Markets open at fresh record high levels on firm cues from US markets

Indian equity markets have opened at fresh record high levels on Wednesday on firm cues from US markets overnight, and falling crude oil prices. Markets are trading with gains of over quarter a per cent in early deals on account of buying by funds and retail investors. Meanwhile, broader indices on the BSE are also trading in green. Sentiments got boost as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its latest data has showed that India's current account deficit (CAD) narrowed to $1.3 billion or 0.2 per cent of GDP in the January-March quarter of FY23, mainly due to moderation in the trade deficit and a robust increase in services exports. Further, foreign fund inflows also supported domestic sentiments. According to the provisional data available on the NSE, foreign institutional investors (FII) bought shares worth a net Rs 2024.05 crore on June 27. 

On the global front, Asian markets are trading mixed on Wednesday after China’s industrial firms recorded a 18.8% tumble in cumulative profits in the first five months of 2023 from the year before. The US markets ended higher on Tuesday as upbeat economic data soothed investor worries about an imminent recession triggered by the Federal Reserve’s aggressive interest rate hikes. Back home, there was some buzz in liquor industry related stocks as the Confederation of Indian Alcoholic Beverage Companies (CIABC) in its latest report has said sales of Indian-made foreign liquor (IMFL) rose by 14 per cent in volume terms to 385 million cases in FY 2022-23 (FY23) while premium products priced over Rs 1,000 per 750ml bottle grew by 48 percent. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 63578.55, up by 162.52 points or 0.26% after trading in a range of 63568.26 and 63716.00. There were 22 stocks advancing against 8 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.40%, while Small cap index up by 0.55%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Industrials up by 0.53%, Consumer Durables up by 0.52%, Capital Goods up by 0.51%, Auto up by 0.48% and Metal up by 0.36%, while Utilities down by 0.01% was the only losing index on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bajaj Finance up by 0.78%, Tata Motors up by 0.75%, SBI up by 0.71%, Titan up by 0.59% and Infosys up by 0.57%. On the flip side, Power Grid down by 0.70%, Tech Mahindra down by 0.35%, Sun Pharma down by 0.23%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.22% and Axis Bank down by 0.16% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its latest data has showed that India's current account deficit (CAD) narrowed to $1.3 billion or 0.2 per cent of GDP in the January-March quarter of FY23, mainly due to moderation in the trade deficit and a robust increase in services exports. However, for the 2022-23 fiscal, the current account balance recorded a deficit of 2 per cent of GDP compared to 1.2 per cent in 2021-22.

It highlighted India's current account deficit decreased to $1.3 billion (0.2 per cent of GDP) in Q4:2022-23 from $16.8 billion (2.0 per cent of GDP) in Q3:2022-231, and $13.4 billion (1.6 per cent of GDP) a year ago (Q4:2021-22). The sequential decline in CAD in the fourth quarter of 2022-23 was mainly on account of a moderation in the trade deficit to $52.6 billion from $71.3 billion in the preceding quarter, coupled with robust services exports.

Moreover, it mentioned net services receipts increased, on a sequentially and year-on-year (y-o-y) basis, on the back of a rise in net earnings from computer services. The central bank had been maintaining that the CAD, a key indicator of the country's balance of payments, would remain manageable.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 18867.65, up by 50.25 points or 0.27% after trading in a range of 18861.40 and 18908.15. There were 35 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Adani Enterprises up by 3.32%, Adani Ports up by 1.49%, Grasim Industries up by 0.98%, Tata Motors up by 0.84% and Divi's Lab up by 0.80%. On the flip side, HDFC Life Insurance down by 1.17%, Power Grid down by 0.76%, ONGC down by 0.44%, Tech Mahindra down by 0.38% and Sun Pharma down by 0.34% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mixed; Taiwan Weighted added 50.82 points or 0.3% to 16,938.72, Straits Times rose 3.9 points or 0.12% to 3,209.25 and Nikkei 225 surged 546.84 points or 1.68% to 33,085.17. However, Hang Seng declined 1.62 points or 0.01% to 19,146.51, Shanghai Composite weakened 16.6 points or 0.52% to 3,172.84 and KOSPI dropped 17.2 points or 0.67% to 2,564.19.