Benchmarks remain in green in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks remained in green in morning deals, led by gains in Banking, Metal and TECK stocks amid positive cues in global markets. Sentiments remained positive with Secretary in the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) Rajesh Kumar Singh highlighted that the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme is showing significant dividends across many sectors. He said the benefits under the PLI scheme are yielding positive results and thus, the government is considering extending the benefits of the PLI scheme to some labour-intensive sectors. However, gains remain capped as some concern came with a private report that the value of foreign portfolio investment (FPI) in Indian equities was at $542 billion in the March quarter of 2023, a decline of 11 per cent from the preceding year, largely due to the exodus of foreign money from the domestic market. In comparison, the value of FPI in Indian equities was $612 billion in the January-March quarter of 2022. On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly in green following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight amid signs that U.S. debt ceiling negotiations are moving in the right direction. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 61767.88, up by 207.24 points or 0.34% after trading in a range of 61687.10 and 61955.90. There were 20 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.21%, while Small cap index was up by 0.49%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Bankex up by 0.54%, Metal up by 0.38%, TECK up by 0.37%, Telecom up by 0.37% and Industrials up by 0.29%, while Realty down by 0.94%, Oil & Gas down by 0.32%, Power down by 0.27%, Healthcare down by 0.18% and Utilities down by 0.12% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bajaj Finance up by 1.45%, Axis Bank up by 1.28%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.17%, Bajaj Finserv up by 0.70% and Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 0.63%. On the flip side, Sun Pharma down by 0.68%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.65%, Titan Company down by 0.56%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.39% and Tata Motors down by 0.36% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has said that the Customs duties of India are ‘very’ often misconstrued to be high on most items, raw materials, intermediates but in reality, the duties are very low. He said that the duties on technological items that are helping the Indian economy grow are very low. 

The minister said actual applied rates of tariffs are lower than the agreed bound rates at World Trade Organization (WTO ). He said that the trade and technology council (TTC) is helpful as it is supplementing the free trade agreement negotiations and the agreement will make India-EU relationship the defining partnership of the century.

Goyal also said that India is engaging with the EU on Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) as it is not the EU's intention to create a barrier to trade but to find a way forward towards sustainability as part of collective efforts. He stressed that India and the EU are working together to find the right solution to the CBAM issue. On the trade agreement with the EU, he said that the negotiations are progressing well.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 18235.60, up by 53.85 points or 0.30% after trading in a range of 18213.85 and 18297.20. There were 30 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bajaj Finance up by 1.43%, Axis Bank up by 1.38%, HDFC Life Insurance up by 1.22%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.15% and JSW Steel up by 0.82%. On the flip side, Divi's Lab down by 2.95%, Adani Ports &SEZ down by 1.51%, Eicher Motors down by 0.93%, Grasim Industries down by 0.79% and Sun Pharma down by 0.74% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in green; Taiwan Weighted added 171.6 points or 1.08% to 16,096.89, Hang Seng advanced 217.38 points or 1.1% to 19,777.95, Shanghai Composite strengthened 25.51 points or 0.77% to 3,309.74, KOSPI increased 19.4 points or 0.78% to 2,514.06, Straits Times rose 11.1 points or 0.35% to 3,184.94 and Nikkei 225 surged 513.5 points or 1.71% to 30,607.09.