Markets trade higher in early deals on Tuesday

Indian equity markets have made a positive start on Tuesday despite muted cues from global markets. Markets are trading higher with gains of around quarter a percent in early deals owing to buying by funds and retail investors. Meanwhile, broader indices on the BSE were trading with gains in the range of 0.45-0.80%. Sentiments got boost as the Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance, Government of India, has approved capital investment proposals of Rs. 56,415 crore in 16 States in the current financial year. Capital investment projects in diverse sectors have been approved, including health, education, irrigation, water supply, power, roads, bridges, and railways. Further, support also came in markets as a private report said India's current account balance likely turned positive in January-March, marking the first quarterly surplus in nearly two years thanks to a narrower trade deficit and an increase in services exports. Most of the sectoral indices on BSE were trading in green, with only exception of Consumer Durables counter. Stocks from Realty, Metal, Industrials, Capital Goods and Utilities counters were the prominent gainers.

On the global front, Asian markets are trading mixed on Tuesday, following negative cues from US markets overnight, as investors were wary of betting on riskier assets before seeing the outcome of Russia’s aborted weekend mutiny overnight. The US markets ended lower on Monday after Russia on the weekend was rocked by a brief revolt from the Wagner mercenary force. Back home, there was some buzz in textile industry related stocks as Union Minister Piyush Goyal said India is actively considering entering into free trade pacts and comprehensive economic partnership agreements to tap new markets, increase exports and create opportunities for the domestic textile industry. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 63115.95, up by 145.95 points or 0.23% after trading in a range of 63115.65 and 63205.52. There were 23 stocks advancing against 7 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.45%, while Small cap index up by 0.77%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 0.99%, Metal up by 0.96%, Industrials up by 0.57%, Capital Goods up by 0.49% and Utilities up by 0.48%, while Consumer Durables down by 0.48% was the only losing index on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Steel up by 1.14%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.01%, Asian Paints up by 0.79%, Infosys up by 0.71% and Bharti Airtel up by 0.68%. On the flip side, Titan down by 0.87%, Indusind Bank down by 0.59%, HCL down by 0.45%, Tech Mahindra down by 0.18% and Maruti Suzuki down by 0.16% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance, Government of India, has approved capital investment proposals of Rs. 56,415 crore in 16 States in the current financial year. Approval has been given under the scheme entitled ‘Special Assistance to States for Capital Investment 2023-24’. Capital investment projects in diverse sectors have been approved, including health, education, irrigation, water supply, power, roads, bridges, and railways. Funds for meeting the state share of Jal Jeevan Mission and Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana have also been provided to the states under this scheme to enhance the pace of the projects in these sectors. In order to boost capital spending by states, the 'Special Assistance to States for Capital Investment 2023-24' scheme was announced in the Union Budget 2023-24. Under the scheme, special assistance is being provided to the states in the form of a 50-year interest-free loan up to an overall sum of Rs 1.3 lakh crore during the financial year 2023-24. 

The scheme has eight parts, Part-I being the largest with allocation of Rs. 1 lakh crore. This amount has been allocated amongst States in proportion to their share of central taxes & duties as per the award of the 15th Finance Commission. Other parts of the scheme are either linked to reforms or are for sector specific projects. In Part–II of the scheme, an amount of Rs. 3,000 crore has been set aside for providing incentives to States for scrapping of State Government vehicles and ambulances, waiver of liabilities on old vehicles, providing tax concessions to individuals for scrapping of old vehicles and setting up of automated vehicle testing facilities. Part–III & IV of the scheme aim at providing incentives to States for reforms in Urban Planning and Urban Finance. An amount of Rs. 15,000 crore is earmarked for Urban Planning Reforms, while additional Rs. 5,000 crore is for incentivising the States for making Urban Local Bodies creditworthy and improving their finances.

The scheme also aims at increasing the housing stock for the police personnel and their families within the police stations in urban areas. An amount of Rs. 2,000 crore is earmarked for this purpose under Part-V of the scheme. Another objective of the Scheme is to promote national integration, carry forward the concept of Make in India and promote the concept of One District, One Product (ODOP) through construction of Unity Mall in each State. An amount of Rs. 5,000 crore has been set aside for this purpose under the Part-VI of the scheme. Part-VII of the Scheme, with an allocation of Rs. 5,000 crore is for providing financial assistance to States for setting up libraries with digital infrastructure at Panchayat and Ward level for children and adolescents.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 18741.20, up by 50.00 points or 0.27% after trading in a range of 18735.45 and 18763.60. There were 39 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were HDFC Life Insurance up by 3.19%, Tata Steel up by 1.05%, Apollo Hospital up by 1.03%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.03% and Bajaj Auto up by 1.02%. On the flip side, Cipla down by 1.23%, Titan down by 0.87%, Hero MotoCorp down by 0.82%, UPL down by 0.71% and HCL  down by 0.55% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mixed; Taiwan Weighted lost 149.46 points or 0.88% to 16,909.78, KOSPI dropped 7.91 points or 0.31% to 2,574.29 and Nikkei 225 slipped 364.86 points or 1.13% to 32,333.95. However, Hang Seng advanced 283.61 points or 1.49% to 19,077.74, Shanghai Composite strengthened 29.3 points or 0.92% to 3,179.92, Jakarta Composite gained 3.49 points or 0.05% to 6,668.16 and Straits Times rose 12.59 points or 0.39% to 3,202.27.