Sensex, Nifty near day’s high points in early noon deals

Bulls held a tight grip over the Dalal Street in early afternoon deals, with both Sensex and Nifty trading near their intraday high points, aided by sustained buying at IT and Telecom counters. Traders were optimistic after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the reforms brought in India since 2014 have enabled decentralisation of planning in India, which enabled States to set ambitious development targets and perform to their potential. Besides, the finance ministry in its report has said that India's improved monsoon performance, continued expansion in manufacturing, and vigorous capital expenditure (capex) spending by the public and private sectors augur well for macroeconomic stability and growth during FY24.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed after Singapore's retail sales growth eased further at the end of the second quarter. The data from the Department of Statistics showed that retail sales climbed 1.1 percent year-over-year in June, slower than the 1.8 percent gain in May. Excluding motor vehicles, retail sales also grew 2.5 percent annually in June after a 1.7 percent increase in the preceding month.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 65767.33, up by 526.65 points or 0.81% after trading in a range of 65387.18 and 65787.48. There were 24 stocks advancing against 6 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.77%, while Small cap index was up by 0.99%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 1.40%, Telecom up by 1.40%, TECK up by 1.18%, Bankex up by 1.14% and Capital Goods up by 1.06%, while there were no losing sectoral indices on the BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Indusind Bank up by 2.76%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.93%, Wipro up by 1.86%, HCL Technologies up by 1.62% and Larsen & Toubro up by 1.37%. On the flip side, Sun Pharma down by 0.93%, Power Grid Corporation of India down by 0.52%, Bajaj Finserv down by 0.47%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.30% and Asian Paints down by 0.23% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the finance ministry in its report has said that India's improved monsoon performance, continued expansion in manufacturing, and vigorous capital expenditure (capex) spending by the public and private sectors augur well for macroeconomic stability and growth during FY24. However, it cautioned that cross-border spillovers and adverse global developments can act anytime as a deterrent to achieving the potential high growth path in the current financial year.

It further said the government's emphasis on capex in recent years has given a much-needed thrust to investments in key infrastructure, which has resulted in crowding in of private investment to kickstart the virtuous circle of job creation, income, productivity, demand, and exports supported by favourable demographic dividend over the coming years.

According to the report, despite adverse global developments, India’s exports are also expected to perform well, driven by strong performance in services exports. Increased digitisation drive, growing preference for remote working and increased proliferation of Global Capability Centres are expected to further increase India’s services exports. Accompanied with an easing of supply chains and a decline in global commodity prices, the trade deficit is expected to improve further in the coming years.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 19531.80, up by 150.15 points or 0.77% after trading in a range of 19436.45 and 19538.85. There were 36 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Cipla up by 4.07%, Indusind Bank up by 2.88%, Coal India up by 2.54%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.89% and Wipro up by 1.85%. On the flip side, Bajaj Auto down by 1.61%, Sun Pharma down by 1.06%, BPCL down by 1.02%, Power Grid Corporation of India by 0.56% and Eicher Motors down by 0.55% were the top losers. 

Asian markets were trading mixed; Taiwan Weighted lost 50.05 points or 0.3% to 16,843.68, Jakarta Composite plunged 14.98 points or 0.22% to 6,883.10, Straits Times fell 9.82 points or 0.3% to 3,294.24 and KOSPI dropped 2.59 points or 0.1% to 2,602.80, while Shanghai Composite strengthened 11.21 points or 0.34% to 3,291.67, Nikkei 225 surged 33.47 points or 0.1% to 32,192.75 and Hang Seng advanced 119.87 points or 0.61% to 19,540.74.