Sensex, Nifty stage further recovery

Indian equity benchmarks staged further recovery in early noon deals, supported by gains in Power and Utilities stocks. Further, Power Grid Corporation of India and HCL Technologies gained around 2% each in noon deals. Traders got some relief, amid reports that formal job creation under the Employees’ State Insurance Scheme registered a month-on-month growth of 2.8% in April with the addition of 1.78 million net new employees compared to 1.73 million formal workers added in March. Meanwhile, India and the UK concluded the tenth round of talks for a proposed free trade agreement last week, and the next round of negotiations is due to take place in the coming month.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red, even after Japan's industrial production expanded for the third straight month in April, revised from a decline reported initially. The latest data from the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry showed that industrial production rose by a seasonally adjusted 0.7 percent month-on-month in April, following a 0.3 percent increase in March. In the flash report, industrial output showed a decline of 0.4 percent.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 63010.53, down by 157.77 points or 0.25% after trading in a range of 62801.91 and 63186.33. There were 13 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose by 0.08%, while Small cap index was up by 0.23%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Power up by 0.61%, Utilities up by 0.58%, IT up by 0.54%, Metal up by 0.53% and TECK up by 0.41%, while Bankex down by 0.43%, Oil & Gas down by 0.22%, FMCG down by 0.20%, Energy down by 0.19% and Consumer Durables down by 0.13% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Power Grid Corporation of India up by 1.91%, HCL Technologies up by 1.89%, Tata Motors up by 1.53%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.26% and Wipro up by 0.88%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finance down by 2.27%, Bajaj Finserv down by 2.05%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.30%, Ultratech Cement down by 1.08% and Indusind Bank down by 0.88% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Ministry of Steel has said that public sector steel companies paid over Rs 692.36 crore to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in May 2023, 35.6 per cent higher than the payment made in the same month last year.

During April-May 2023, steel Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) have made payment of Rs 1,321.32 crore to MSMEs, which is 23.8 per cent higher than Rs 1,067.53 crore made during the corresponding period of preceding 2022-23 fiscal. 

The status of pending payments to MSMEs by CPSEs of the steel ministry is being monitored on a weekly basis to ensure that dues are cleared within the 45-day deadline.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 18719.50, down by 35.95 points or 0.19% after trading in a range of 18660.65 and 18761.20. There were 22 stocks advancing against 28 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Power Grid Corporation of India up by 1.89%, HDFC Life Insurance up by 1.88%, HCL Technologies up by 1.85%, Tata Motors up by 1.79% and Eicher Motors up by 1.45%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finance down by 2.26%, Bajaj Finserv down by 2.13%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.21%, Ultratech Cement down by 1.01% and Indusind Bank down by 0.99% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Hang Seng declined 311.22 points or 1.56% to 19,601.67, Taiwan Weighted lost 89.65 points or 0.52% to 17,184.91, Jakarta Composite plunged 29.2 points or 0.44% to 6,656.86, Straits Times fell 20.28 points or 0.63% to 3,220.89, Shanghai Composite weakened 13.25 points or 0.41% to 3,242.56 and KOSPI dropped 4.59 points or 0.18% to 2,604.91, while Nikkei 225 surged 18.49 points or 0.06% to 33,388.91.