Markets add some gains in late morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks added some gains in late morning deals, tracking positive global cues and gains across heavyweight stocks. Sentiments remained positive with additional Secretary in the commerce ministry Rajesh Agrawal’s statement that India’s agriculture exports this fiscal are expected to reach the last year’s level of $53 billion despite restrictions imposed on shipments of certain key commodities, including rice, wheat and sugar. Traders took a note of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s statement that Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) have made 34.63 per cent of their total procurement from MSMEs in 2023-24 (till November) as against the mandated 25 per cent. Sectorally, select shipping industry’s stocks were trading lower as Credit rating agency CRISIL in its latest report stated that domestic shipping companies are likely to see a further 5-7 per cent decline in revenue in the next financial year (FY25) amid normalisation of the rates. On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly in green as traders reacted to the prospects of a rate cut by the US Fed early next year after some US data showing a drop in economic growth and an uptick in jobless claims. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 71110.44, up by 245.34 points or 0.35% after trading in a range of 70758.34 and 71165.58. There were 28 stocks advancing against 2 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.78%, while Small cap index was up by 1.13%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.76%, Metal up by 1.73%, Auto up by 1.35%, Telecom up by 1.31% and Healthcare up by 1.23%, while there were no losing sectoral indices on the BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Motors up by 2.90%, Tata Steel up by 2.37%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.66%, NTPC up by 1.19% and Sun Pharma up by 1.16%. On the flip side, HDFC Bank down by 0.56% and Infosys down by 0.14% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) has said that a free trade agreement with Oman will help boost apparel exports as huge business opportunities are there in the Gulf nation for Indian exporters. Negotiations for the pact, officially dubbed as the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), are moving at a fast pace.

AEPC said that the swift movement towards CEPA is encouraging and will be a game changer for India- Oman bilateral trade. The bilateral trade between the two countries stood at $12.39 billion in 2022-23, up from $9.99 billion in the previous year. AEPC Secretary General Mithileshwar Thakur said The RMG (readymade garments) exports to Oman grew from $13 million in 2020 to $28 million in 2021. 

The customs duty in Oman is 5 per cent on RMG products. Though it is a small market but has immense potential to grow once tariff is eliminated post-FTA and will be another doorway to GCC countries. The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is a union of six countries in the Gulf region - Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain. The council is the largest trading bloc of India.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 21349.20, up by 94.15 points or 0.44% after trading in a range of 21248.15 and 21362.90. There were 44 stocks advancing against 6 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Motors up by 2.97%, Coal India up by 2.43%, Tata Steel up by 2.37%, Divi's Lab up by 2.28% and Maruti Suzuki up by 1.94%. On the flip side, HDFC Bank down by 0.54%, Grasim Industries down by 0.52%, BPCL down by 0.30%, HDFC Life Insurance down by 0.10% and Infosys down by 0.10% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 surged 23.06 points or 0.07% to 33,163.53, Taiwan Weighted added 36.49 points or 0.21% to 17,580.23, Straits Times rose 26.32 points or 0.85% to 3,138.82, KOSPI increased 7.31 points or 0.28% to 2,607.33, Jakarta Composite gained 30.52 points or 0.42% to 7,240.14 and Shanghai Composite strengthened 14.54 points or 0.5% to 2,933.25.

On the flip side, Hang Seng declined 72.15 points or 0.44% to 16,548.98.