Bourses trade at day’s high points in late afternoon session

Trading strength to strength, Indian equity markets soared at day’s high points in late afternoon session. Bajaj twins, HDFC and Asian Paints were the prime gainers among heavy-weights. Traders reacted positively to strong earnings from heavy-weights companies. The broader indices, the BSE Mid cap index and Small cap index were traded above half percent respectively. Traders took note of report that Apex exporters body FIEO has urged the government to support domestic exporters in undertaking overseas marketing initiatives with a view to boost outbound shipments. FIEO President A Sakthivel said that Indian exporters lack in marketing and small exporters ‘hardly’ have resources to market aggressively overseas.

On the global market, Asian markets were trading mostly in green shrugging off the sour mood surrounding the Federal Reserve's announcement that it was raising interest rates yet again and likely keeping them high for the foreseeable future. European markets were trading lower as investors digested the latest rate hike by the U.S. Federal Reserve and look ahead to the European Central Bank’s next monetary policy decision.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 61590.58, up by 397.28 points or 0.65% after trading in a range of 61119.56 and 61600.24. There were 19 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.68%, while Small cap index was up by 0.73%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 1.36%, Industrials up by 0.59%, TECK up by 0.51%, Metal up by 0.49% and Bankex was up by 0.48%, while Realty down by 0.11%, FMCG down by 0.06% and Oil & Gas was down by 0.01% were the few losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bajaj Finance up by 3.07%, HDFC up by 2.48%, Asian Paints up by 1.85%, Bajaj Finserv up by 1.54% and HDFC Bank up by 1.43%. On the flip side, Tata Motors down by 0.80%, Power Grid down by 0.79%, Indusind Bank down by 0.77%, Nestle down by 0.65% and ICICI Bank down by 0.56% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, emphasizing that agriculture remains prime pulse of the Indian economy, Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar has said that the agriculture is at the core of the socio-economic development of the country. It accounts for around 19 per cent of the GDP and about two-thirds of the population is dependent on the sector.

Union Agriculture Minister also noted that India’s agriculture sector has been witnessing robust growth with an average annual growth rate of 4.6 per cent over the last six years. This has enabled agriculture and allied activities sector to contribute significantly towards country’s overall growth, development and food security.

Meanwhile, as per 2nd Advance Estimates (2022-23), production of foodgrains in the country is estimated at 3235 lakh tonnes which is higher by 79 lakh tonnes than the production of foodgrains during 2021-22. Record production is estimated of rice, maize, gram, pulses, rapeseed and mustard, oilseeds and sugarcane.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 18198.60, up by 108.75 points or 0.60% after trading in a range of 18066.70 and 18208.70. There were 33 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bajaj Finance up by 3.00%, Adani Enterprises up by 2.65%, SBI Life up by 2.59%, HDFC up by 2.28% and Asian Paints up by 1.78%. On the flip side, UPL down by 1.22%, Tata Consumer down by 0.95%, Power Grid down by 0.79%, Indusind Bank down by 0.72% and Tata Motors down by 0.71% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green, Hang Seng advanced 249.57 points or 1.25% to 19,948.73, Taiwan Weighted added 55.62 points or 0.36% to 15,609.03, Shanghai Composite strengthened 27.19 points or 0.81% to 3,350.46, Jakarta Composite gained 22.75 points or 0.33% to 6,835.47 and Straits Times was up by 3.46 points or 0.11% to 3,265.47. On the flip side, KOSPI was down by 0.46 points or 0.02% to 2,500.94.

European markets were trading lower, UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 35.44 points or 0.46% to 7,752.93, France’s CAC fell 29.43 points or 0.4% to 7,374.40 and Germany’s DAX was down by 49.06 points or 0.31% to 15,766.00.