Benchmarks continue to trade higher in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade higher in morning deals, helped by foreign fund inflows and positive trends in the global markets. According to exchange data, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 12,350 crore on Wednesday. Buying in index major Infosys, TCS and Mahindra & Mahindra also helped markets to maintain their winning momentum. Sentiments remained up-beat with S&P Global Ratings Senior Economist (Asia Pacific) Vishrut Rana’s statement that Indian economy is expected to clock an average growth rate of 6.7 per cent till 2026-27 fiscal driven by domestic consumption. Traders also took support with Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) bi-annual Financial Stability Report stating that the Indian banking system's asset quality strengthened to a decadal best, with the gross non-performing assets (GNPAs) ratio falling to 3.9 per cent as of March 2023. It said GNPAs of the scheduled commercial banks are expected to improve further to 3.6 per cent by March 2024, as per the baseline scenario. 

On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly in green as encouraging U.S. economic data and positive results from the Federal Reserve's annul stress tests of banks outweighed concerns over further policy tightening by major central banks. Back home, sugar sector stocks remained in limelight as the Union Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs hiked the fair and remunerative price (FRP) of sugarcane by Rs 10 per quintal to Rs 315 for the 2023-24 season that will start from October. The increase in FRP last year was of Rs 15 per quintal. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 64345.45, up by 430.03 points or 0.67% after trading in a range of 64068.44 and 64414.84. There were 24 stocks advancing against 6 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.46%, while Small cap index was up by 0.51%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 2.16%, TECK up by 1.73%, Auto up by 1.15%, Realty up by 0.72% and Healthcare up by 0.62%, while Telecom down by 0.83%, Utilities down by 0.15%, FMCG down by 0.09% and Power down by 0.04% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Infosys up by 2.68%, TCS up by 2.19%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.03%, HCL Tech. up by 1.98% and Indusind Bank up by 1.93%. On the flip side, ITC down by 0.43%, ICICI Bank down by 0.39%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.36%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.17% and Tata Steel down by 0.09% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, S&P Global Ratings Senior Economist (Asia Pacific) Vishrut Rana has said Indian economy is expected to clock an average growth rate of 6.7 per cent till 2026-27 fiscal driven by domestic consumption. Further, he stated the economic growth in the current fiscal (FY24) is expected to come in around 6 per cent, lower than 7.2 per cent clocked in 2022-23.

He stated ‘We are seeing some headwinds from the trade side which is affecting activity and that is one of the factors that is affecting growth this year’.  He said the factors that are driving the slowdown from 7.2 per cent growth last fiscal are weaker external environment, moderation in pent-up demand, and softening private consumption activity. He added with tighter monetary policy there is expected to be some impact on consumer demand. 

However, he said there is a 'strong tailwind' coming from the investment side and the investment outlook is looking significantly stronger. Besides. He said ‘Inflation is moderating... We do not expect RBI to be in a hurry to cut interest rates.’ Moreover, he said the RBI is likely to wait till early 2024 to cut rates till inflation expectations are anchored fully.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 19086.05, up by 113.95 points or 0.60% after trading in a range of 19024.60 and 19108.20. There were 37 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Infosys up by 2.68%, TCS up by 2.16%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.09%, HCL Tech. up by 2.02% and Indusind Bank up by 1.95%. On the flip side, Adani Ports &SEZ down by 1.98%, HDFC Life Insurance down by 1.96%, Adani Enterprises down by 1.77%, BPCL down by 0.66% and Apollo Hospital down by 0.61% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in green; Hang Seng advanced 40.96 points or 0.22% to 18,975.32, Shanghai Composite strengthened 25.31 points or 0.8% to 3,207.69, KOSPI increased 17.28 points or 0.68% to 2,567.30 and Straits Times rose 3.99 points or 0.12% to 3,211.27.

On the flip side, Taiwan Weighted lost 47.4 points or 0.28% to 16,894.90 and Nikkei 225 slipped 119.11 points or 0.36% to 33,115.03.