Benchmarks continue to trade in green in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade in green in morning deals, primarily driven by the performance of metal, PSU and Healthcare stocks. The positive momentum was a result of improved risk sentiment in global markets following a recent period of sell-offs. Traders took support with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its latest data showing that credit growth in agriculture and allied activities improved to 16.6 per cent annually in August 2023, and the loan outstanding neared Rs 18 lakh crore. The credit growth in agriculture and allied activities was 13.4 per cent in August 2022. Some support also came as CBIC chief Sanjay Kumar Agarwal stating that increased monthly GST collections are mainly on account of higher compliance, and the GST Council's decision to tighten return filing and registration process would help reduce fake ITC claims in evasion prone sectors, including iron and steel. On the sectoral front, realty stocks remained in focus with a private report that home sales in the top seven cities of India reached an all-time high of 120,280 units between July and September. Sales this year were higher by 36 per cent, when compared to 88,230 units sold in the same period in 2022. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 65696.90, up by 188.58 points or 0.29% after trading in a range of 65570.38 and 65761.35. There were 18 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.92%, while Small cap index was up by 0.36%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 1.72%, PSU up by 1.53%, Healthcare up by 1.50%, Utilities up by 1.30% and Power up by 1.23%, while IT down by 0.84% and TECK down by 0.69% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were NTPC up by 4.50%, Tata Motors up by 2.41%, Tata Steel up by 1.26%, Sun Pharma up by 1.24% and SBI up by 1.08%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 1.34%, HCL Technologies down by 1.01%, TCS down by 0.70%, Asian Paints down by 0.56% and Nestle down by 0.42% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has said India's current account deficit (CAD) narrowed to $9.2 billion or 1.1 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) for the April-June period of current financial year (Q1FY23). The CAD stood at $17.9 billion or 2.1 per cent of GDP in the year-ago period. The current account deficit represents the difference between the total amount of money sent abroad and money received from overseas across the economy.

However, RBI stated that CAD has widened considerably compared to the $1.3 billion or 0.2 per cent level in the preceding quarter. The widening of CAD on a quarter-on-quarter basis was primarily on account of a higher trade deficit, coupled with a lower surplus in net services and decline in private transfer receipts.

Further, it stated that net services receipts decreased sequentially, primarily due to a decline in exports of computer, travel and business services, though was higher on a year-on-year (y-o-y) basis. It also said private transfer receipts, mainly representing remittances by Indians employed overseas, moderated to $27.1 billion in the quarter against $28.6 billion in the quarter-ago period but were higher on a year-on-year basis. Moreover, it said net outgo on the income account, primarily reflecting payments of investment income, declined to $10.6 billion in the June quarter from $12.6 billion in the March quarter, but was higher than the year-ago period.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 19588.65, up by 65.10 points or 0.33% after trading in a range of 19551.05 and 19608.35. There were 34 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were NTPC up by 4.85%, Hindalco up by 2.87%, Tata Motors up by 2.39%, Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 2.32% and UPL up by 2.07%. On the flip side, LTIMindtree down by 2.26%, Adani Enterprises down by 1.60%, Infosys down by 1.34%, HCL Technologies down by 0.91% and TCS down by 0.69% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in green; Hang Seng surged 470.16 points or 2.71% to 17,843.19, Jakarta Composite gained 23.66 points or 0.34% to 6,961.49 and Straits Times rose 14.64 points or 0.46% to 3,221.63, while Nikkei 225 slipped 124.08 points or 0.39% to 31,748.44.