Indian equity benchmark -- Nifty -- ended Wednesday’s trading session in a positive terrain ahead of November F&O expiry. Index made an optimistic start, as traders got support after 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.
In afternoon session, index extended its northward journey, as sentiments remained up-beat with rating agency ICRA’s report stating that the credit metrics of India Inc. are likely to show slight sequential improvement in Q3 FY2024, with interest coverage increasing to 4.5-5.0 times in Q3 FY2024 from 4.5 times in Q2 FY2024. The credit metrics would result from improved earnings of Corporate India, on the back of continuing, albeit moderating tailwinds from commodity prices and seasonally strong demand during the recently concluded festive season. Finally, index ended near day’s high point, as traders took support after a U.S. Federal Reserve official made fresh hints of interest rate cuts.
Most of the sectorial indices ended in green except Realty, Media and Consumer Durables stocks. The top gainers from the F&O segment were Manappuram Finance, Bharat Heavy Electricals and Muthoot Finance. On the other hand, the top losers were Zee Entertainment Enterprises, Multi Commodity Exchange of India and Adani Enterprises. In the index option segment, maximum OI continues to be seen in the 20100 - 20300 calls and 19900 - 20100 puts indicating this is the trading range expectation.
