Benchmarks add gains in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks added gains in morning deals, led by gains in IT, TECK and Metal stocks amid an optimistic trend in global markets. Continuous foreign fund inflows into the equity markets also fuelled the rally in stocks. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 3,570.07 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data. Sentiments remained positive with India Ratings’ report stating that the liquidity conditions in the Indian banking system are expected to see substantial improvement from January 2024, owing to a surge in government spending ahead of the vote on account and Foreign Portfolio Investment (FPI) flows in equity markets. It added that the liquidity surplus could touch up to Rs 50,000 crore. On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly in green as the prospect of deep rate cuts from central banks next year boosted global sentiment. It is believed that the Fed's projections are more conservative, and the U.S. central bank could slash rates even further than forecast in 2024.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 71043.63, up by 529.43 points or 0.75% after trading in a range of 70655.97 and 71043.78. There were 20 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.31%, while Small cap index was up by 0.81%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 2.96%, TECK up by 2.56%, Metal up by 1.79%, Oil & Gas up by 1.40% and Basic Materials up by 1.30%, while FMCG down by 0.26% and Realty down by 0.12% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Infosys up by 3.91%, HCL Technologies up by 3.25%, TCS up by 2.91%, Tech Mahindra up by 2.26% and JSW Steel up by 2.22%. On the flip side, Nestle down by 1.73%, Axis Bank down by 0.72%, ITC down by 0.39%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.25% and Hindustan Unilever down by 0.24% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari has said that capital expenditure on National Highways (NHs) has seen a significant increase from about Rs 51,000 crore in 2013-14 (FY14) to more than Rs 2,40,000 crore in 2022-23 (FY23). Gadkari said budgetary allocation of the road ministry has increased from about Rs 31,130 crore in 2013-14 to Rs 2,70,435 crore in 2023-24. He added such increased budgetary allocation led to expansion of the National Highway (NH) network in the country from about 91,287 km in March 2014 to about 1,46,145 km at present. 

He also said the length of four-lane-plus NH network, including high-speed corridors, has increased by more than 250 per cent from about 18,371 km in March 2014 to about 46,179 km so far. Moreover, he said the length of less than two-lane NHs has decreased from about 27,517 km in March 2014 to about 14,870 km, which is now only about 10 per cent of the NH network.

According to him, the ministry has completed various flagship projects, or its sections, which are already completed and opened to traffic to enable ease of movement. He added some of these include Delhi-Dausa-Lalsot section (229 km) and entire section in Madhya Pradesh (210 km) of Delhi-Mumbai Expressway, Amritsar-Bhatinda-Jamnagar (470 km) in Rajasthan, Suryapet-Khammam section of Hyderabad-Visakhapatnam, Indore-Hyderabad (175 km), new Brahamputra Bridge near Tejpur in Assam on NH-37A(old), Kaladan Multi Modal Transit Transport Project in Mizoram, Shillong Nongstoin-Tura section of NH-44E & NH 127B in Meghalaya.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 21349.90, up by 167.20 points or 0.79% after trading in a range of 21235.30 and 21350.65. There were 39 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Infosys up by 4.06%, HCL Technologies up by 3.18%, LTIMindtree up by 3.07%, TCS up by 2.95% and Hindalco up by 2.69%. On the flip side, HDFC Life Insurance down by 2.05%, Nestle down by 1.68%, SBI Life Insurance down by 0.81%, Axis Bank down by 0.46% and Britannia Industries down by 0.36% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 surged 277.95 points or 0.85% to 32,964.20, Taiwan Weighted added 16.96 points or 0.1% to 17,670.07, Hang Seng advanced 491.43 points or 2.91% to 16,893.62, KOSPI increased 21.04 points or 0.83% to 2,565.22, Jakarta Composite gained 2.24 points or 0.03% to 7,178.26 and Shanghai Composite strengthened 9.5 points or 0.32% to 2,968.49. 

On the flip side, Straits Times fell 10.87 points or 0.35% to 3,112.08.