Domestic markets open in green; Nifty above 19,450 mark

Indian equity benchmarks made slightly positive start on Tuesday following the broadly encouraging cues from the US overnight as well as most of the Asian markets are trading higher as traders react positively to comments from several US Fed officials suggesting the U.S. central bank is nearing the end of its rate-hiking cycle. Traders also cautiously await US consumer price inflation data later in the day that is likely to have a significant impact on the outlook for interest rates. Domestic markets are trading higher with marginal gains in early deals ahead of inflation and industrial growth data as well as kickstart of the earnings season with TCS and HCL Tech to come out with their numbers later in the day. Some support came in with foreign fund inflows. Provisional data from the National Stock Exchange (NSE) showed that foreign institutional investors (FII) bought shares worth Rs 1,197.38 crore on July 11.

In stock specific developments, Delta Corp and Nazara Tech slumped due to the levy of 28 per cent GST on online gaming, casinos, and horse racing. On the other hand, PVR Inox rose as GST on food and beverages at cinema halls was slashed to 5 per cent from 18 per cent.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 65687.50, up by 69.66 points or 0.11% after trading in a range of 65589.94 and 65811.64. There were 14 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.29%, while Small cap index was up by 0.58%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 1.01%, Energy up by 0.95%, Industrials up by 0.52%, Consumer Durables up by 0.52% and PSU up by 0.50%, while Realty down by 0.58%, TECK down by 0.56%, IT down by 0.54%, Telecom down by 0.14% and Auto down by 0.10% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Reliance Industries up by 0.97%, Titan Company up by 0.87%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 0.77%, Bajaj Finance up by 0.72% and HDFC up by 0.68%. On the flip side, Ultratech Cement down by 1.58%, Indusind Bank down by 1.35%, Infosys down by 0.99%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.80% and HCL Technologies down by 0.79% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal has said India and the UK have agreed to add momentum to the ongoing free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations. Goyal, who is on a short visit to the UK, said that they had agreed to keep up work towards a mutually beneficial deal. India and the UK started round 11 of their FTA talks last Wednesday, which is expected to conclude on July 14.

It came a day after a UK government said the senior Indian ministerial visit to the UK in the midst of a negotiation round shows there is ‘political will to make progress towards an ambitious trade deal’. It noted ‘The potential is clear – a strong trade deal will strengthen the economic links between the UK and India, already worth GBP 36 billion in 2022. But we will only sign when we have a deal that is in the best interests of the UK’.

Goyal will be holding wide-ranging discussions while in the UK to add momentum behind the FTA as both sides feel they are within touching distance of an agreement. Recently, the Ministry of Commerce had issued a statement confirming Goyal’s visit to the UK as coming at a ‘crucial juncture’ when both countries are committed to expanding their economic ties and exploring avenues for enhanced bilateral trade.

The visit will not only be focused on the ongoing India-UK FTA negotiations but also involve a meeting with ministers from the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) member countries - Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein - to discuss the progress of the Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA).
The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 19455.95, up by 16.55 points or 0.09% after trading in a range of 19434.40 and 19507.70. There were 21 stocks advancing against 28 stocks declining, while 1 stock remain unchanged on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ONGC up by 2.46%, Coal India up by 0.98%, Titan Company up by 0.95%, Reliance Industries up by 0.85% and Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 0.78%. On the flip side, Ultratech Cement down by 1.87%, Hero MotoCorp down by 1.31%, Indusind Bank down by 1.29%, Infosys down by 0.90% and Hindustan Unilever down by 0.82% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in green; Hang Seng advanced 215.34 points or 1.14% to 18,875.17, Taiwan Weighted rose 20.92 points or 0.12% to 16,919.83, Straits Times added 14.72 points or 0.47% to 3,178.56, KOSPI increased 2.93 points or 0.11% to 2,565.42 and Jakarta Composite was up by 0.16 points or 0% to 6,797.08. On the other hand, Nikkei 225 slipped 161 points or 0.5% to 32,042.57 and Shanghai Composite was down by 4.09 points or 0.13% to 3,217.28.