Benchmarks continue to trade higher in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade higher in morning deals, led by gains in PSU, Oil & Gas and Telecom stocks. Traders took support with data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) showing that India’s services trade surplus bounced back in the September quarter of 2023-24 (FY24), growing 26.6 per cent after falling to a three-quarter low in June. Traders took a note of report that India and Sri Lanka have resumed talks for an economic and technology cooperation agreement (ETCA), after a gap of nearly five years. Traders overlooked private report stated that India’s unemployment rate climbed to the highest in more than two years in October as joblessness in rural areas increased. The overall rate rose to 10.05% last month from 7.09% in September. On the global front, Asian markets are trading higher as comments from Fed Chair Jerome Powell suggested that U.S. rate hikes were done. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 64046.46, up by 455.13 points or 0.72% after trading in a range of 63992.88 and 64202.64. There were 26 stocks advancing against 4 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 1.11%, while Small cap index was up by 0.83%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were PSU up by 1.60%, Oil & Gas up by 1.38%, Telecom up by 1.37%, Energy up by 1.26% and Utilities up by 1.11%, while there were no losing sectoral indices on the BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Indusind Bank up by 2.42%, SBI up by 1.25%, NTPC up by 1.10%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.08% and Axis Bank up by 1.04%. On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 0.57%, Nestle down by 0.29%, Tata Steel down by 0.21% and Hindustan Unilever down by 0.19% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the International Spirits and Wines Association of India (ISWAI) in its report titled 'Economic Value of the Indian Alcoholic Beverage Industry' has said the Indian alcoholic beverage industry could reach a market size of $64 billion in the next five years. It positions India as the fifth-largest contributor to global market revenues in the near to medium term.

It stated, in 2021, the AlcoBev (alcoholic beverage) industry had an estimated market size of $52.4 billion (Rs 3.9 lakh crore, including country liquor), which was around 2 per cent of the nominal GDP of the country. It stated ‘The alcohol revenues represent 1.2 per cent of India's nominal GDP, 7.7 per cent of the total tax collection, and 11.7 per cent of the nation's indirect tax revenue’. 

It added ‘the sector contributes a significant 24.6 per cent of the overall own tax revenues of the states.’ ISWAI represents the global liquor companies in India. Its members include global leaders in the spirit and wine industries like Bacardi, Beam Suntory, Brown Forman, Campari Group, Diageo-United Spirits, Moet Hennessy, Pernod Ricard, and William Grant & Sons.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 19125.30, up by 136.15 points or 0.72% after trading in a range of 19106.65 and 19175.25. There were 43 stocks advancing against 7 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Britannia Industries up by 2.52%, Indusind Bank up by 2.31%, Coal India up by 1.58%, Adani Enterprises up by 1.56% and UPL up by 1.45%. On the flip side, Hero MotoCorp down by 0.75%, Tech Mahindra down by 0.69%, Cipla down by 0.47%, Nestle down by 0.23% and Hindustan Unilever down by 0.18% were the top losers.

All Asian markets are trading higher; Nikkei 225 surged 312.55 points or 0.99% to 31,914.20, Taiwan Weighted added 336.48 points or 2.1% to 16,375.04, Hang Seng advanced 206.1 points or 1.19% to 17,307.88, Straits Times rose 8.19 points or 0.27% to 3,084.96, KOSPI increased 37.11 points or 1.61% to 2,338.67, Jakarta Composite gained 134.28 points or 2.02% to 6,776.70 and Shanghai Composite strengthened 3.24 points or 0.11% to 3,026.32.