Benchmarks add gains in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks added gains in morning deals, led by gains in Capital Goods, Telecom and Industrials stocks. Sentiments remained up-beat as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in its latest update of the World Economic Outlook (WEO) revised upward India’s growth rate projection by 0.2 percentage point to 6.1 per cent for 2023, from earlier projection in April. It said this is reflective of the momentum from stronger-than-expected growth in the fourth quarter of 2022 as a result of stronger domestic investment. Some optimism also came as provisional NSE data showing that foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought Rs 1,089 crore of Indian equities on a net basis during the previous session, while domestic investors sold Rs 334 crore of shares. On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly in red as investors look ahead to the Fed's interest-rate decision later in the day. Market participants are waiting to see whether the Fed will signal a pause for September after a likely 25 basis point rate hike.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 66843.08, up by 487.37 points or 0.73% after trading in a range of 66431.34 and 66877.74. There were 26 stocks advancing against 4 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.28%, while Small cap index was up by 0.47%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Capital Goods up by 1.81%, Telecom up by 1.77%, Industrials up by 1.25%, Energy up by 0.95% and Oil & Gas up by 0.79%, while there were no losing sectoral indices on the BSE. 

The top gainers on the Sensex were Larsen & Toubro up by 3.68%, Reliance Industries up by 2.22%, Tata Motors up by 1.31%, Sun Pharma up by 1.16% and ITC up by 1.07%. On the flip side, HDFC Bank down by 0.16%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.13%, NTPC down by 0.07% and Maruti Suzuki down by 0.03% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Rating agency Icra has said that revenue of top domestic pharmaceutical companies is likely to grow by 7-9 per cent in the current fiscal (FY24). It noted the growth will be supported by an 8-10 per cent expansion in the domestic market and a 6-8 per cent rise in the US market, while revenues from the European and emerging markets are expected to increase by 3-5 per cent and 8-10 per cent, respectively.

Agency said it has taken into account a sample set of 25 Indian drug firms, which constitute 60 per cent of the overall domestic industry. Further, it said that a continued focus on complex generics/speciality launches in the US market is expected to support industry margins in FY2024. It added the overall credit profile of Indian pharmaceutical companies is expected to remain healthy, supported by their stable earnings profile, comfortable leverage and coverage metrics, and strong liquidity position.

Icra Assistant Vice President & Sector Head Mythri Macherla said ‘The 8-10 per cent growth in the domestic market in FY24 will be supported by a WPI-linked price hike of 12.1 per cent allowed for products under the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM), new product introductions and annual price hikes for non-NLEM products.  

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 19818.10, up by 137.50 points or 0.70% after trading in a range of 19716.70 and 19820.25. There were 39 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Larsen & Toubro up by 3.87%, Reliance Industries up by 2.32%, BPCL up by 1.37%, Tata Motors up by 1.35% and UPL up by 1.31%. On the flip side, SBI Life Insurance down by 1.47%, Divi's Lab down by 0.55%, Apollo Hospital down by 0.37%, Cipla down by 0.34% and HDFC Bank down by 0.16% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in red; Taiwan Weighted lost 29.88 points or 0.17% to 17,169.01, Hang Seng declined 154.19 points or 0.8% to 19,280.21, Shanghai Composite weakened 11.29 points or 0.35% to 3,220.23, KOSPI dropped 45.95 points or 1.74% to 2,590.51 and Nikkei 225 slipped 30.22 points or 0.09% to 32,652.29.

On the flip side, Jakarta Composite gained 7.31 points or 0.11% to 6,925.02 and Straits Times rose 26.76 points or 0.81% to 3,312.92.