Markets continue to trade in fine fettle in late morning deals

Indian equity markets continued to trade in fine fettle in late morning deals on account of fresh buying by fund and retail investors. There was broad based buying witnessed in the markets and apart from the blue chips, the broader markets too equally participated in the rally. Positives cues from global markets supported the sentiments. Sentiments were upbeat  as private survey showed that 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.

On the global front, Asian markets were mostly trading in green as Fed Chair Jerome Powell's dovish remarks helped improve risk sentiment. Back home, in stock specific development, Tata Consultancy Services jumped after bagging a contract to design, develop, implement, and operate the U.K.'s Rail Data Marketplace.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 63375.98, up by 276.33 points or 0.44% 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 was up by 0.49%, while Small cap index up by 0.96%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 2.20%, TECK up by 1.58%, Metal up by 1.02%, Industrials up by 0.76% and Capital Goods up by 0.69%, while FMCG down by 0.42%, Power down by 0.14%, Auto down by 0.11%, Utilities down by 0.11% and Telecom down by 0.09% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were TCS up by 2.26%, Tech Mahindra up by 2.19%, HCL Tech. up by 1.76%, Infosys up by 1.75% and Wipro up by 1.70%. On the flip side, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.09%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.00%, ICICI Bank down by 0.93%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.83% and ITC down by 0.62% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the output of eight core industries slowed down to 0.1 per cent in October 2022 as against 8.7 per cent in same month last year, owing to a high base effect and weak activity. Production of eight infrastructure sectors had expanded by 7.8 per cent in September 2022, the highest in three months. The Eight Core Industries - coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilizers, steel, cement and electricity - comprise 40.27 percent of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP).

Coal production, having 10.33 per cent weight, increased by 3.6 per cent in October, 2022 over October, 2021 and its cumulative index increased by 18.1 per cent during April to October, 2022-23 over corresponding period of the previous year. Fertilizers production, having 2.63 per cent weight, increased by 5.4 per cent in October, 2022 over October, 2021 and its cumulative index increased by 10.5 per cent during April to October, 2022-23 over the corresponding period of previous year.

Steel production, having 17.92 per cent weight, increased by 4.0 per cent in October, 2022 over October, 2021 and its cumulative index increased by 6.1 per cent during April to October, 2022-23 over the corresponding period of previous year. Electricity generation, having 19.85 per cent weight, increased by 0.4 per cent in October, 2022 over October, 2021 and its cumulative index increased by 9.3 per cent during April to October, 2022-23 over the corresponding period of previous year.
On the other hand, Crude Oil production, having 8.98 per cent weight, declined by 2.2 per cent in October, 2022 over October, 2021 and its cumulative index declined by 1.4 per cent during April to October, 2022-23 over the corresponding period of previous year. Natural Gas production, having 6.88 per cent weight, declined by 4.2 per cent in October, 2022 over October, 2021, while its cumulative index increased by 0.9 per cent during April to October, 2022-23 over the corresponding period of previous year. 

Petroleum Refinery production, having 28.04 per cent weight, declined by 3.1 per cent in October, 2022 over October, 2021, while its cumulative index increased by 8.1 per cent during April to October, 2022-23 over the corresponding period of previous year. Cement production, having 5.37 per cent weight, declined by 4.3 per cent in October, 2022 over October, 2021, while its cumulative index increased by 8.6 per cent during April to October, 2022-23 over the corresponding period of previous year.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 18834.85, up by 76.50 points or 0.41% 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 2.97%, TCS up by 2.34%, Tech Mahindra up by 2.27%, Wipro up by 1.74% and HCL Tech. up by 1.74%. On the flip side, Cipla down by 1.67%, Bajaj Auto down by 1.54%, UPL down by 1.27%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.11% and Nestle down by 0.97% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 surged 281.55 points or 1.01% to 28,250.54, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 133.25 points or 0.9% to 15,012.80, Straits Times advanced 15.59 points or 0.47% to 3,306.08, Shanghai Composite gained 21.97 points or 0.7% to 3,173.31, KOSPI rose 7.40 points or 0.3% to 2,479.93 and Hang Seng increased 267.39 points or 1.44% to 18,864.62. However, Jakarta Composite lost 48.51 points or 0.69% to 7,032.80.