Key gauges continue to trade in fine fettle; IT lead gains

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade in fine fettle in last leg of trade as traders opted to buy information technology stocks as traders saw buying opportunities at key levels ahead of the resumption of debt ceiling talks in the United States. Traders were also speculating that Indian government move to withdraw its highest value currency notes from circulation will provide temporary boost to Asia’s third-largest economy as Indians could snap up gold, properties and household items like air conditioners and refrigerators to quickly spend the Rs 2,000 notes. 

On the global front, Asian markets were trading in green at this point of time with U.S. debt-ceiling discussions, dovish comments from Fed Chair Jerome Powell and Sino-American ties in focus. However, European markets were trading mostly in red as traders monitored political developments in Greece after Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis won the national election but failed to reach the majority. Back home, sentiments remained up-beat with engineering export promotion council’s report that India’s exports of engineering goods to Russia jumped 11 times in April this year to $133.6 million as compared to year-ago month while the US and China markets continued to soften.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 61917.90, up by 188.22 points or 0.30% after trading in a range of 61579.78 and 62019.73. There were 19 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.64%, while Small cap index was up by 0.42%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 2.08%, TECK up by 1.62%, Utilities up by 1.40%, Consumer Durables up by 1.07% and Healthcare up by 1.03%, while Bankex down by 0.46% and Telecom down by 0.43% were the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tech Mahindra up by 3.08%, TCS up by 2.30%, Wipro up by 2.29%, HCL Tech up by 2.11% and Infosys up by 1.85%. On the flip side, Axis Bank down by 0.82%, HDFC Bank down by 0.69%, ICICI Bank down by 0.67%, Nestle down by 0.63% and Indusind Bank down by 0.50% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Retirement fund body, Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) in its latest ‘Provisional Estimate of Net Payroll’ data report has showed that India created 1340183 new jobs in the month of March 2023 as against revised figure of 1217782 in February 2023.

As per the report, the maximum jobs were created in the age bracket of 22-25 and in this bracket the top sectors which have created more fresh jobs include Expert Services; Trading-Commercial Establishments; Establishment Engaged in Manufacture, Marketing Servicing; Engineers- Engineering Contractors; Building & Construction Industry; Financing Establishment and Hospitals. In the similar age bracket, Maharashtra was the first among the States to create maximum payroll, followed by Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Haryana and Delhi.

According to the data report, 6928 new jobs were created in less than 18 age group category, while 275295 jobs in 18-21 age group category. Further, 22-25 age, 26-28 age, 29-35 age and more than 35 age group category witnessed 335180, 193945, 279029 and 249806 new payrolls, respectively in March.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 18300.55, up by 97.15 points or 0.53% after trading in a range of 18178.85 and 18325.80. There were 35 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Adani Enterprises up by 18.16%, Adani Ports up by 6.60%, Divi's Lab up by 4.45%, Tech Mahindra up by 3.11% and Apollo Hospital up by 3.04%. On the flip side, Eicher Motors down by 0.82%, Axis Bank down by 0.81%, Nestle down by 0.72%, Hero MotoCorp down by 0.68% and ICICI Bank down by 0.68% were the top losers.

All Asian markets are trading higher; Nikkei 225 surged 278.47 points or 0.9% to 31,086.82, Hang Seng jumped 227.6 points or 1.16% to 19,678.17, Jakarta Composite advanced 45.2 points or 0.67% to 6,745.76, KOSPI rose 19.29 points or 0.75% to 2,557.08, Shanghai Composite strengthened 12.93 points or 0.39% to 3,296.47, Taiwan Weighted added 5.97 points or 0.04% to 16,180.89 and Straits Times was up by 5.33 points or 0.17% to 3,207.92.

European markets were trading mostly in red; France’s CAC fell 9.66 points or 0.13% to 7,482.30 and Germany’s DAX lost 15.91 points or 0.1% to 16,259.47, while UK’s FTSE 100 was up by 19.67 points or 0.25% to 7,776.54.