Benchmarks add gains in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks added gains in morning deals, amid fresh foreign fund inflows and buying in IT counters. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were buyers on Friday as they bought equities worth Rs 2,636.43 crore, according to exchange data. Traders took support with Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar hailing India's remarkable progress in building unicorns and startups and prophesized that the next 4-5 years will witness substantial growth for such enterprises and the startups in the country will increase by 10 times. Besides, IMF has said that India has taken a very proactive approach toward making progress on the priorities of the G20 and its presidency’s key priorities are enhancing financing for global public goods and strengthening macroeconomic coordination. On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly in red after China reported weaker growth than forecast in the last quarter. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 66239.14, up by 178.24 points or 0.27% after trading in a range of 66015.63 and 66310.96. There were 21 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.43%, while Small cap index was up by 0.98%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 1.71%, TECK up by 1.32%, Metal up by 1.03%, Industrials up by 0.72% and Healthcare up by 0.70%, while Realty down by 0.37%, Auto down by 0.22% and Bankex down by 0.06% were the few losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Wipro up by 3.57%, Infosys up by 1.83%, HCL Technologies up by 1.59%, Tata Steel up by 1.54% and Tech Mahindra up by 1.43%. On the flip side, ICICI Bank down by 0.60%, Tata Motors down by 0.53%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.47%, Titan Company down by 0.39% and NTPC down by 0.37% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Cooperation Minister Amit Shah has said the contribution of agriculture and allied sectors to the country's GDP can be further enhanced by strengthening marketing, for which Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) are the key. The minister said agriculture can become a profitable business if modern technology and marketing methods are adopted. Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) and Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) can help in this endeavour.

Further, Shah said FPOs formed by PACS are more capable to provide benefits to farmers compared to FPOs set up by individuals, companies and partnerships. He also asked existing FPOs to have an agreement with PACS. He noted that agriculture, animal husbandry and fisheries sectors are the backbone of the Indian economy. The growth in these sectors will not only help in increasing GDP but also create job opportunities. 

He highlighted the initiatives taken by the Narendra Modi government in the last nine years in the agriculture sector to boost farmers' income. He said the budget for the agriculture sector in 2023-24 is Rs 1.15 lakh crore against around Rs 22,000 crore in 2013-14. He said the MSP has been increased significantly and strengthened procurement operations.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 19622.70, up by 58.20 points or 0.30% after trading in a range of 19562.95 and 19641.90. There were 34 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Wipro up by 3.68%, LTIMindtree up by 3.12%, Adani Enterprises up by 1.84%, Tata Steel up by 1.71% and Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 1.68%. On the flip side, Hero MotoCorp down by 1.14%, ONGC down by 0.95%, SBI Life Insurance down by 0.65%, Tata Motors down by 0.59% and HDFC Life Insurance down by 0.57% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in red; Shanghai Composite weakened 38.53 points or 1.2% to 3,199.17, KOSPI dropped 11.43 points or 0.44% to 2,616.87 and Straits Times fell 8.48 points or 0.26% to 3,240.15.

On the flip side, Jakarta Composite gained 24.28 points or 0.35% to 6,893.85 and Taiwan Weighted added 3.33 points or 0.02% to 17,287.04.