Markets trade in fine fettle on firm global cues

With a gap-up opening, Indian equity markets have recovered all their previous session losses and are trading up by over half a percent in early deals on Thursday on the back of positive cues from global markets. Sentiments got boost as signs of slowing U.S. inflation bolstered hopes that the Federal Reserve would end its interest rate hikes soon. Further, support also came in as India’s industrial production growth measured in terms of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) rose to 5.2 per cent in May, mainly due to good performance by the manufacturing and mining sectors. There were some buzz in Gems and Jewellery industry related stocks as the government imposed import restrictions on certain gold jewellery and articles, a move which would help cut import of non-essential items.  Now an importer would need a permission of licence from the government for importing these gold products. 

On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly higher, following positive cues from global markets overnight, as traders reacted positively to cooler-than-expected US inflation data in the month of June, which eased concerns about the outlook for interest rates. The US markets ended higher on Wednesday buoyed by cooler-than-expected inflation report. The Labor Department said its consumer price index rose by 0.2 percent in June after inching up by 0.1 percent in May. Street had expected consumer prices to climb by 0.3 percent. Back home, traders were seen pilling up position in Metal, IT, Industrials, Realty and TECK, while selling was witnessed in Consumer Durables, Utilities and Power. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 65763.46, up by 369.56 points or 0.57% after trading in a range of 65605.88 and 65785.38. There were 22 stocks advancing against 8 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.39%, while Small cap index up by 0.69%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 1.26%, IT up by 0.96%, Industrials up by 0.87%, Realty up by 0.87% and TECK up by 0.77%, while Consumer Durables down by 0.12%, Utilities down by 0.10% and Power down by 0.06% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.54%, Tata Steel up by 1.44%, TCS up by 1.32%, Infosys up by 1.14% and JSW Steel up by 1.09%. On the flip side, Power Grid down by 1.61%, HCL down by 1.33%, Asian Paints down by 0.31%, Nestle down by 0.24% and Sun Pharma down by 0.19% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Union Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Rameswar Teli has said India is the fastest growing among the major economies of the world and the petroleum and petrochemical sector is playing a pivotal role in this. He also said that Indian Oil's Panipat refinery is going to set up a green hydrogen plant of 7,000 tonnes capacity with an investment of Rs 60,000 crore.

He stated these mega projects would speed up the economic development not only in Haryana but in the country. He added that wherever such complexes are set up, many opportunities for development arise in the surrounding areas. 

He stated this also helps in providing large scale employment opportunities. Further, he said that he is sure that the way the people of Haryana have continuously contributed in the development of the Indian Oil Panipat Refinery, in the same way they would continue to contribute in making India, a self-reliant country. Besides, He said, recently, India became the fifth largest economy in the world leaving the UK behind.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 19492.45, up by 108.15 points or 0.56% after trading in a range of 19449.35 and 19496.35. There were 37 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Hindalco up by 2.33%, HDFC Life Insurance up by 1.88%, Bajaj Auto up by 1.47%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.41% and LTIMindtree up by 1.37%. On the flip side, Power Grid down by 1.49%, HCL down by 1.21%, Eicher Motors down by 0.38%, Asian Paints down by 0.36% and Nestle down by 0.33% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in green; Taiwan Weighted added 253.21 points or 1.49% to 17,215.24, Hang Seng advanced 462.61 points or 2.45% to 19,323.56, Shanghai Composite strengthened 27.36 points or 0.85% to 3,223.49, KOSPI increased 24.59 points or 0.96% to 2,599.31, Straits Times rose 49.56 points or 1.56% to 3,224.92 and Nikkei 225 surged 522.24 points or 1.63% to 32,466.17. However, Jakarta Composite plunged 3.67 points or 0.05% to 6,804.54.