Sensex, Nifty continue to trade in green in early noon deals

Domestic markets continue to trade in green in early afternoon deals, with both Sensex and Nifty holding decent gains, aided by positive cues from other Asian markets. Sentiments remained positive, amid reports that the G20 Presidency with India is helping the country to strengthen trade ties with member nations and provides an opportunity to attract investments from those countries in sectors like infrastructure. On the sectoral front, pharma sector’s stocks were in watch, as credit rating agency India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) in its latest report has stated that its rated pharma companies are likely to maintain the momentum on growth and profitability in regulated markets (US), amid new launches, ongoing drug shortages and growth opportunities in the domestic formulation business.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading higher, as China's central bank lowered the amount of foreign exchange that banks maintain as reserves, in an attempt to combat the weakness of the yuan, after unveiling measures to revive the property market. Also on Friday, major banks in China lowered the interest rates on yuan deposits of various maturities by 10-20 basis points. This is expected to make room for further reduction in lending rates that could boost the property market.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 65532.00, up by 144.84 points or 0.22% after trading in a range of 65285.56 and 65630.85. There were 16 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose by 0.84%, while Small cap index was up by 0.93%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 2.64%, PSU up by 1.80%, Realty up by 1.37%, IT up by 1.33% and Utilities up by 1.20%, while Auto down by 0.22%, FMCG down by 0.21%, Consumer Durables down by 0.18% and Bankex down by 0.09% were the few losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Steel up by 3.46%, Ultratech Cement up by 3.05%, Wipro up by 3.00%, Tech Mahindra up by 2.39% and HCL Technologies up by 1.98%. On the flip side, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.29%, Nestle down by 0.98%, Asian Paints down by 0.90%, Axis Bank down by 0.71% and Tata Motors down by 0.69% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the commerce and industry ministry said that the Centre has asked states to formulate logistics policy as it would help promote ease of doing business. It was also suggested to the states for integrating quality data on the portal for the state master plan for wider adoption of PM GatiShakti initiative. The initiative helps in proper planning and implementation of infrastructure projects.

These issues were discussed in a meeting called by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) on August 31, 2023 to promote wider adoption of PM GatiShakti National Master Plan (NMP). It was chaired by Special Secretary in the DPIIT Sumita Dawra. The ministry said the states/UTs are being encouraged to formulate State Logistics Policy (SLPs) aligned with National logistics Policy (NLP) to bring holistic focus on logistics in public policy at state level. So far, 22 states have notified their logistics policies.

It said that the states/Union Territories were sensitized about the advantages of utilising PM GatiShakti NMP at the district level for planning purposes. To enable area-based development, it is essential to adopt PM GatiShakti principles for gap identification, project planning, etc. at grass root level. Various benefits of NMP by leveraging data layers and tools for effective, data-driven decision making was explained to states.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 19499.30, up by 64.00 points or 0.33% after trading in a range of 19432.85 and 19526.80. There were 30 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining, while 1 stock remained unchanged on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Coal India up by 4.92%, Tata Steel up by 3.58%, Ultratech Cement up by 3.08%, Hindalco up by 2.97% and Wipro up by 2.95%. On the flip side, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.34%, Nestle down by 1.05%, SBI Life Insurance Company down by 0.95%, HDFC Life Insurance down by 0.93% and Asian Paints down by 0.82% were the top losers.

All Asian markets were trading higher; Hang Seng advanced 428.2 points or 2.28% to 18,810.26, Shanghai Composite strengthened 38.72 points or 1.22% to 3,171.97, Taiwan Weighted added 144.75 points or 0.86% to 16,789.69, KOSPI increased 20.84 points or 0.81% to 2,584.55, Nikkei 225 surged 228.56 points or 0.69% to 32,939.18, Straits Times rose 9.27 points or 0.29% to 3,242.57 and Jakarta Composite gained 19.55 points or 0.28% to 6,997.20.