Benchmarks continue to trade in green in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade in green in morning deals, amid continuous foreign fund inflows. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were buyers on Friday as they bought equities worth Rs 1,014.06 crore, according to exchange data. Foreign investors have shown strong buying interest in Indian equities in May and invested more than Rs 23,152 crore in the first fortnight. Traders took support with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das’ statement that the headline inflation coming down to 4.7 per cent during April is ‘very satisfying’. He added that the release of the official data gives confidence that the ‘monetary policy is on the right track’. Traders also took a note of Former Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Raghuram Rajan’s statement that India's growth path lies in leveraging its intrinsic strengths and becoming crucial to global supply chains by building on its historic culture of tolerance and respect for all. 

On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly in red as investors braced for a China policy rate decision and economic data this week, while awaiting a host of U.S. Federal Reserve officials to speak to vindicate market pricing of rate cuts this year. Back home, defence industry stocks remained in watch with report that, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) promulgated a list of 928 strategically important spares and components that would face curbs on their import, With the aim of promoting aatmanirbharta (self-reliance) in weaponry and defence equipment and minimise imports by defence public sector undertakings (DPSUs). 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 62275.99, up by 248.09 points or 0.40% after trading in a range of 61950.30 and 62319.86. There were 25 stocks advancing against 5 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.57%, while Small cap index was by 0.41%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 2.91%, IT up by 0.83%, TECK up by 0.75%, Auto up by 0.72% and Telecom up by 0.71%, while Utilities down by 0.33% and Power down by 0.32% were the few losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Motors up by 3.14%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.54%, Infosys up by 1.30%, Nestle up by 0.79% and Hindustan Unilever up by 0.78%. On the flip side, Maruti Suzuki down by 0.75%, Sun Pharma down by 0.26%, Indusind Bank down by 0.20%, Bajaj Finance down by 0.11% and Bajaj Finserv down by 0.06% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Retail inflation based on Consumer Price Index (CPI) fell to an 18-month low of 4.7 per cent in April mainly due to cooling food prices. It was for the second month in a row that CPI based inflation remained within the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) comfort zone of below 6 per cent. The CPI was 5.66 per cent in March 2023 and 7.79 per cent in April 2022. Retail inflation in April is the lowest since October 2021 when it was at 4.48 per cent. The RBI has been mandated by the government to ensure inflation remains within the 4-6 per cent bracket. 

The National Statistical Office (NSO) under Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation in its data has showed that Rural CPI (General) in April 2023 stood at 4.68 per cent as against 5.51 per cent in March. The Urban CPI (General) stood at 4.85 per cent in April as against 5.89 per cent in March. The index value for Rural, Urban and Combined CPI (General) stood at 178.8, 177.4 and 178.1 respectively, in April 2023.

As per the data, the inflation in the food basket was 3.84 per cent in April, as against 4.79 per cent in March and 8.31 per cent in the year-ago period. Inflation rate for vegetables witnessed a contraction of 6.50 per cent in April 2023 compared to contraction of 8.51 per cent in March 2023. The inflation levels for food & beverage and fuel segments stood at 4.22 per cent and 5.52 per cent, respectively. Fruits inflation was subdued at 2.09 per cent in April 2023 compared to 7.55 per cent in March 2023. Among others, pulses inflation was elevated at 5.28 per cent in April compared to 4.33 per cent in March and 4.09 per cent in February. The cereals inflation in the food basket elevated at 13.67 per cent.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 18378.35, up by 63.55 points or 0.35% after trading in a range of 18287.90 and 18391.35. There were 37 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Motors up by 3.04%, Apollo Hospital up by 1.51%, Eicher Motors up by 1.45%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.41% and Bajaj Auto up by 1.28%. On the flip side, Adani Enterprises down by 3.60%, Cipla down by 2.71%, Divi's Lab down by 1.04%, Adani Ports &SEZ down by 0.81% and Maruti Suzuki down by 0.69% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in red; Taiwan Weighted lost 32.9 points or 0.21% to 15,469.46, Shanghai Composite weakened 30.78 points or 0.95% to 3,241.58, KOSPI dropped 8.21 points or 0.33% to 2,467.21, Jakarta Composite plunged 38.48 points or 0.58% to 6,669.28 and Straits Times fell 3.49 points or 0.11% to 3,205.06.

On the flip side, Nikkei 225 surged 181.72 points or 0.61% to 29,570.02 and Hang Seng advanced 27.44 points or 0.14% to 19,654.68.