Sensex, Nifty trade firm amid soft US inflation

Bull took charge over Dalal Street on Wednesday after a lackluster performance in previous session, with Indian markets making gap-up opening propped up by slowing inflation in India and the US. In the US, consumer prices remained flat in October versus expectations of a gain of 0.1 per cent M-o-M. On an annual basis, the CPI climbed 3.2 per cent after rising 3.7 per cent in September. Domestically, India’s retail inflation eased to a five-month low of 4.87 per in October from 5.02 per cent in September. Also, India’s wholesale price inflation remained in the negative territory for the seventh month in a row in October at (-) 0.52 per cent on easing prices of food items. Sensex and Nifty are trading firm in early deals with gains of around 0.90% each on account of value buying. Some support came in with a private report that the Indian economy likely grew 6.7% in the July-September quarter.

On the global front, all the Asian markets are trading in green as the tamer than expected U.S. inflation data in October raised hopes the US Fed will not hike interest rates soon. Traders also digested domestic data that showed Japan's economy shrank faster than expected in the third quarter, with the economy contracting for the first time in four quarters. Back home, MSCI Global Standard Index has decided to add 9 Indian stocks including IndusInd Bank, Tata Motors DVR, Suzlon Energy and One 97 Communications. In stock specific development, Tata Motors gained after S&P Global Ratings upgraded credit rating of the auto major and its wholly-owned subsidiaries to ‘BB+’ on strong operating cash flow, assigning a ‘positive’ and ‘stable’ outlook.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 65511.31, up by 577.44 points or 0.89% after trading in a range of 65373.50 and 65578.95. There were 27 stocks advancing against 3 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.55%, while Small cap index was up by 0.93%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 2.33%, Metal up by 1.91%, IT up by 1.71%, TECK up by 1.36%, Basic Materials up by 1.29%, while there was no loser on the BSE sectoral front.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Axis Bank up by 1.93%, NTPC up by 1.77%, TCS up by 1.60%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.59% and Infosys up by 1.52%. On the flip side, Asian Paints down by 0.26%, Titan Company down by 0.15% and Sun Pharma down by 0.10% were the few losers.

Meanwhile, SBI in its latest report has said India's unemployment rate is at a record low and the country's labour market is undergoing a structural transformation. It stated 'India's unemployment rate is at a record low, India's labour market is undergoing a deep structural transformation with self-entrepreneurship across all echelons and higher educational attainment emerging as key enablers’.

It ruled that the jump in self-employed populace within the employment estimates (57.3 per cent in FY23 now against 52.2 per cent in FY18) with main traction coming from rising share of household helpers evidentially has been wrongfully interpreted by labour economists and others as a signal of shrinking employment opportunities. 

It said the government's emphasis on entrepreneurship through the Prime Minister's Mudra Yojana (PMMY) and post-pandemic schemes like PM-SVANidhi for those at the bottom of the pyramid is imparting a structural transformation in labour markets in India through formalisation of credit for such family enterprises. The report said earnings have increased across all categories, and added that with primary subsistence needs like food, shelter, medical needs being taken care of by the government through free ration for 80 crore people, PMAY and Ayushman Bharat, apart from additional state schemes, such people are making a clear trade-off between earnings and working in family enterprises.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 19623.80, up by 180.25 points or 0.93% after trading in a range of 19579.65 and 19653.35. There were 43 stocks advancing against 7 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Hindalco up by 4.22%, ONGC up by 3.24%, LTIMindtree up by 3.21%, JSW Steel up by 2.68% and Tech Mahindra up by 2.62%. On the flip side, Britannia Industries down by 0.48%, Sun Pharma down by 0.28%, Power Grid down by 0.19%, Nestle down by 0.17% and Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.15% were the top losers.

All Asian markets are trading higher; Nikkei 225 surged 782.71 points or 2.39% to 33,478.64, Hang Seng jumped 489.62 points or 2.81% to 17,886.48, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 164.46 points or 0.97% to 17,080.17, Jakarta Composite rose 103.98 points or 1.52% to 6,966.04, KOSPI increased 50.73 points or 2.08% to 2,483.98, Straits Times added 15.36 points or 0.49% to 3,120.02 and Shanghai Composite was up by 13.78 points or 0.45% to 3,069.85.