Sensex, Nifty add gains in early noon deals

A sustain buying helped Indian equity indices to add more gains in early afternoon deals, with both Sensex and Nifty trading near their intraday high points, aided by positive cues from other Asian markets. Sentiments remained positive, as the Retirement fund body, Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) in its latest ‘Provisional Estimate of Net Payroll’ data report has showed that India created 1720615 new jobs in the month of September 2023 as against revised figure of 1497410 in August 2023. 

The street paid no heed towards a private report stating that India's real GDP growth will decline marginally to 6.3 per cent in 2024 from the 6.4 per cent estimated for 2023. On the sectoral front, jewellery industry stocks were in watch, amid reports that India's October gold imports surged 60% from a year earlier to a 31-month high as a drop in prices ahead of a key festival prompted jewellers to ramp up purchases.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly higher, after Taiwan's export orders continued to decline in October, though at a slower-than-expected rate. According to data released by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, export orders dropped 4.6 percent year-over-year in October, much slower than the 15.6 percent slump in September. The expected drop was 4.93 percent.  

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 66038.57, up by 383.42 points or 0.58% after trading in a range of 65849.17 and 66082.36. 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 0.21%, while Small cap index was up by 0.36%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 1.50%, Realty up by 1.31%, Basic Materials up by 1.01%, Healthcare up by 0.57% and Consumer Discretionary up by 0.53%, while PSU down by 0.62%, Energy down by 0.57%, Capital Goods down by 0.41%, Oil & Gas down by 0.34% and Telecom down by 0.17% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were JSW Steel up by 2.15%, Reliance Industries up by 1.57%, Titan up by 1.47%, Tata Steel up by 1.45% and Mahindra & Mahindra up by 0.97%. On the flip side, Maruti Suzuki down by 0.24%, Larsen & Toubro down by 0.24%, NTPC down by 0.20%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.16% and Power Grid down by 0.14% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, finalising the rules of origin for the medical devices sector remains a stickingpoint in the proposed freetrade agreement (FTA) between India and the UK and the talks are going on between the two countries to resolve the differences in both goods and services sectors. Huge potential is there in the medical devices sector in India, as it imports about 80 per cent of its requirement, with the US, Germany, China, Singapore and Netherlands being top exporters of such devices to the country.

The government has taken steps to promote domestic manufacturing of medical devices/equipment and attract large investment in the sector. Such schemes/initiatives include Promotion of Medical Device Parks, National Biopharma Mission, and a productionlinked Incentive scheme for the sector. The six major categories of medical devices that are being mainly imported into the country include consumables, disposables, electronics and equipment, implants, IVD reagent and surgical instruments.

The 'rules of origin' provision prescribes minimal processing that should happen in the FTA country, so that the final manufactured product may be called originating goods in that country. Under this provision, a country that has inked an FTA with India cannot dump goods from some third country in the Indian market by just putting a label on it. It has to undertake a prescribed value addition in that product to export to India. Rules of origin norms help contain dumping of goods.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 19804.70, up by 110.70 points or 0.56% after trading in a range of 19754.05 and 19829.10. There were 36 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Adani Enterprises up by 3.04%, SBI Life Insurance up by 2.51%, HDFC Life Insurance up by 2.48%, Hindalco up by 2.37% and JSW Steel up by 2.12%. On the flip side, Coal India down by 4.14%, ONGC down by 2.96%, BPCL down by 0.59%, Britannia down by 0.41% and NTPC down by 0.40% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly higher; Hang Seng advanced 30.9 points or 0.17% to 17,808.97, Taiwan Weighted added 206.23 points or 1.18% to 17,416.70, Shanghai Composite strengthened 0.64 points or 0.02% to 3,068.96 and KOSPI increased 19.22 points or 0.77% to 2,510.42, while Jakarta Composite plunged 31.4 points or 0.45% to 6,963.49, Straits Times fell 15.85 points or 0.51% to 3,095.73 and Nikkei 225 slipped 33.89 points or 0.1% to 33,354.14.