,58,755 units, YoY. On the other hand, TCS jumped on winning UK order.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 63533.58, up by 433.93 points or 0.69% after trading in a range of 63357.99 and 63583.07. There were 20 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.23%, while Small cap index was up by 0.69%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 2.29%, TECK up by 1.83%, Metal up by 0.84%, Industrials up by 0.72%, Capital Goods up by 0.72%, while Auto down by 0.25%, FMCG down by 0.21% were the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tech Mahindra up by 2.66%, Infosys up by 2.34%, TCS up by 2.11%, HCL Tech. up by 2.05% and Wipro up by 1.94%. On the flip side, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.98%, NTPC down by 0.49%, Ultratech Cement down by 0.37%, ITC down by 0.37% and Maruti Suzuki down by 0.35% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, with contraction in output of manufacturing and mining sectors, the National Statistical Office (NSO) under Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation in its latest data has showed India’s economic growth slowed to 6.3 per cent in the September quarter of 2022-23. The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) had expanded by 8.4 per cent in the corresponding quarter of 2021-22. It saw a growth of 13.5 per cent in the preceding April-June quarter of 2022-23. Notably, India remained the fastest-growing major economy as China registered an economic growth of 3.9 per cent in July-September 2022. Earlier this month, in an article published in the RBI bulletin, the GDP growth was pegged at 6.1-6.3 per cent in the second quarter of this fiscal year.

As per the data, real GDP or GDP at Constant (2011-12) Prices in Q2 2022-23 is estimated at Rs 38.17 lakh crore, as against Rs 35.89 lakh crore in Q2 2021-22. Nominal GDP or GDP at Current Prices in Q2 2022-23 is estimated at Rs 65.31 lakh crore, as against Rs 56.20 lakh crore in Q2 2021-22. GDP at Constant (2011-12) Prices in April-September 2022-23 (H1 2022-23) is estimated at Rs 75.02 lakh crore as against Rs 68.36 lakh crores during the corresponding period of previous year, showing a growth of 9.7 per cent in H1 2022-23 as against 13.7 per cent during the same period last year. GDP at Current Prices in H1 2022-23 is estimated at Rs 130.26 lakh crore as against Rs 107.47 lakh crores during the corresponding period of previous year, showing a growth of 21.2 per cent in H1 2022-23 as against 25.0 per cent during the same period last year.

The GVA in the manufacturing sector contracted 4.3 per cent during the quarter from 5.6 per cent growth during the year-ago period. GVA in mining also declined by 2.8 per cent in the quarter compared to 14.5 per cent growth. The GVA growth in the construction sector also decelerated to 6.6 per cent in the quarter from 8.1 per cent. Moreover, the electricity, gas, water supply and other utility services segment grew by 5.6 per cent in the quarter compared to 8.5 per cent a year ago. GVA growth in the services sector - trade, hotel, transport, communication and services related to broadcasting - was 14.7 per cent during the second quarter against 9.6 per cent. Financial, real estate and professional services grew by 7.2 per cent in the first quarter over 6.1 per cent earlier. Public administration, defence and other services posted a 6.5 per cent growth against 19.4 per cent in the second quarter of the last fiscal.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 18868.10, up by 109.75 points or 0.59% after trading in a range of 18842.05 and 18887.60. There were 32 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Hindalco up by 2.83%, Tech Mahindra up by 2.71%, TCS up by 2.16%, HCL Tech. up by 2.13% and Infosys up by 1.96%. On the flip side, Bajaj Auto down by 1.57%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.12%, Cipla down by 0.87%, UPL down by 0.71% and Eicher Motors down by 0.68% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 surged 296.24 points or 1.06% to 28,265.23, Straits Times rose 9.75 points or 0.30% to 3,300.24, Hang Seng jumped 282.13 points or 1.52% to 18,879.36, Taiwan Weighted advanced 167.96 points or 1.13% to 15,047.51, KOSPI added 4.05 points or 0.16% to 2,476.58 and Shanghai Composite was up by 20.51 points or 0.65% to 3,171.85, while Jakarta Composite was down by 24.12 points or 0.34% to 7,057.19.