Markets trade near day’s high levels in late afternoon

In a volatile trading session, Indian markets traded near day’s high levels in late afternoon session tracing positive cues from European markets. Buying at banking and IT counters lifted the mood of the markets. Traders got support after S&P Global Ratings has affirmed India’s sovereign rating at ‘BBB-’ with a stable outlook and said that strengths lie in a fast-growing economy and strong external balance sheet. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green as hopes that lawmakers in Washington will avert a first-ever U.S. default offset worries about China's uneven economic recovery. U.S. President Joe Biden and House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy hope to finalize a deal on the debt ceiling after Biden returns from the Group of Seven meeting in Japan on Sunday. European markets were trading higher pushing the German DAX towards record highs as signs of progress in U.S. debt ceiling negotiations encouraged investors to pile into riskier assets.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 61622.17, up by 190.43 points or 0.31% after trading in a range of 61251.70 and 61636.82. There were 16 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index declined 0.07%, while Small cap index was down by 0.22%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 1.55%, TECK up by 1.29%, Realty up by 0.54%, Auto up by 0.44% and Power was up by 0.28%, while Oil & Gas down by 0.80%, Consumer Durables down by 0.59%, Healthcare down by 0.56%, Energy down by 0.44% and PSU was down by 0.44% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Motors up by 3.04%, Tech Mahindra up by 2.40%, Infosys up by 1.99%, HCL Tech up by 1.70% and Wipro up by 1.23%. On the flip side, Power Grid down by 0.98%, Titan Company down by 0.82%, Asian Paints down by 0.76%, NTPC down by 0.63% and Tata Steel down by 0.62% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in its latest report has showed that India's domestic air traffic surged 22 percent in April as compared to the same month last year. Airlines carried 128.88 lakh passengers in the month of April. 

However, domestic air traffic decreased marginally as compared to March 2023 when 128.93 lakh passengers carried by the domestic airlines. As per the report, April Air traffic figures also surpassed pre-COVID levels. In April 2019, domestic airlines flew only 109.95 lakh passengers.

The report further noted that the passenger load factor (PLF), or the occupancy rate, of SpiceJet, Vistara, IndiGo, Air India and AirAsia India stood at 92.2 percent, 92.1 percent, 87.4 percent, 87.9 percent, and 89.4 percent, respectively, in April. The PLF is a key indicator of the company’s performance, as it measures the average percentage of seats filled on airline’s aircraft fleet.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 18167.55, up by 37.60 points or 0.21% after trading in a range of 18060.40 and 18186.15. There were 20 stocks advancing against 30 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Motors up by 2.86%, Tech Mahindra up by 2.32%, Adani Enterprises up by 2.15%, Adani Ports up by 2.10% and Infosys up by 1.97%. On the flip side, Tata Consumer down by 1.57%, Britannia down by 1.47%, Divi's Lab down by 1.16%, Power Grid down by 1.15% and Bajaj Auto down by 0.96% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 surged 234.42 points or 0.76% to 30,808.35, Taiwan Weighted added 73.04 points or 0.45% to 16,174.92, Jakarta Composite gained 37.92 points or 0.57% to 6,701.03, KOSPI increased 22.39 points or 0.88% to 2,537.79 and Straits Times was up by 13.77 points or 0.43% to 3,196.32. On the flip side, Shanghai Composite weakened 13.78 points or 0.42% to 3,283.54 and Hang Seng was down by 276.68 points or 1.42% to 19,450.57.

European markets were trading higher; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 28.65 points or 0.37% to 7,770.95, France’s CAC rose 43.77 points or 0.58% to 7,490.66 and Germany’s DAX was up by 95.09 points or 0.58% to 16,258.45.