Benchmarks continue to trade in green in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade in green in morning deals, tracking the sharp gains in global equities. Sentiments remained positive with a private survey showed India's factory activity expanded at its fastest pace in three months in November, signalling resilient demand despite deteriorating global economic conditions as input cost inflation fell to a two-year low. The Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index, compiled by S&P Global, rose to 55.7 last month compared with 55.3 in October, marking the seventeenth successive month of expansion in manufacturing production across India. Some support also came 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. However, gains remain capped as some concern came with data showing that growth in production by eight infrastructure industries, which comprise the core sector, slowed down sharply to a 20-month low of 0.1 per cent in October, owing to a high base effect and weak activity. On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly in green after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell hinted at slowing the pace of interest rate hikes 'as soon as December.' 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 63360.21, up by 260.56 points or 0.41% after trading in a range of 63319.14 and 63583.07. There were 17 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.47%, while Small cap index was up by 0.88%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 1.92%, TECK up by 1.43%, Metal up by 1.07%, Realty up by 0.71% and Industrials up by 0.70%, while FMCG down by 0.30%, Auto down by 0.09% and Telecom down by 0.03% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tech Mahindra up by 2.11%, TCS up by 2.00%, Infosys up by 1.57%, HCL Technologies up by 1.48% and Wipro up by 1.38%. On the flip side, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.94%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.78%, ICICI Bank down by 0.62%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.60% and ITC down by 0.47% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Chief Economic Advsior (CEA) V Anantha Nageswaran has said the Indian economy is on track to achieve a 6.8-7 per cent gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the current fiscal (FY23). He said the economic recovery momentum is continuing and the GDP is averaging the 2019-20 level.

He added festival sales, PMI, bank credit growth and auto sales data shows that the economy has maintained momentum despite global headwinds. India's economic growth slowed down to 6.3 per cent in the July-September quarter of this fiscal, as against 8.4 per cent in the same period 2021-22.

India's economy grew by 9.7 per cent growth in the first half (April-September) of this fiscal. Besides, the IMF has projected Indian economy to grow at 6.8 per cent this fiscal, while the RBI has pegged it at 7 per cent.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 18832.00, up by 73.65 points or 0.39% after trading in a range of 18816.65 and 18887.60. There were 30 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Hindalco up by 2.93%, TCS up by 2.11%, Tech Mahindra up by 2.11%, Grasim Industries up by 1.61% and Infosys up by 1.44%. On the flip side, Bajaj Auto down by 1.62%, UPL down by 1.37%, Cipla down by 1.23%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.15% and Nestle down by 0.79% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 surged 313.93 points or 1.12% to 28,282.92, Straits Times rose 6.26 points or 0.19% to 3,296.75, Hang Seng jumped 269.67 points or 1.46% to 18,866.90, Taiwan Weighted advanced 137.35 points or 0.92% to 15,016.90, KOSPI added 7.20 points or 0.29% to 2,479.73 and Shanghai Composite was up by 19.70 points or 0.63% to 3,171.04, while Jakarta Composite was down by 48.51 points or 0.69% to 7,032.80.