Sensex, Nifty manage to hold heads above neutral lines

Despite volatility, Indian equity benchmarks were managing to hold their heads above water in early afternoon deals, on the back of buying at Metal and Energy stocks along with positive cues from other Asian markets. Reliance Industries, Tata Steel and Tata Motors were among the top gainers on the BSE. However, gains were limited, amid a private report stating that funding in Indian startups fell by 36 per cent in January-June to $3.8 billion, the lowest half-yearly number in the last four years, as investors are taking longer time in due diligence of every aspect of business. Besides, another private report stated that private equity (PE) investment in real estate declined 5 per cent year-on-year in April-June to $1.9 billion because of high interest rates. Meanwhile, Deputy Governor T Rabi Sankar said that the Reserve Bank is looking at coming out with a regulation for fintech players.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green, as Taiwan's foreign trade surplus increased in June from a year ago as imports fell faster than exports. The preliminary figures from the Ministry of Finance revealed that the trade surplus climbed to $5.96 billion in June from $4.57 billion in the corresponding month last year. The surplus also grew from $4.89 billion in May. Exports fell 23.4 percent year-over-year in June, which was worse than the 14.1 percent drop in May. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 65392.86, up by 112.41 points or 0.17% after trading in a range of 65264.82 and 65633.49. There were 9 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell 0.48%, while Small cap index was down by 0.28%.

The few gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 1.32%, Energy up by 0.77% and Healthcare up by 0.18%, while Consumer Durables down by 1.50%, Utilities down by 1.39%, Power down by 1.23%, Realty down by 0.70% and IT down by 0.67% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Reliance Industries up by 4.11%, Tata Steel up by 2.33%, Tata Motors up by 1.37%, Sun Pharma up by 1.05% and Bharti Airtel up by 0.84%. On the flip side, Titan Company down by 3.04%, HCL Technologies down by 2.52%, Power Grid Corporation of India down by 2.46%, Bajaj Finance down by 1.59% and Nestle down by 1.33% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia Paci?c (UNESCAP) in its survey report has said that India is now the best-performing nation amongst all the countries of South Asian region in terms of trade facilitation. As per the Global Survey on Digital and Sustainable Trade Facilitation, India improved its score compared to 2021 survey. The 2023 survey, covering more than 140 economies and evaluating 60 trade facilitation measures, has positioned India at the forefront of global trade facilitation e?orts, with an impressive score of 93.55 per cent in 2023 vis a vis 90.32 per cent in 2021.

The 2023 survey has recognised India's exceptional progress across various sub indicators, with the country achieving a perfect score of 100 per cent in four key areas: Transparency, Formalities, Institutional Arrangement and Cooperation, and Paperless Trade. These remarkable scores are a testament to India's relentless e?orts in streamlining trade processes, enhancing transparency, and promoting cooperation among stakeholders through initiatives such as Turant Customs, Single Window Interface for Facilitation of Trade (SWIFT), Pre-Arrival data processing, e- Sanchit, Coordinated Border Management etc. India has witnessed a substantial improvement in the score for 'Women in Trade Facilitation' component from 66.7 per cent in 2021 to 77.8 per cent in 2023, thereby indicating commitment to gender inclusivity and the empowerment of women in the trade sector.

The survey conducted by UNESCAP covers WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) along with a set of nearly 60 trade facilitation measures categorized into eleven sub-groups, namely: Transparency; Formalities; Institutional arrangement and cooperation; Transit facilitation; Paperless trade; Cross-border paperless trade; Trade facilitation for SMEs; Agricultural trade facilitation and Women in trade facilitation; Trade ?nance for trade facilitation; and Trade facilitation in times of crisis.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 19358.15, up by 26.35 points or 0.14% after trading in a range of 19332.15 and 19435.85. There were 18 stocks advancing against 32 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Reliance Industries up by 4.12%, Tata Steel up by 2.24%, Bajaj Auto up by 1.78%, HDFC Life Insurance up by 1.44% and Hindalco up by 1.21%. On the flip side, Titan Company down by 3.09%, HCL Technologies down by 2.71%, Power Grid Corporation of India down by 2.49%, Bajaj Finance down by 1.63% and BPCL down by 1.48% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Hang Seng advanced 77.67 points or 0.42% to 18,443.37, Jakarta Composite gained 27.07 points or 0.4% to 6,743.53, Shanghai Composite strengthened 5.35 points or 0.17% to 3,201.96 and Straits Times rose 3.47 points or 0.11% to 3,142.94, while KOSPI dropped 6.01 points or 0.24% to 2,520.70, Taiwan Weighted lost 11.41 points or 0.07% to 16,652.80 and Nikkei 225 slipped 198.69 points or 0.62% to 32,189.73.