Markets trade slightly in green in late morning deals

Domestic equity indices altered between positive and negative territories and were trading slightly in green in late morning deals on account of buying in Mahindra & Mahindra, Indusind Bank, Tata Motors and Maruti Suzuki companies' stocks. The broader indices were also trading in green with Mid cap index and Small cap index gaining in the range of 0.10-0.35%. Traders got some support as S&P Global Ratings said the country’s economy has a track record of strong growth. It expects this momentum to continue and forecast growth of 6 per cent for FY 2024, then 6.9 per cent for FY 2025 and FY 2026.  Meanwhile, the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) Chairman Sanjay Kumar Agarwal has said the growth in October Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections, which is the second highest ever, is on account of economic activity and not due to show cause notices to online gaming companies. 

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed after Chinese data showed producer prices declined for the 13th straight month and consumer prices were down more than expected in October. Back home, on the BSE sectoral front, traders were seen pilling up position in  Realty, Auto, Utilities, Healthcare, Consumer Disc, while selling was witnessed in FMCG, Consumer Durables, Oil & Gas, Energy and IT. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 64997.48, up by 21.87 points or 0.03% after trading in a range of 64872.40 and 65037.83. There were 15 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.35%, while Small cap index up by 0.14%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.74%, Auto up by 0.98%, Utilities up by 0.76%, Healthcare up by 0.70% and Consumer Disc up by 0.46%, while FMCG down by 0.53%, Consumer Durables down by 0.36%, Oil & Gas down by 0.33%, Energy down by 0.24% and IT down by 0.22% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.87%, Indusind Bank up by 1.79%, Tata Motors up by 1.50%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.02% and NTPC up by 0.97%. On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 1.49%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.98%, Bajaj Finance down by 0.79%, Infosys down by 0.59% and JSW Steel down by 0.56% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has said that the government is looking at easing certain restrictions for units in the special economic zones (SEZ) to promote the sector's growth. SEZs in India are treated as foreign territories for trade and customs duties, with restrictions on duty-free domestic sales.

Regarding the industry's demand to extend benefits of the Remission of Duties or Taxes on Export Products (RoDTEP) Scheme to SEZs, the minister said the ministry will go about it ‘cautiously’. He said ‘at some point in time we will consider it once we are very confident that it will not lead to WTO non-compliance’. In these zones, the largest areas of exports are petroleum products and software.

Companies in SEZs are urging the government to permit them to sell their products in domestic tariff areas or domestic markets without paying the import duties that currently apply, similar to duty-free FTA imports. SEZs have emerged as an important contributor to India's exports. Total exports from SEZs stood at $155.8 billion in 2022-23. These included $61.6 billion in merchandise and $94.2 billion in services exports.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 19452.60, up by 9.10 points or 0.05% after trading in a range of 19402.70 and 19463.90. There were 27 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.92%, Apollo Hospital up by 2.15%, Indusind Bank up by 1.74%, Hero MotoCorp up by 1.47% and Tata Motors up by 1.39%. On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 1.51%, Tata Consumer down by 1.15%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.08%, UPL down by 0.77% and Bajaj Finance down by 0.70% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; Nikkei 225 surged 498.52 points or 1.55% to 32,665.00, Straits Times rose 15.65 points or 0.5% to 3,145.37, KOSPI increased 12.49 points or 0.52% to 2,434.11 and Jakarta Composite gained 20.21 points or 0.3% to 6,824.32. However, Shanghai Composite weakened 0.97 points or 0.03% to 3,051.40, Taiwan Weighted lost 5.64 points or 0.03% to 16,735.19 and Hang Seng declined 56.49 points or 0.32% to 17,511.97.