Firm trade persists over Dalal Street

Firm trade persisted over the Dalal Street in early afternoon deals with both Sensex and Nifty holsing notable gains, aided by positive cues from other Asian markets. Domestic sentiments were optimistic, as the provisional payroll data released by the retirement fund body showed that formal sector workers under the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation surged by 13.2% to 13.9 million in 2022-23 compared to 12.2 million in 2021-22. However, upside remained capped, as the finance ministry said in its Monthly Economic Review for April that India's economy is likely to see downside risks to growth and upside risks to inflation, partly due to challenges in the country's external sector as well as weather-related uncertainties. 

On the global front, Asian markets were trading higher, after China's central bank left its key interest rates unchanged despite strengthening calls for monetary policy easing to support economic growth amid a notable slowdown in inflation. The People's Bank of China retained its one-year loan prime rate, or LPR, at 3.65 percent. Likewise, the five-year LPR, the benchmark for mortgage rates, was left unchanged at 4.30 percent.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 61983.63, up by 253.95 points or 0.41% after trading in a range of 61579.78 and 61989.32. 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 by 0.45%, while Small cap index was up by 0.29%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Utilities up by 1.56%, IT up by 1.56%, Consumer Durables up by 1.40%, TECK up by 1.24% and Oil & Gas up by 1.02%, while Telecom down by 0.19% and Bankex down by 0.17% were the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tech Mahindra up by 2.71%, Infosys up by 1.74%, HCL Technologies up by 1.71%, Wipro up by 1.68% and TCS up by 1.52%. On the flip side, Tata Motors down by 0.84%, Indusind Bank down by 0.80%, Nestle down by 0.58%, ICICI Bank down by 0.53% and Axis Bank down by 0.48% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the engineering export promotion council (EEPC) has said that India’s exports of engineering goods to Russia jumped 11 times in April 2023 to $133.6 million as compared to year-ago month while the US and China markets continued to soften. Engineering exports to the CIS country were $11.7 million in April 2022.

The value of engineering exports to the US was $1.4 billion in April 2023, down 24.9 per cent compared to $1.86 billion in the year-ago month. Shipments to China too continued with the declining trend and fell 15.5 per cent to $183.3 million in April 2023 as compared to $216.9 million in the same month last year. However, exports to Oman more than doubled during the month to $153.9 million over the corresponding month of April 2022.

Out of 25 top destinations for Indian engineering goods, as many as 15 saw positive year-on-year growth during the month under review while 10 countries witnessed a regrowth. The top 25 countries, including the US, Germany, the UK, France, Indonesia and Singapore, contribute about 76 per cent of the total engineering exports from India. Engineering exports from India continued to decline in 2023-24 as April 2023 saw a 7.15 per cent drop to $8.99 billion as against $9.68 billion in April 2022. Drop in shipment to North America, the EU and ASEAN region led to a decline in overall engineering exports.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 18316.95, up by 113.55 points or 0.62% after trading in a range of 18178.85 and 18318.15. There were 36 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Adani Enterprises up by 16.36%, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone up by 7.42%, Tech Mahindra up by 2.85%, Divi's Laboratories up by 2.62% and Apollo Hospital up by 2.52%. On the flip side, Eicher Motors down by 0.93%, Tata Motors down by 0.91%, Indusind Bank down by 0.75%, Nestle down by 0.53% and ICICI Bank down by 0.47% were the top losers.

All Asian markets were trading higher; Hang Seng advanced 320.47 points or 1.65% to 19,771.04, Nikkei 225 surged 278.47 points or 0.9% to 31,086.82, Jakarta Composite gained 22.09 points or 0.33% to 6,722.65, KOSPI increased 19.29 points or 0.75% to 2,557.08, Shanghai Composite strengthened 12.12 points or 0.37% to 3,295.66, Taiwan Weighted added 5.97 points or 0.04% to 16,180.89 and Straits Times rose 0.22 points or 0.01% to 3,202.81.