Benchmarks remain in green in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks remained in green in morning deals, led by gains in Telecom, Healthcare and Capital Goods stocks. Traders took support with data from the National Securities Depository (NSDL) showing that foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have remained net buyers in Indian stock markets for the fifth straight month. FPIs bought Indian stocks worth Rs 7,936 crore, Rs 11,631 crore, Rs 43,838 crore, Rs 47,148 crore, and Rs 46,618 crore in March, April, May, June, and July, respectively. Some optimism also came as K V Kamath, chairman of the National Bank for Financing Infrastructure and Development (NaBFID), expressed his confidence in India’s potential to achieve the $5-trillion economy target within 18 months. Meanwhile, with an aim to review the progress of talks on the proposed free trade agreement (FTA), high-level meetings between India and the European Union (EU) will be held this month. The EU officials are coming for the G20 trade ministers meeting this month in Jaipur. There is a high-level meeting at the minister level on August 26 in the national capital between India and the EU. The G20 Trade and Investment Ministerial Meeting, under India's G20 Presidency, is scheduled at Jaipur on August 24-25. On the global front, Asian markets are trading mixed as investors look ahead to China’s inflation figures and trade balance later this week. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 65937.15, up by 215.90 points or 0.33% after trading in a range of 65748.25 and 65960.49. 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 0.39%, while Small cap index was up by 0.45%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 1.30%, Healthcare up by 1.10%, Capital Goods up by 0.59%, Auto up by 0.59% and Industrials up by 0.53%, while Consumer Durables down by 0.44%, Metal down by 0.11%, Utilities down by 0.03% and Oil & Gas down by 0.02% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 3.54%, Sun Pharma up by 1.67%, Ultratech Cement up by 1.00%, NTPC up by 0.85% and Larsen & Toubro up by 0.82%. On the flip side, Nestle down by 0.87%, Bajaj Finance down by 0.60%, Titan Company down by 0.52%, Indusind Bank down by 0.43% and SBI down by 0.41% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the government has deferred the implementation of the import restriction order on laptops and computers (including tablet computers) by about three months till October 31, 2023. A move that gives more time to electronic companies to import these devices without a licence. Now, these companies would need to take a licence from the government to import these devices from November 1.

On August 3, the government put the import of these devices under a licence regime with immediate effect. Subsequently, industry raised issues with the government on the notification. The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), in an order issued late on August 4, said the notification dated August 3 shall be effective from November 1.

It stated that a ‘liberal transitional arrangement is provided for import of laptops, tablets, all-in-one personal computers, ultra-small form factor computers and servers … till October 31, 2023.’ Besides, it said the restrictions were imposed for security reasons and the need to promote domestic manufacturing. The move will also curtail in-bound shipments of these goods from countries like China and Korea.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 19582.55, up by 65.55 points or 0.34% after trading in a range of 19524.80 and 19584.65. There were 33 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 3.60%, Divi's Lab up by 2.61%, Sun Pharma up by 1.76%, Grasim Industries up by 1.38% and Hindalco up by 1.23%. On the flip side, Britannia Industries down by 2.49%, Nestle down by 0.78%, Bajaj Finance down by 0.68%, Titan Company down by 0.53% and Tata Consumer Product down by 0.41% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mixed; Taiwan Weighted added 172.3 points or 1.01% to 17,015.98, Jakarta Composite gained 28.19 points or 0.41% to 6,881.03, Straits Times rose 15.68 points or 0.47% to 3,308.07 and Nikkei 225 surged 39.35 points or 0.12% to 32,232.10. On the flip side, KOSPI dropped 19.42 points or 0.75% to 2,583.38, Hang Seng declined 4.39 points or 0.02% to 19,535.07 and Shanghai Composite weakened 18.42 points or 0.56% to 3,269.66.