Benchmarks add some gains in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks added some gains in morning deals, led by gains in Realty, Utilities and Energy stocks. Traders took some support with G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant’s statement that high GDP growth of 8-9 per cent could be driven by focus on manufacturing and urbanisation. He added about 5,500 census towns need to have master planning, and sustainable urbanisation is the way forward, which is a huge opportunity to drive growth in India. He said the bulging middle class holds immense power to drive sustained economic, political and social growth in India. Traders also took a note of Crisil Ratings’ report stated that revenue of the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector is expected to grow 7-9 per cent in current financial year (FY24), a tad slower than the 8-9 registered in the past two fiscals. It stated higher volume is expected to drive revenue growth, amid support from a gradual recovery in rural demand. On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly in red after the minutes of the Fed's June meeting released showed that the vast majority of policymakers expect further tightening in US monetary policy, even as they agreed to hold interest rates steady last month.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 65605.73, up by 159.69 points or 0.24% after trading in a range of 65328.29 and 65656.11. There were 16 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.42%, while Small cap index was up by 0.62%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.86%, Utilities up by 1.47%, Energy up by 1.43%, Power up by 1.33% and Oil & Gas up by 1.32%, while IT down by 0.12% and TECK down by 0.06% were the few losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Reliance Industries up by 2.04%, Power Grid Corporation up by 2.01%, Nestle up by 0.95%, Larsen & Toubro up by 0.93% and Ultratech Cement up by 0.87%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 1.74%, Bajaj Finance down by 0.78%, Tata Steel down by 0.62%, HDFC Bank down by 0.52% and Maruti Suzuki down by 0.50% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Crisil Ratings has said revenue of the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector is expected to grow 7-9 per cent in current financial year (FY24), a tad slower than the 8-9 registered in the past two fiscals. It stated higher volume is expected to drive revenue growth, amid support from a gradual recovery in rural demand. On the other hand, it said urban demand will see stable growth on a higher base.

Further, it said demand from the rural segment began to recover in the last quarter of fiscal 202-23 after being negative for six consecutive quarters. It mentioned this was supported by growing rural income in the last two quarters, coupled with falling rural inflation levels. Demand recovery is expected to sustain this fiscal with continuing moderation in inflation, healthy hike in minimum support prices for key crops, and stable non-agricultural income indicators. 

Moreover, it said the urban segment, which grew in double-digits the past two fiscals, will continue to support overall growth this fiscal owing to increasing disposable incomes, the continuing rise of e-commerce, growth of contact-based services, and progress on premiumisation in-home care and personal care segments.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 19445.15, up by 46.65 points or 0.24% after trading in a range of 19373.00 and 19464.55. There were 28 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Britannia Industries up by 2.44%, Power Grid Corporation up by 2.15%, Reliance Industries up by 2.07%, Apollo Hospital up by 2.06% and Coal India up by 1.47%. On the flip side, Eicher Motors down by 2.76%, Indusind Bank down by 1.75%, Divi's Lab down by 1.03%, Bajaj Finance down by 0.80% and Tata Steel down by 0.66% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in red; Taiwan Weighted lost 271.09 points or 1.59% to 16,785.34, Hang Seng declined 582.12 points or 3.05% to 18,528.26, Shanghai Composite weakened 18.03 points or 0.56% to 3,204.92, KOSPI dropped 18.89 points or 0.73% to 2,560.11, Straits Times fell 27.19 points or 0.85% to 3,158.19 and Nikkei 225 slipped 569.19 points or 1.71% to 32,769.51. On the flip side, Jakarta Composite gained 3.64 points or 0.05% to 6,722.62.