Benchmarks trade flat with positive bias in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks were trading flat with positive bias in morning deals, as investors await key quarterly results in a busy earnings week. Traders took some support with Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM) Chairman Bibek Debroy’s statement that some states in India are already in the high-income category in purchasing power parity (PPP) terms, and the country is likely to move to the upper-middle-income country by 2047. Debroy further said any presumption that the Indian economic growth rate will be driven only by exports may be misleading because there are plenty of endogenous sources of growth. Some support also came as the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) said that after weakening for three consecutive quarters, business sentiment turned buoyant in the fourth quarter (Q4) of the fiscal year ended March 31 (FY23). The Business Confidence Index (BCI) stood at 149.7 in Q4, up from 126.6 in Q3 FY23. However, gains remain capped as provisional data from National Stock Exchange, foreign institutional investors (FII) sold shares worth Rs 412.27 crore on April 24. On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly in red following a mixed session on Wall Street, with investors still casting about for direction at the start of a week of major announcements.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 60090.50, up by 34.40 points or 0.06% after trading in a range of 59967.02 and 60205.93. There were 15 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index fell 0.01%, while Small cap index was up by 0.39%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Utilities up by 1.65%, Power up by 1.47%, PSU up by 0.78%, Oil & Gas up by 0.75% and Energy up by 0.47%, while Consumer Durables down by 1.12%, Healthcare down by 0.29%, IT down by 0.15%, TECK down by 0.09% and Auto down by 0.09% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bajaj Finance up by 1.89%, Bajaj Finserv up by 1.58%, Indusind Bank up by 1.47%, Axis Bank up by 1.27% and SBI up by 1.13%. On the flip side, Wipro down by 0.85%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.74%, Sun Pharma down by 0.64%, HDFC Bank down by 0.62% and HDFC down by 0.59% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Union Minister of State for Skill Development Rajeev Chandrasekhar has said logistics will be an area full of opportunities for young students in the coming years with a huge scope for investment, entrepreneurship and employment. He noted that the world is looking at resilient logistics and trusted supply chains, moving away from risk and towards trusted resilient economies.

He mentioned ‘Logistics will be an area full of opportunities for young students in the coming years, as much as semiconductors, electronics, and information technology, with a huge scope for investment, entrepreneurship and employment. This is an interesting time for the world, representing opportunities and challenges and in this context, India has become the fastest growing nation of the world. And India is being looked upon by the world with a lot more respect.’

He stated the focus and discussion on logistics are important in coastal states like Odisha.  Further, he said  In 2014, 82 per cent of mobile phones consumed in India were imported. In 2022, almost 100 per cent mobile phones consumed in India are manufactured in India. In 2014, India used to export almost zero mobile phones and this year alone, India has exported Apple phones, Samsung phones made in India to the tune of about 11 billion dollars.

He added one of the arguments for India for many decades had been that India did not have a viable market and the capacity to become a global manufacturing hub as the logistics cost of doing business in India was not competitive. Today global majors are manufacturing semiconductors, electronics, mobiles and many more products in India, exporting and selling in India as well as the underlying logistics ecosystem has become more efficient.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17758.90, up by 15.50 points or 0.09% after trading in a range of 17716.85 and 17767.05. There were 29 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Adani Enterprises up by 3.04%, Bajaj Finance up by 1.94%, Bajaj Finserv up by 1.61%, Indusind Bank up by 1.58% and Axis Bank up by 1.33%. On the flip side, UPL down by 1.42%, HDFC Life Insurance down by 1.01%, Wipro down by 0.82%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.78% and HDFC Bank down by 0.63% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in red; Taiwan Weighted lost 259.05 points or 1.69% to 15,367.82, Hang Seng declined 324.09 points or 1.65% to 19,635.85, Shanghai Composite weakened 11.39 points or 0.35% to 3,264.02, KOSPI dropped 42.76 points or 1.72% to 2,480.74 and Straits Times fell 24.93 points or 0.76% to 3,299.62.

On the flip side, Nikkei 225 surged 45.74 points or 0.16% to 28,639.26.