Indian markets widen gains in late afternoon session

Indian markets widened their gains in late afternoon session following gains in IT, Metal and Banking counters. The broader indices, the BSE Mid cap index and Small cap index were too trading with healthy gains. Traders got support as India’s inflation based on wholesale price index (WPI) turned negative for the first time since July 2020 at (-) 0.92% for the month of April 2023 as against 1.34% in March 2023, on account of fall in prices of non-food articles, coal, electricity and mineral oils. Besides, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said that the country is now becoming self-reliant and as per economic experts, India will achieve third rank in the world economy by 2027. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green amid buoyant global sentiment, with investors across the region bracing for a spate of key economic data due from China on Tuesday and reacting to the latest move from the Chinese central bank. European markets were trading higher ahead of a busy week of earnings, economic data releases and speeches by Federal Reserve officials. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 62499.88, up by 471.98 points or 0.76% after trading in a range of 61950.30 and 62562.67. There were 27 stocks advancing against 3 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 0.48%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 4.75%, FMCG up by 1.18%, Capital Goods up by 1.05%, TECK up by 0.99% and Auto was up by 0.97%, while Power down by 0.44% and Utilities was down by 0.37% were the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Motors up by 3.39%, Tech Mahindra up by 2.09%, ITC up by 1.72%, Infosys up by 1.64% and Larsen & Toubro up by 1.64%. On the flip side, Maruti Suzuki down by 0.91%, Sun Pharma down by 0.31% and Nestle down by 0.18% were the few losers.

Meanwhile, India’s inflation based on wholesale price index (WPI) turned negative for the first time since July 2020 at (-) 0.92% for the month of April 2023 as against 1.34% in March 2023, on account of fall in prices of non-food articles, coal, electricity and mineral oils.

The Component wise, primary articles index, having weight of 22.62%, surged 1.31% to 177.3 (provisional) in April 2023 from 175.0 (provisional) for the month of March 2023, as prices of crude petroleum & natural gas, minerals and food articles increased in April 2023 as compared to March 2023.However, prices of non-food articles declined in April 2023 as compared to March 2023.

Fuel & Power index, having weight of 13.15%, declined by 2.68% to 152.6 (provisional) in April 2023 from 156.8 (provisional) for the month of March 2023, as prices of coal, electricity and mineral oils declined in April 2023 as compared to March 2023.

Besides, Manufactured Products constituting the major portion of the index with weight of 64.23%, remained unchanged at 141.2 (provisional) in April 2023. Meanwhile, for the month of February 2023, the final Wholesale Price Index and inflation rate for 'All Commodities' (Base: 2011-12=100) stood at 150.9 and 3.85% respectively.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 18442.65, up by 127.85 points or 0.70% after trading in a range of 18287.90 and 18458.90. There were 38 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index, while 1 stock remained unchanged. 

The top gainers on Nifty were Hero MotoCorp up by 3.80%, Tata Motors up by 3.37%, Tech Mahindra up by 2.00%, Hindalco up by 1.93% and ITC up by 1.77%. On the flip side, Adani Enterprises down by 2.81%, Cipla down by 1.98%, BPCL down by 1.31%, Divi's Lab down by 1.12% and Grasim Industries down by 1.08% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Hang Seng advanced 343.89 points or 1.72% to 19,971.13, Nikkei 225 surged 238.04 points or 0.8% to 29,626.34, Shanghai Composite strengthened 38.38 points or 1.16% to 3,310.74, Straits Times rose 5.03 points or 0.16% to 3,213.58, KOSPI was up by 3.93 points or 0.16% to 2,479.35. On the flip side, Jakarta Composite plunged 21.09 points or 0.32% to 6,686.67 and Taiwan Weighted was down by 27.31 points or 0.18% to 15,475.05. 

European markets were trading higher; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 21.62 points or 0.28% to 7,776.24, France’s CAC rose 32.57 points or 0.44% to 7,447.42 and Germany’s DAX was up by 21.41 points or 0.13% to 15,935.23.