Markets add gains in late morning deals

Indian equity markets added gains in late morning deals driven by continuous foreign fund inflows. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 8,147.85 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data. Traders got encouragement with data showing that the India’s economy grew 7.6 percent during the July-September quarter of the current financial year 2023-24 (Q2FY24) as against 6.2 per cent in the year-ago period.  The jump in GDP figures in the second quarter was led by manufacturing and construction industries. India remains the fastest-growing major economy, as China's GDP growth in the July-September quarter this year was 4.9 per cent. 

Some solace also came as the output of eight core industries posted a growth of 12.1 percent in October 2023 on the back of robust expansion in coal, electricity, cement and steel. Core sector growth was a mere 0.7 percent in October 2022. Adding to the optimism, a labour ministry said retail inflation for industrial workers eased to 4.45 per cent in October from 4.72 per cent in September mainly due to lower prices of certain food items.  On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red as traders react to a raft of mixed domestic economic data from the region, particularly manufacturing activity. The downside was limited amid cooling inflation data from the US that raised hopes the US Fed will keep interest rates unchanged for longer. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 67445.36, up by 456.92 points or 0.68% after trading in a range of 67149.07 and 67475.79. 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 0.87%, while Small cap index was up by 0.71%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Utilities up by 2.81%, Power up by 2.52%, PSU up by 2.31%, Realty up by 1.47% and Capital Goods up by 1.18%, while IT down by 0.08%, TECK down by 0.04% and Auto down by 0.03% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were NTPC up by 4.94%, ITC up by 3.02%, Axis Bank up by 2.11%, Larsen & Toubro up by 1.91% and SBI up by 1.56%. On the flip side, Wipro down by 1.05%, Infosys down by 0.43%, Tata Motors down by 0.35%, Titan Company down by 0.23% and HCL Technologies down by 0.17% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the India’s economy grew 7.6 percent during the July-September quarter of the current financial year 2023-24 (Q2FY24) as against 6.2 per cent in the year-ago period.  The jump in GDP figures in the second quarter was led by manufacturing and construction industries. India remains the fastest-growing major economy, as China's GDP growth in the July-September quarter this year was 4.9 per cent. India's The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth for the April-June quarter of current financial year grew 7.8 per cent.

The National Statistical Office (NSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, said real GDP or GDP at Constant (2011-12) Prices in Q2 2023-24 is estimated to attain a level of  Rs 41.74 lakh crore, as against  Rs 38.78 lakh crore in Q2 2022-23, showing a growth of 7.6 percent as compared to 6.2 percent in Q2 2022-23. The nominal GDP or GDP at Current Prices in Q2 2023-24 is estimated at Rs 71.66 lakh crore, as against Rs 65.67 lakh crore in Q2 2022-23, showing a growth of 9.1 percent as compared to 17.2 percent in Q2 2022-23.

It further said GDP at Constant (2011-12) Prices in April-September 2023-24 (H1 2023-24) is estimated at Rs 82.11 lakh crore as against Rs 76.22 lakh crore during the corresponding period of previous year, showing a growth of 7.7 percent in H1 2023-24 as against 9.5 percent in H1 2022-23. GDP at Current Prices in H1 2023-24 is estimated at Rs 142.33 lakh crore as against Rs 131.09 lakh crore during the corresponding period of previous year, showing a growth of 8.6 percent in H1 2023-24 as against 22.2 in H1 2022-23.

According to the NSO, the GVA in the manufacturing sector accelerated to 13.9 per cent in the Second quarter of the current fiscal compared to -3.8 per cent in the year-ago period. The output (GVA) in the ‘mining and quarrying’ increased to 10 per cent in the second quarter from -0.1 per cent a year ago, ‘electricity, gas, water supply and other utility services’ increased to 10.1 per cent from 6 per cent, and ‘construction’ rose to 13.3 per cent from 5.7 per cent. However, the agriculture sector gross value added (GVA) recorded growth of 1.2 per cent, down from 2.5 per cent in the July-September quarter of 2022-23 and ‘Financial, real estate and professional services’ GVA was 6 per cent, down from 7.1 per cent in the year-ago quarter.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 20261.15, up by 128.00 points or 0.64% after trading in a range of 20183.70 and 20269.20. There were 33 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were NTPC up by 4.86%, ITC up by 2.67%, Coal India up by 2.13%, Larsen & Toubro up by 2.08% and Axis Bank up by 2.04%. On the flip side, Bajaj Auto down by 1.33%, Wipro down by 0.92%, HDFC Life Insurance down by 0.65%, SBI Life Insurance down by 0.63% and Cipla down by 0.50% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Nikkei 225 slipped 41.94 points or 0.13% to 33,444.95, Hang Seng declined 119.91 points or 0.71% to 16,922.97, KOSPI dropped 27.93 points or 1.11% to 2,507.36, Jakarta Composite plunged 31.19 points or 0.44% to 7,049.55 and Shanghai Composite weakened 11.25 points or 0.37% to 3,018.42.

On the global front, Taiwan Weighted added 12.57 points or 0.07% to 17,446.42 and Straits Times rose 12.6 points or 0.41% to 3,085.59.