Markets maintain gains in late morning deals

Indian equity markets maintained their gains in late morning deals on the back of fresh buying by funds and retail investors. Meanwhile, broader indices on the BSE were trading with gains in the range of 0.75-0.80%. Sentiments remained upbeat as the finance ministry has said Goods and Services Tax (GST) collection grew by 12 per cent in April 2023 to Rs 1.87 lakh crore, the highest monthly mop-up since the rollout of the indirect tax regime. The ministry said the previous high collection of Rs 1.68 lakh crore was in April last year.  The sentiments were further supported by Indian rupee appreciating 7 paise to 81.75 against the dollar at the Interbank Foreign Exchange on increased selling of the US currency by exporters and banks.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly higher despite weak cues from the US markets overnight. Back home, most of the sectoral indices on BSE were holding in green, with only exception of Telecom counter. Stocks from Metal, IT, Oil & Gas, Power and Utilities counters were the prominent gainers. In the stock specific development, IDFC First Bank rallied after bank's standalone profit after tax (PAT) jumped 134% year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 803 crore in the March quarter. This was the highest-ever quarterly profit for the bank.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 61418.52, up by 306.08 points or 0.50% after trading in a range of 61255.00 and 61486.24. There were 21 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.77%, while Small cap index up by 0.76%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 1.54%, IT up by 1.32%, Oil & Gas up by 1.22%, Power up by 1.15% and Utilities up by 1.15%, while Telecom down by 0.23% was only losing index on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tech Mahindra up by 3.33%, NTPC up by 1.75%, Infosys up by 1.63%, Axis Bank up by 1.62% and Tata Steel up by 1.34%. On the flip side, Tata Motors down by 1.48%, Ultratech Cement down by 1.23%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.17%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.93% and Sun Pharma down by 0.63% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the output of eight core industries grew by 3.6 percent in March 2023, the slowest in the last five months. In the year-ago period, the core sectors had grown by 4.3 percent. The growth rate in March has halved as compared to the preceding month of February 2023, when it stood at 7.2 percent. The plunge in March was driven by a decline in the output of three key sectors - cement, electricity and crude oil. 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 12.2 per cent in March, 2023 over March, 2022 and its cumulative index increased by 14.8 per cent during 2022-23 over corresponding period of the previous year. Natural Gas production, having 6.88 per cent weight increased by 2.8 per cent in March, 2023 over March, 2022 and its cumulative index increased by 1.6 per cent during 2022-23 over the corresponding period of previous year.

Petroleum Refinery production, having 28.04 per cent weight increased by 1.5 per cent in March, 2023 over March, 2022 and its cumulative index increased by 4.8 per cent during 2022-23 over the corresponding period of previous year. Fertilizers production, having 2.63 per cent weight increased by 9.7 per cent in March, 2023 over March, 2022 and its cumulative index increased by 11.3 per cent during 2022-23 over the corresponding period of previous year. Steel production, having 17.92 per cent weight increased by 8.8 per cent in March, 2023 over March, 2022 and its cumulative index increased by 8.6 per cent during 2022-23 over the corresponding period of previous year. 

Crude Oil production, having 8.98 per cent weight declined by 2.8 per cent in March, 2023 over March, 2022 and its cumulative index declined by 1.7 per cent during 2022-23 over the corresponding period of previous year. Cement production, having 5.37 per cent weight declined by 0.8 per cent in March, 2023 over March, 2022, while its cumulative index increased by 8.6 per cent during 2022-23 over the corresponding period of previous year. Electricity generation, having 19.85 per cent weight declined by 1.8 per cent in March, 2023 over March, 2022, while its cumulative index increased by 8.9 per cent during 2022-23 over the corresponding period of previous year.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 18152.05, up by 87.05 points or 0.48% after trading in a range of 18101.75 and 18180.25. There were 34 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tech Mahindra up by 3.26%, ONGC up by 3.21%, Hindalco up by 2.30%, UPL up by 2.12% and JSW Steel up by 1.96%. On the flip side, Hero MotoCorp down by 2.93%, Tata Motors down by 1.34%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.29%, Ultratech Cement down by 1.29% and Bharti Airtel down by 0.95% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Taiwan Weighted added 31.78 points or 0.2% to 15,610.96, Hang Seng advanced 122.72 points or 0.62% to 20,017.29, KOSPI increased 18.25 points or 0.73% to 2,519.78, Straits Times rose 8.08 points or 0.25% to 3,278.59 and Nikkei 225 surged 38.73 points or 0.13% to 29,161.91. However, Jakarta Composite plunged 83.98 points or 1.23% to 6,831.74.