Domestic indices trade notably higher in early deals; Tata Motors gears up

Indian equity benchmarks continued their previous session’s Bull-Run with gap-up opening on Friday as global cues remained strong with sharp rise on Wall Street overnight and firm trade in all the Asian counterparts. A hawkish interest-rate hold by the Federal Reserve coupled with weak U.S. economic data released overnight fueled hopes that the U.S. central bank is done with the most aggressive tightening cycle in four decades. Domestic indices are trading notably higher with gains of over half a percent each in early deals. Investors are keeping close eye on Services PMI data to be out later in the day for more directional cues. On the sectoral front, gaming industry related stocks are in focus with a private report that the Indian gaming market, currently valued at $3.1 billion, is expected to hit the $7.5 billion valuation mark by financial year 2028 (FY28). In stock specific development, Tata Motors rallied on the back of strong Q2 results. The company posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 3,764 crore for Q2FY24 over a net loss of Rs 944 crore in the same period a year ago.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 64473.79, up by 392.89 points or 0.61% after trading in a range of 64400.72 and 64504.13. There were 23 stocks advancing against 7 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.57%, while Small cap index was up by 0.96%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 1.10%, Healthcare up by 0.97%, IT up by 0.94%, Utilities up by 0.87%, Auto up by 0.80%, while there are no losers on the BSE sectoral front.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Motors up by 2.11%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.71%, Titan Company up by 1.58%, ICICI Bank up by 1.44% and Infosys up by 1.01%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 0.47%, NTPC down by 0.43%, Indusind Bank down by 0.25%, Ultratech Cement down by 0.12% and Nestle down by 0.08% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, calling for harmonization in the standards ecosystem, Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal has said that standards for goods and services should help in promoting global trade and not act as non-tariff barriers. He said that standards should not be considered as non-tariff barriers but as some kind of non-tariff measures which can help in optimal results for both consumers as well as producers. He added ‘If this becomes the right oil for the trade system, I think a lot of trade restrictions will come down in trade and it will help us take the world trade to $30 trillion by 2025 for India’.

He said different countries are setting their own standards and that has a cost for global trade. He further said many times producers and exporters also face difficulty not because of the standards but ‘because of how they get implemented’, and added that there is an important need to have coherence in the workings of standard-setting bodies and collaboration in the compliance ecosystem. He noted ‘Therefore the task before us is how to improve not only standard setting of different products but also how to set up testing ecosystem, how to set up conformity ecosystem and how to see that trade does not suffer because of these standards’. In bilateral treaties, India is touching upon these issues because it feels that there should be a conformity assessment of standards-setting bodies.

He also said ‘Another impression being created in the field of trade…is that if you look at the Global north and global south, you will find that although tariff barriers have come down, trade flows are much easier these days but there is a rise in non-tariff barriers’. He added that standards are supposed to be non-tariff measures and should look at the interest of consumers so that they get the right kind of products. He said ‘But gradually what we are seeing is that non-tariff measures are becoming non-tariff barriers…we need to discuss among ourselves that how standards should not be seen as non-tariff barriers but some kind of non-tariff measures perhaps which can result in optimal output or results for both consumers as well as producers’.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 19260.45, up by 127.20 points or 0.66% after trading in a range of 19233.90 and 19265.55. There were 41 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Apollo Hospital up by 4.15%, Tata Motors up by 2.35%, Adani Enterprises up by 2.25%, Adani Ports & SEZ up by 2.08% and UPL up by 1.81%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 0.51%, NTPC down by 0.45%, SBI Life Insurance down by 0.44%, Indusind Bank down by 0.20% and Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 0.20% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading higher; Hang Seng surged 331.5 points or 1.89% to 17,562.09, Taiwan Weighted jumped 100.11 points or 0.61% to 16,497.06, Straits Times rose 65.99 points or 2.1% to 3,148.48, Jakarta Composite gained 55.99 points or 0.82% to 6,807.38, Shanghai Composite added 22.51 points or 0.74% to 3,031.92 and KOSPI was up by 20.75 points or 0.88% to 2,363.87.