Domestic indices trade in fine-fettle in early deals

Indian equity benchmarks made gap-up opening on Tuesday, after previous session’s sell-off, following the broadly positive cues from the Wall Street overnight as well as firm trade in Asian markets amid ongoing optimism about the outlook for the markets despite recent uncertainty about the likelihood of near-term interest rate cuts. The drop in bond yields also helped push stock prices higher. Domestic indices – Sensex and Nifty -- are trading in fine-fettle with gains of over half a percent in early deals amid foreign fund inflows. Provisional data from the NSE showed that foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth Rs 16.03 crore on January 8. Sentiments got a boost as Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal said India’s agriculture exports, which stood at over $50 billion at present, are expected to double by 2030 and reach $100 billion. He said that the country is targeting $2 trillion worth of exports of goods and services by 2030.

However, markets trimmed some of their opening gains amid cautiousness with a private report that India may see around $30 billion shaved off its total exports in the current fiscal year, as threats to cargo vessels in the Red Sea lead to a surge in container shipping rates and prompt exporters to hold back on shipments. On the sectoral front, banking stocks are in focus with a private report stating that gaining from high credit off-take and lower credit costs, banks are likely to post 16.7 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) growth in net profit during the third quarter of the financial year ended December 2023 (Q3 FY24). In stock specific development, Bajaj Auto rallied after its board approved a Rs 4,000-crore share buyback via a tender offer.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 71723.57, up by 368.35 points or 0.52% after trading in a range of 71712.58 and 71871.82. 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 0.39%, while Small cap index was up by 0.75%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Capital Goods up by 1.18%, IT up by 1.12%, Industrials up by 1.04%, Realty up by 0.81% and TECK up by 0.78%, while there were no losers on the BSE sectoral front.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Larsen & Toubro up by 1.91%, Wipro up by 1.69%, TCS up by 1.26%, Infosys up by 1.10% and Tech Mahindra up by 1.06%. On the flip side, Maruti Suzuki down by 0.34% and HDFC Bank down by 0.05% were the only losers.

Meanwhile, expressing optimism over India’s agriculture exports, Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal has said that the country’s agriculture exports, which stood at over $50 billion at present, are likely to double by 2030 and reach $100 billion. He said that the country is targeting $2 trillion worth of exports of goods and services by 2030.

The secretary said that areas like the ready-to-eat food segment have huge potential to grow. He also urged the industry to focus on the technical standard requirements of importing countries. The government has prohibited exports of wheat and non-basmati white rice and has also imposed curbs on sugar exports.

Earlier, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said that this fiscal year, the country's agri exports will be more than last year's level of $53 billion, despite restrictions imposed on shipments of certain key commodities, including rice, wheat and sugar.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 21634.05, up by 121.05 points or 0.56% after trading in a range of 21624.05 and 21673.65. There were 43 stocks advancing against 7 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Adani Ports & SEZ up by 2.63%, Bajaj Auto up by 2.09%, Larsen & Toubro up by 1.83%, Wipro up by 1.60% and Adani Enterprises up by 1.23%. On the flip side, Britannia Industries down by 0.57%, Eicher Motors down by 0.52%, HDFC Life Insurance down by 0.52%, Maruti Suzuki down by 0.33% and UPL down by 0.24% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 surged 371.7 points or 1.11% to 33,749.12, Hang Seng advanced 39.03 points or 0.24% to 16,263.48, Straits Times rose 14.83 points or 0.47% to 3,201.85, Shanghai Composite strengthened 9.83 points or 0.34% to 2,897.37, KOSPI increased 4.79 points or 0.19% to 2,572.61 and Taiwan Weighted added 2.79 points or 0.02% to 17,575.45, while Jakarta Composite was down by 90.75 points or 1.25% to 7,192.83.