Benchmarks continue to trade higher in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade higher in morning deals, led by gains in Oil & Gas, PSU and Energy stocks. A decisive victory for the incumbent Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) in three out of the four state elections has boosted sentiment in the Indian markets. Sentiments remained up-beat as the finance ministry stated that Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections jumped 15 per cent to nearly Rs 1.68 lakh crore in November 2023 on increased domestic activity and festive season buying. Goods and Services Tax (GST) mop-up was over Rs 1.45 lakh crore in November 2022. Some support also came with Union Minister for Commerce & Industry Piyush Goyal’s statement that India’s focus on infrastructure is empowering the economy and giving it a fillip. He said massive investments both from the government and from the private sector, directed towards infrastructure are boosting the infrastructural capabilities of the country. On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly in green in a busy week for economic data that will test market wagers for early and aggressive rate cuts from major central banks next year. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 68399.84, up by 918.65 points or 1.36% after trading in a range of 68274.47 and 68587.82. There were 25 stocks advancing against 5 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.89%, while Small cap index was up by 0.97%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 4.14%, PSU up by 3.27%, Energy up by 3.19%, Utilities up by 2.95% and Power up by 2.84%, while Consumer Durables down by 0.03% was the lone losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Larsen & Toubro up by 3.45%, SBI up by 2.94%, NTPC up by 2.84%, ICICI Bank up by 2.63% and Indusind Bank up by 2.11%. On the flip side, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.20%, Nestle down by 0.47%, Sun Pharma down by 0.43%, Titan Company down by 0.03% and Asian Paints down by 0.02% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the finance ministry has said Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections jumped 15 per cent to nearly Rs 1.68 lakh crore in November 2023 on increased domestic activity and festive season buying. Goods and Services Tax (GST) mop-up was over Rs 1.45 lakh crore in November 2022.

The ministry stated the gross GST revenue collected in the month of November 2023 is Rs 1,67,929 crore, out of which CGST is Rs 30,420 crore, SGST is Rs 38,226 crore, IGST is Rs 87,009 crore (including Rs 39,198 crore collected on import of goods) and cess is Rs 12,274 crore (including Rs 1,036 crore collected on import of goods). 

The gross GST collection till November in the current fiscal is Rs 13,32,440 crore, averaging Rs 1.66 lakh crore per month. The collection is 11.9 per cent higher than the gross GST collection in the same period last year (Rs 11,90,920 crore, averaging Rs 1.49 lakh crore per month).

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 20547.60, up by 279.70 points or 1.38% after trading in a range of 20507.75 and 20602.50. There were 41 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Adani Enterprises up by 6.12%, BPCL up by 5.79%, Adani Ports &SEZ up by 4.79%, Larsen & Toubro up by 3.51% and Coal India up by 3.35%. On the flip side, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.19%, Britannia Industries down by 0.86%, HDFC Life Insurance down by 0.61%, Sun Pharma down by 0.43% and Nestle down by 0.36% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in green; Straits Times rose 12.27 points or 0.4% to 3,102.58, KOSPI increased 13.74 points or 0.55% to 2,518.75, Jakarta Composite gained 72.64 points or 1.03% to 7,132.55 and Taiwan Weighted added 1.56 points or 0.01% to 17,439.91.

On the flip side, Shanghai Composite weakened 1.08 points or 0.04% to 3,030.56, Nikkei 225 slipped 201.45 points or 0.6% to 33,230.06 and Hang Seng declined 101.29 points or 0.61% to 16,729.01.