Domestic indices trade with gains of over half percent in early deals

Indian equity markets have made a positive start and were trading with gains of over half a percent in early deals on Wednesday on account of buying by funds and retail investors. Meanwhile, broader indices were also trading in green.  Positive cues from US markets supported domestic sentiments. Sentiments got support as S&P Global Ratings in its report titled 'China Slows India Grows' has said India's GDP growth rate will rise to 7 per cent by 2026 compared to 4.6 per cent for China. It expects Asia-Pacific's growth engine to shift from China to South and Southeast Asia. Further, foreign fund inflows also supported sentiments. Provisional data from the National Stock Exchange showed that foreign institutional investors net bought shares worth Rs 783.82 crore on November 28.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed despite positive cues from US markets overnight. The US markets ended higher on Tuesday on the heels of remarks by Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller adding to recent optimism the Fed is done raising interest rates. Back home, all the sectoral indices on the BSE were trading in green led by Utilities, Power, IT, TECK and Oil & Gas. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 66518.23, up by 344.03 points or 0.52% after trading in a range of 66374.52 and 66527.19. There were 29 stocks advancing against 1 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.71%, while Small cap index up by 0.50%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Utilities up by 1.88%, Power up by 1.33%, IT up by 1.30%, TECK up by 1.20% and Oil & Gas up by 0.87%, while there were no losers. 

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tech Mahindra up by 2.40%, Wipro up by 1.65%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.39%, HCL up by 1.15% and TCS up by 1.08%. On the flip side, Power Grid down by 0.12% was the only loser.

Meanwhile, S&P Global Ratings in its report titled 'China Slows India Grows' has said India's GDP growth rate will rise to 7 per cent by 2026 compared to 4.6 per cent for China. S&P Global Ratings said it expects Asia-Pacific's growth engine to shift from China to South and Southeast Asia.

It stated ‘We project China's GDP growth to slow to 4.6 per cent in 2024 (2023: 5.4 per cent), edge up to 4.8 per cent in 2025, and return to 4.6 per cent in 2026. We see India reaching 7.0 per cent in 2026; Vietnam, 6.8 per cent (4.9 per cent); Philippines, 6.4 per cent (5.4 per cent); and Indonesia remaining steady at 5 per cent.’

It recently had raised India's growth forecast for the current financial year (FY24) to 6.4 per cent, from 6 per cent, saying that robust domestic momentum has offset headwinds from high food inflation and weak exports.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 20004.55, up by 114.85 points or 0.58% after trading in a range of 19956.30 and 20004.60. There were 46 stocks advancing against 4 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tech Mahindra up by 2.62%, Wipro up by 1.86%, LTIMindtree up by 1.82%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.70% and HCL up by 1.28%. On the flip side, Coal India down by 0.60%, BPCL down by 0.47%, Power Grid down by 0.29% and ONGC down by 0.10% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; Hang Seng declined 344.13 points or 2.02% to 17,010.01, Taiwan Weighted lost 9.35 points or 0.05% to 17,331.90, KOSPI dropped 2.30 points or 0.09% to 2,519.46 and Shanghai Composite weakened 8.16 points or 0.27% to 3,030.39. However, Nikkei 225 surged 2.74 points or 0.01% to 33,411.13, Straits Times rose 15.49 points or 0.5% to 3,081.43 and Jakarta Composite gained 5.05 points or 0.07% to 7,046.12.