Domestic Indices trim some gains on profit booking

Domestic equity indices trimmed some of their gains in late morning deals on account of profit booking. Some cautiousness came in markets as data updated by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) showed that India's forex reserves fell $2.9 billion and stood at $593.2 billion as of June 23. Traders also remained concerned as India's manufacturing sector showed a slowdown in June as compared to May, a private survey showed. According to S&P Global India, the country's manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) fell to 57.8 in June from 58.7 in May. However, markets continued to trade higher owing to hectic buying in HDFC twins, Ultratech Cement and Tata Steel. 

On the global front, Asian markets were trading in green following the broadly positive cues from global markets on Friday, as traders reacted to the unexpected cooler-than-expected US inflation for May. Back home, on the BSE sectoral front, traders were seen pilling up position in Oil & Gas, Energy, Metal, PSU and Telecom, while selling was witnessed in IT, TECK, Auto, Consumer Durables and Healthcare. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 64961.10, up by 242.54 points or 0.37% after trading in a range of 64836.16 and 65240.57. There were 14 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.41%, while Small cap index up by 0.57%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 2.19%, Energy up by 1.68%, Metal up by 1.59%, PSU up by 1.01% and Telecom up by 0.74%, while IT down by 0.56%, TECK down by 0.41%, Auto down by 0.22%, Consumer Durables down by 0.07% and Healthcare down by 0.05% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were HDFC up by 2.00%, Tata Steel up by 1.74%, Ultratech Cement up by 1.71%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.46% and HDFC Bank up by 1.37%. On the flip side, Power Grid down by 1.71%, Sun Pharma down by 1.23%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.18%, HCL down by 1.08% and Nestle down by 0.96% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the output of eight core industries grew 4.3 per cent year-on-year in May 2023, the same rate as in the previous month, but much slower compared with 19.3 per cent in the year-ago period. The Eight Core Industries - coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilizers, steel, cement and electricity - comprise 40.27 percent of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP).

Coal production, having 10.33 per cent weight increased by 7.2 per cent in May, 2023 over May, 2022 and its cumulative index increased by 8.2 per cent during April to May 2023-24 over corresponding period of the previous year. Fertilizers production, having 2.63 per cent weight increased by 9.7 per cent in May, 2023 over May, 2022 and its cumulative index increased by 15.7 per cent during April to May, 2023-24 over the corresponding period of previous year.

Steel production, having 17.92 per cent weight increased by 9.2 per cent in May, 2023 over May, 2022 and its cumulative index increased by 12.2 per cent during April to May, 2023-24 over the corresponding period of previous year. Cement production, having 5.37 per cent weight increased by 15.5 per cent in May, 2023 over May, 2022 and its cumulative index increased by 13.7 per cent during April to May, 2023-24 over the corresponding period of previous year. Petroleum Refinery production, having 28.04 per cent weight increased by 2.8 per cent in May, 2023 over May, 2022 and its cumulative index increased by 0.7 per cent during April to May, 2023-24 over the corresponding period of previous year.

Crude Oil production, having 8.98 per cent weight declined by 1.9 per cent in May, 2023 over May, 2022 and its cumulative index declined by 2.7 per cent during April to May, 2023-24 over the corresponding period of previous year. Natural Gas production, having 6.88 per cent weight declined by 0.3 per cent in May, 2023 over May, 2022 and its cumulative index declined by 1.5 per cent during April to May, 2023-24 over the corresponding period of previous year. Electricity generation having 19.85 per cent weight declined by 0.3 per cent in May, 2023 over May, 2022 and its cumulative index declined by 0.7 per cent during April to May, 2023-24 over the corresponding period of previous year. 

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 19269.65, up by 80.60 points or 0.42% after trading in a range of 19234.40 and 19336.10. There were 26 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were BPCL up by 3.88%, Grasim Industries up by 2.38%, HDFC up by 2.13%, Tata Steel up by 1.79% and Ultratech Cement up by 1.77%. On the flip side, Power Grid down by 1.78%, Bajaj Auto down by 1.77%, Hero MotoCorp down by 1.24%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.18% and Sun Pharma down by 1.11% were the top losers.

All Asian markets were trading higher; Taiwan Weighted added 168.66 points or 0.99% to 17,084.20, Hang Seng advanced 362.34 points or 1.92% to 19,278.77, Shanghai Composite strengthened 43.99 points or 1.37% to 3,246.05, KOSPI increased 32.45 points or 1.27% to 2,596.73, Jakarta Composite gained 21.64 points or 0.32% to 6,683.52, Straits Times rose 5.21 points or 0.16% to 3,211.12 and Nikkei 225 surged 542.09 points or 1.63% to 33,731.13.