Markets expand gains in late morning deals

Indian equity markets expanded their gains in late morning deals on the back of fresh buying by funds and retail investors. Meanwhile, the broader indices were also trading in green. Traders were getting encouragement as Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman lauded the Indian Rupee and said it has been strong against every currency. She said the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has used foreign exchange reserves that it has to intervene in the market to make sure that the Dollar-Rupee fluctuation does not go too much. Sentiments remained positive after data showed domestic retail inflation fell to an 11-month low of 5.88 per cent in November, below the upper end of RBI's target band of 2-6 per cent for the first time since December 2021. On the BSE sectoral front, traders were seen pilling up position in Telecom, TECK, IT, Bankex and PSU, while selling was witnessed in Realty, Consumer Durables, Metal, FMCG and Healthcare.

On the global front, Asian markets were mostly trading in green after a New York Fed consumer expectations' survey showed inflation expectations decreased at the short, medium, and longer terms in November. Back home, in stock specific developments, Jaiprakash Associates slumped after selling its cement assets to Dalmia Cement, a subsidiary of Dalmia Bharat for Rs 5,666 crore. However, KEC International rallied after the company secured new orders worth of Rs 1,349 crore across its various businesses. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 62481.34, up by 350.77 points or 0.56% after trading in a range of 62129.57 and 62485.61. There were 24 stocks advancing against 6 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.16%, while Small cap index up by 0.45%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 1.02%, TECK up by 0.80%, IT up by 0.77%, Bankex up by 0.56% and PSU up by 0.50%, while Realty down by 0.60%, Consumer Durables down by 0.31%, Metal down by 0.11%, FMCG down by 0.02% and Healthcare down by 0.01% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bajaj Finance up by 1.96%, Indusind Bank up by 1.85%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.50%, HCL up by 1.42% and Ultratech Cement up by 1.32%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 0.49%, Power Grid Corp down by 0.39%, Titan down by 0.29%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.22% and Asian Paints down by 0.18% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Ratings agency ICRA in its latest report has said that the all-India electricity demand is expected to grow 7 per cent to 1,480 billion units (BU) in the ongoing financial year (FY23) and grow at 5-5.5 per cent in FY24. In the preceding 2021-22 fiscal, the all-India power demand was at 1,380 BU.
The report said the estimates are based on the fact that all-India electricity demand increased 10.6 per cent year-on-year in first eight months of FY2023, amid a severe heat wave in north and central India.

It further said growing energy demand along with subdued capacity addition in the thermal segment is leading to an improvement in average thermal PLF (plant load factor) level for gencos/IPPs (power generation companies/independent power producers) at all-India level.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 18582.95, up by 85.80 points or 0.46% after trading in a range of 18490.20 and 18587.85. There were 34 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bajaj Finance up by 1.94%, Indusind Bank up by 1.78%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.40%, HCL up by 1.35% and Ultratech Cement up by 1.23%. On the flip side, UPL down by 1.05%, Apollo Hospital down by 0.89%, BPCL down by 0.53%, Tata Steel down by 0.49% and Coal India down by 0.41% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green, Nikkei 225 surged 112.52 points or 0.4% to 27,954.85, Straits Times advanced 30.36 points or 0.94% to 3,270.02, Jakarta Composite soared 52.35 points or 0.78% to 6,786.80 and Hang Seng increased 83.17 points or 0.43% to 19,546.80. However, Taiwan Weighted dropped 89.63 points or 0.61% to 14,522.96, Shanghai Composite declined 1.07 points or 0.03% to 3,177.97 and KOSPI fell 1.50 points or 0.06% to 2,371.52