Domestic indices maintain gains in afternoon session

Domestic equity indices maintained their gains in afternoon session on account of buying by funds and retail investors. Hectic buying in Tech Mahindra, Wipro, Infosys and TCS companies' stocks helped the markets to maintain their gains. Positive cues from global markets supported domestic markets. Sentiments got boost after soft U.S. inflation. A soft U.S. inflation reading boosted hopes of the Federal Reserve nearing the end of its interest rate-hiking cycle. Further, appreciation in Indian rupee against dollar also supported sentiments. The rupee appreciated 20 paise to 83.12 against the US dollar. Besides, some support came in as SBI in its latest report said that India’s unemployment rate is at a record low and the country’s labour market is undergoing a structural transformation. All the sectoral indices on the BSE were trading in green led by Realty, IT, TECK, Oil & Gas and Energy. 

On the global front, Asian markets were trading higher following strong cues from US markets overnight. Sentiments also got boost as upbeat economic data from China. China reported better-than-expected retail sales and industrial data for October. Retail sales grew by 7.6% last month from a year ago, above the 7% growth forecast by street. Industrial production rose 4.6% year-on-year in October, faster than the 4.4% pace predicted by street. Back home, in the stock specific development, PTC Industries surged after the company signed contract with Safran to provide casting parts for the LEAP engine powering single-aisle jet.  

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 65479.21, up by 545.34 points or 0.84% after trading in a range of 65373.50 and 65578.95. There were 24 stocks advancing against 6 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.80%, while Small cap index was up by 1.08%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 2.71%, IT up by 1.72%, TECK up by 1.52%, Oil & Gas up by 1.51% and Energy up by 1.43%, while there were no losers. 

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tech Mahindra up by 3.55%, Wipro up by 1.94%, Infosys up by 1.82%, JSW Steel up by 1.54% and TCS up by 1.45%. On the flip side, Power Grid Corp down by 0.75%, Asian Paints down by 0.35%, Indusind Bank down by 0.25%, Sun Pharma down by 0.19% and Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.18% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, wholesale price inflation (WPI) remained in the negative territory for the seventh month in a row in October 2023 at (-) 0.52 per cent on easing prices of food items. The negative rate of inflation in October, 2023, is primarily due to fall in prices of chemicals and chemical products, electricity, textiles, basic metals, food products, paper and paper products, etc. as compared to the corresponding month of previous year.

The Component wise, primary articles index, having weight of 22.62%, increased by 1.15% to 184.5 (provisional) in October, 2023 from 182.4 (provisional) for the month of September, 2023. Prices of Minerals and Food Articles increased in October, 2023 as compared to September, 2023. Prices of Crude Petroleum & Natural Gas and Non-food Articles declined in October, 2023 as compared to September, 2023.

Fuel & Power index, having weight of 13.15%, increased by 0.65% to 154.1 (provisional) in October, 2023 from 153.1 (provisional) in  the month of September, 2023. Prices of Mineral Oils increased in October, 2023 as compared to September, 2023. Prices of Electricity declined in October, 2023 as compared to September, 2023.

Besides, Manufactured Products constituting the major portion of the index with weight of 64.23%, remained constant at 140.3 (provisional) in October, 2023 and September, 2023. Meanwhile, for the month of August, 2023 the final Wholesale Price Index and inflation rate for 'All Commodities' (Base Year: 2011-12=100) stood at 152.5 and -0.46% respectively.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 19627.95, up by 184.40 points or 0.95% after trading in a range of 19579.65 and 19653.35. There were 45 stocks advancing against 5 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Eicher Motors up by 3.87%, Hindalco up by 3.59%, Tech Mahindra up by 3.37%, ONGC up by 2.83% and LTIMindtree up by 2.04%. On the flip side, Power Grid Corp down by 0.87%, Indusind Bank down by 0.36%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.16%, Sun Pharma down by 0.15% and Britannia down by 0.03% were the top losers.

All Asian markets were trading higher; Hang Seng advanced 564.37 points or 3.24% to 17,961.23, Nikkei 225 surged 823.77 points or 2.46% to 33,519.70, Taiwan Weighted added 213.07 points or 1.24% to 17,128.78, Straits Times rose 22.18 points or 0.71% to 3,126.84, KOSPI increased 53.42 points or 2.2% to 2,486.67, Shanghai Composite strengthened 13.16 points or 0.43% to 3,069.23 and Jakarta Composite gained 107.71 points or 1.55% to 6,969.77.