Benchmarks continue to trade in green in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade in green in morning deals, led by gains in Consumer Durables, Realty and Basic Materials stocks. Sentiments remained positive with a private report stating that India Inc’s net profit as a percentage of the country's gross domestic product (GDP) is just shy of reaching 5 per cent, bolstered by strong earnings growth in the second quarter of 2023-24. Traders overlooked data showing that retail inflation for agricultural labourers and rural workers rose marginally to 7.08 per cent and 6.92 per cent in October, respectively, from 6.70 per cent and 6.55 per cent respectively in September 2023 due to higher prices of certain food items. On the global front, Asian markets are trading mixed as investors await the minutes of the Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy meeting for additional clues on the outlook for rates.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 65881.91, up by 226.76 points or 0.35% after trading in a range of 65849.17 and 65960.62. There were 18 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.32%, while Small cap index was up by 0.41%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 1.32%, Realty up by 0.90%, Basic Materials up by 0.85%, Healthcare up by 0.46%, Consumer discretionary up by 0.43%, while Energy down by 0.71%, Capital Goods down by 0.54%, Oil & Gas down by 0.54%, PSU down by 0.47% and Telecom down by 0.14% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were JSW Steel up by 1.68%, Titan Company up by 1.26%, Tata Steel up by 1.12%, Reliance Industries up by 0.99% and HDFC Bank up by 0.81%. On the flip side, NTPC down by 0.64%, Larsen & Toubro down by 0.59%, Nestle down by 0.34%, Tech Mahindra down by 0.26% and Bajaj Finance down by 0.22% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, The labour ministry has said retail inflation for agricultural labourers and rural workers rose marginally to 7.08 per cent and 6.92 per cent in October 2023, respectively, from 6.70 per cent and 6.55 per cent respectively in September 2023 due to higher prices of certain food items. Point to point rate of inflation based on CPI-AL (Consumer Price Index-Agricultural Labourers) and CPI-RL (Consumer Price Index-Rural Labourers) stood at 7.22 per cent and 7.34 per cent, respectively in October 2022.

Food inflation stood at 8.42 per cent and 8.18 per cent for CPI-AL and CPI-RL in October 2023 compared to 8.06 per cent and 7.73 per cent respectively in September 2023 and 7.05 per cent and 7.00 per cent respectively during the corresponding month of the previous year. The All India CPI-AL and CPI-RL for October 2023 increased by 15 points and 14 points respectively to stand at 1,241 points and 1,251 points respectively. CPI-AL and CPI-RL were 1,226 and 1,237 points respectively in September 2023.

According to It, the major contribution towards the rise in general index of Agricultural Labourers and Rural Labourers came from food group to the extent of 13.20 points and 12.48 points respectively mainly due to increase in prices of rice, wheat atta, pulses, vegetables, milk, onion, chillies (green), mixed spices etc. There has been an upward trend in the index across all the states. In the case of Agricultural Labourers, it recorded an increase of 1 to 10 points in five states, 11 to 20 points in 13 states and an increase of more than 20 points in two states.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 19771.05, up by 77.05 points or 0.39% after trading in a range of 19754.05 and 19790.05. There were 33 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Adani Enterprises up by 2.80%, Hindalco up by 2.61%, SBI Life Insurance up by 2.45%, HDFC Life Insurance up by 1.94% and JSW Steel up by 1.83%. On the flip side, Coal India down by 3.75%, ONGC down by 2.86%, Larsen & Toubro down by 0.77%, Apollo Hospital down by 0.75% and BPCL down by 0.66% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mixed; Nikkei 225 surged 1.9 points or 0.01% to 33,389.93, Taiwan Weighted added 200.39 points or 1.16% to 17,410.86, Hang Seng advanced 177.92 points or 0.99% to 17,955.99, KOSPI increased 23.57 points or 0.95% to 2,514.77 and Shanghai Composite strengthened 13.98 points or 0.45% to 3,082.30.

On the flip side, Straits Times fell 8.72 points or 0.28% to 3,102.86 and Jakarta Composite plunged 39.45 points or 0.56% to 6,955.44.