Bourses widen gains in late afternoon session

The Indian equity benchmarks widened their gains in late afternoon session led by gains in IT stocks. The broader indices, the BSE Mid cap index and Small cap index also extended their points. Traders took note of report that the number of income tax returns filed between April-June 2023-24 nearly doubled to over 1.36 crore over the previous year. As per the comparative statistics of ITR filing available on the I-T e-filing portal, over 70.34 lakh tax returns were filed in April-June 2022-23. Besides, Reserve Bank is likely to continue with the pause on the key interest rate at its upcoming monetary policy review, as concerns on the inflation front and keeping the borrowing cost stable to maintain the economic growth momentum persist.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed as the dollar regained traction and Treasury yields climbed ahead of key inflation readings from China and the United States due this week. European markets were trading lower as investors awaited key inflation figures from across the globe this week to gauge the outlook for interest rates, while shares of German group Siemens Energy reversed course after slumping earlier.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 65910.22, up by 188.97 points or 0.29% after trading in a range of 65748.25 and 66067.90. There were 20 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.48%, while Small cap index was up by 0.34%. 

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 1.51%, Healthcare up by 1.26%, IT up by 0.78%, TECK up by 0.71% and Realty was up by 0.53%, while Utilities down by 0.25%, Bankex down by 0.24%, Power down by 0.21%, Metal down by 0.16% and Consumer Durables was down by 0.07% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 3.99%, Sun Pharma up by 1.95%, Bajaj Finserv up by 1.40%, TCS up by 1.10% and JSW Steel up by 0.95%. On the flip side, SBI down by 1.06%, Tata Motors down by 0.78%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.53%, Axis Bank down by 0.36% and Bajaj Finance down by 0.35% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, expressing some cautiousness over the country’s pharma imports, Care Ratings in its latest report has said that India’s bulk drug imports from China increased in terms of value and volume from 64% and 62% during FY14 to 71% and 75% during FY23, respectively. In terms of value, during FY14 to FY23, the total bulk drug imports increased at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of about 7% as against 9% from China. It added that the country continues to depend on Chinese shipments despite the commissioning of various domestic manufacturing projects under the government's production-linked incentive scheme. It noted that the country continues to rely heavily (>50%) on some of the critical Key Starting Materials (KSM) from China.

Commissioning of bulk drug projects under the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme along with backward integration projects undertaken by various Indian companies is expected to play a critical role in reducing the nation’s dependence on China to an extent. In FY14, the country imported a total of $5.2 billion of pharma, of which as much as $2.1 billion came in from China. The numbers rose to $6.4 billion and $2.6 billion, respectively in FY19, and further to $7 billion and $2.9 billion, respectively in FY21.

The northward movement continued in FY22 to $8.5 billion and $3.2 billion, respectively. The total inbound shipments marginally declined to $7.9 billion in FY23. However, the Chinese share jumped to $3.4 billion during that period. Bulk drugs emerged as the dominant component of imports, contributing 55-60% of India's total pharma imports over the past decade. Simultaneously, bulk drug imports have seen a steady compound annualised growth of about 7%, reflecting the industry's growing reliance on shipments from abroad. Besides, a significant portion of the country's pharma imports, including that of certain formulations, ayush and herbal, and surgical products, are sourced from various countries.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 19582.90, up by 65.90 points or 0.34% after trading in a range of 19524.80 and 19620.45. There were 33 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 4.03%, Divi's Lab up by 3.94%, Sun Pharma up by 1.98%, LTIMindtree up by 1.92% and Hindalco up by 1.66%. On the flip side, Britannia down by 3.09%, SBI down by 1.10%, Tata Motors down by 0.91%, Bajaj Auto down by 0.68% and Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.52% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed, Taiwan Weighted added 152.32 points or 0.9% to 16,996.00, Nikkei 225 surged 61.81 points or 0.19% to 32,254.56, Jakarta Composite gained 42.01 points or 0.61% to 6,894.85 and Straits Times was up by 16.65 points or 0.51% to 3,309.04. On the flip side, Hang Seng declined 1.54 points or 0.01% to 19,537.92, Shanghai Composite weakened 19.25 points or 0.59% to 3,268.83 and KOSPI was down by 22.09 points or 0.86% to 2,580.71.

European markets were trading lower, UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 34.98 points or 0.46% to 7,529.39, France’s CAC fell 21.05 points or 0.29% to 7,294.02 and Germany’s DAX was down by 55.74 points or 0.35% to 15,896.12.