Benchmarks continue to trade in green in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade in green in morning deals, led by gains in Realty, IT and Consumer Durables stocks amid strong GDP data, continuous foreign fund inflows and a largely optimistic trend in Asian markets. India’s economic growth shot up by 6.1 per cent in the March quarter of FY23. Foreign institutional investors (FII) net bought shares worth net Rs 3,406 crore on May 31, according to the provisional data available on the NSE. Sentiments remained positive as India's manufacturing PMI showcased encouraging developments in May, painting a notably positive picture for the sector. The S&P Global India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index rose from 57.2 in April to 58.7 in May, indicating the strongest improvement in the health of the sector since October 2020. Some support also came with Chief Economic Adviser V Anantha Nageswaran’s statement that Chief Economic Adviser (CEA) V Anantha Nageswaran has said India’s economic growth may exceed the initial estimate of 6.5 per cent in the current fiscal (FY24) and the country can look for another year of solid economic performance. On the flip side, Asian markets are trading mostly in green amid receding bets for a U.S. rate hike this month and relief over the passage of the U.S. debt ceiling bill through the House.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 62698.55, up by 76.31 points or 0.12% after trading in a range of 62526.18 and 62750.93. 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 0.40%, while Small cap index was up by 0.72%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.23%, IT up by 0.93%, Consumer Durables up by 0.92%, Healthcare up by 0.73% and Utilities up by 0.55%, while Metal down by 0.61%, Energy down by 0.23%, Bankex down by 0.17% and Telecom down by 0.05% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Hindustan Unilever up by 2.30%, Asian Paints up by 1.34%, TCS up by 1.25%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.07% and Axis Bank up by 1.03%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 3.27%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 2.85%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.22%, ITC down by 0.58% and Tata Motors down by 0.50% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, motivated by higher than expected GDP number in the fourth quarter of 2022-23, Chief Economic Adviser (CEA) V Anantha Nageswaran has said India’s economic growth may exceed the initial estimate of 6.5 per cent in the current fiscal (FY24) and the country can look for another year of solid economic performance.   

The real GDP growth for 2022-23 is higher compared to the growth projections by various international agencies, reflecting the strong resilience of the Indian economy. India’s economy grew by 6.1 per cent in the January-March quarter of 2022-23, pushing the annual growth rate to 7.2 per cent on account of better performance by agriculture, manufacturing, mining and construction sectors.

He said India was the fastest-growing major economy over the last fiscal and in the quarter ending March 2023 as well. He added growth in the year was driven by robust private consumption and a sustained increase in capital formation. In the latest monthly economic report released in the third week of May, he said ‘We did say that, while in the economic survey, we mentioned that 6.5 per cent was our target or an estimate of the real GDP growth for this financial year but we also mentioned that the risks to the downside were higher.’

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 18566.90, up by 32.50 points or 0.18% after trading in a range of 18514.40 and 18580.00. There were 32 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Apollo Hospital up by 4.11%, Divi's Lab up by 2.81%, Hindustan Unilever up by 2.10%, Asian Paints up by 1.58% and Bajaj Auto up by 1.57%. On the flip side, Coal India down by 4.39%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 3.82%, Bharti Airtel down by 2.44%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.32% and HDFC Life Insurance down by 0.92% were the top losers. 

Asian markets are trading mostly in green; Straits Times rose 5.12 points or 0.16% to 3,163.92, Nikkei 225 surged 247.63 points or 0.8% to 31,135.51, Hang Seng advanced 182.01 points or 1% to 18,416.28 and Shanghai Composite strengthened 17.55 points or 0.55% to 3,222.11.

On the flip side, Taiwan Weighted lost 64.81 points or 0.39% to 16,514.15 and KOSPI dropped 5.68 points or 0.22% to 2,571.44.