Benchmarks continue to trade higher in late morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade higher in late morning deals, tracking up-beat global market mood. Sentiments remained up-beat with a report that as many as 746 applications have been approved till November 2023 under the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes for 14 sectors such as pharma, white goods, and electronics. The schemes for 14 sectors were announced with an outlay of Rs 1.97 lakh crore to enhance India's manufacturing capabilities and exports. Some support also came as the department for promotion of industry and internal trade (DPIIT) is working with 24 sub-sectors, including furniture, aluminium, agrochemicals and textiles, to promote domestic manufacturing, boost exports and reduce imports. On the global front, Asian markets are trading in green, tracking Christmas holiday gains on Wall Street, with investors betting on the US Federal Reserve cutting interest rates as early as March.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 71739.37, up by 402.57 points or 0.56% after trading in a range of 71473.65 and 71758.45. There were 26 stocks advancing against 4 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.86%, while Small cap index was up by 0.69%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 1.43%, Basic Materials up by 1.20%, Capital Goods up by 0.97%, Auto up by 0.95%, Telecom up by 0.91%

The top gainers on the Sensex were Ultratech Cement up by 2.88%, Tata Steel up by 2.55%, Tata Motors up by 2.33%, JSW Steel up by 1.96% and Larsen & Toubro up by 1.22%. On the flip side, Asian Paints down by 0.79%, NTPC down by 0.48%, Maruti Suzuki down by 0.24% and Hindustan Unilever down by 0.11% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its latest data has showed that India’s current account deficit (CAD) declined sharply to 1 per cent of the GDP or $8.3 billion in the second quarter of this financial year (Q2FY24), mainly due to lower merchandise trade deficit and growth in services exports. 

The current account deficit, which represents the difference between the total amount of money sent abroad and money received from overseas across the economy, was 3.8 per cent of GDP or $30.9 billion in the July-September quarter in 2022-23 (Q2FY23). CAD was $9.2 billion or 1.1 per cent of GDP in the first quarter (April-June) of the current financial year 2023-24 (Q1FY24).

During the July-September quarter (Q2), it showed that net outgo on the primary income account, primarily reflecting payments of investment income, increased to $12.2 billion, from $11.8 billion a year ago. Further, it stated services exports grew by 4.2 per cent on a y-o-y basis on the back of rising exports of software, business and travel services. It added net services receipts increased both sequentially and on a y-o-y basis.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 21563.90, up by 122.55 points or 0.57% after trading in a range of 21495.80 and 21567.50. There were 41 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Hindalco up by 2.96%, Ultratech Cement up by 2.92%, Tata Steel up by 2.63%, Tata Motors up by 2.25% and Bajaj Auto up by 2.10%. On the flip side, Britannia Inds down by 0.84%, Asian Paints down by 0.78%, NTPC down by 0.42%, Hero MotoCorp down by 0.32% and Maruti Suzuki down by 0.26% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading in green; Nikkei 225 surged 383.81 points or 1.14% to 33,689.66, Taiwan Weighted added 107.31 points or 0.6% to 17,859.04, Hang Seng advanced 249.82 points or 1.51% to 16,590.23, Straits Times rose 12.89 points or 0.41% to 3,152.87, KOSPI increased 2.76 points or 0.11% to 2,605.35, Jakarta Composite gained 40.19 points or 0.55% to 7,277.71 and Shanghai Composite strengthened 12.82 points or 0.44% to 2,911.70.