Sensex, Nifty trade higher with decent gains in early deals

Indian equity benchmarks made optimistic start on Thursday in line with overnight gains on Wall Street as well as firm trade in Asian counterparts amid optimism about near-term rate cuts by the US Fed ahead of the release of key U.S. inflation data later in the day and tomorrow, which will affect the outlook for interest rates. Japan's Nikkei reached its highest since February 1990, as a weaker yen buoyed exporters and caution over an impending hike by the Bank of Japan continued to fade on the back of weak wage data. Sensex and Nifty are trading higher with decent gains in early deals amid value buying. Sentiments got a boost as Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said India will become the third largest economy by 2027-28, with a GDP of over $5 trillion. Adding more optimism, a PHDCCI report noted that India's economy is likely to surpass $4 trillion in 2024-25 and further escalate to $5 trillion by 2026-27. The industry chamber also expects the RBI to cut the repo rate by 100 basis points in a calibrated manner by the end of 2024.

However, upside remained limited ahead of the weekly F&O expiry. Foreign fund outflows also weighted down on sentiments. Provisional data from the NSE showed that foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth Rs 1,721.35 crore on January 10. On the sectoral front, IT industry stocks are in focus as Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Infosys are due to report their quarterly numbers later in the day. In stock specific development, Bank of India traded higher after it recorded domestic advances at Rs 4,26,622 crore in Q3 against those of Rs 4,76,125 crore a year ago. However, Polycab India hit lower circuit on reports that the Income Tax department detected ‘unaccounted cash sales’ of about Rs 1,000 crore from its recent raids.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 71855.72, up by 198.01 points or 0.28% after trading in a range of 71835.38 and 71999.47. There were 22 stocks advancing against 8 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.59%, while Small cap index was up by 0.71%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 1.05%, Utilities up by 0.92%, Auto up by 0.87%, Energy up by 0.78% and Telecom up by 0.73%, while Capital Goods down by 0.37%, IT down by 0.19% and TECK down by 0.13% were the few losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bajaj Finserv up by 1.56%, Reliance Industries up by 1.23%, Indusind Bank up by 1.16%, Axis Bank up by 1.14% and Bajaj Finance up by 1.05%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 1.29%, Sun Pharma down by 0.25%, Nestle down by 0.25%, HDFC Bank down by 0.19% and Wipro down by 0.17% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, expressing her optimism over India’s economic growth, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that the country will become the third largest economy by 2027-28, with a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of over $5 trillion. She noted that even going by conservative estimates, the size of the Indian economy will be $30 trillion by 2047.

She said ‘It is possible that we will be the third largest economy by 2027-28, and our GDP will cross $5 trillion by that time. By 2047, it is a conservative estimate that we will reach at least $30 trillion in terms of economy’. India, with a GDP of roughly $3.4 trillion, is currently the fifth largest economy in the world, after the US, China, Japan and Germany. Indian economy is projected to grow by 7.3 per cent in the current fiscal, higher than 7.2 per cent in 2022-23.

Sitharaman said India has received $919 billion in foreign direct investment in 23 years till 2023. Of this, 65 per cent, or $595 billion, came in the last 8-9 years of the Narendra Modi government. Referring to financial inclusion, the minister said the number of people with bank accounts has increased from 15 crore in 2014 to 50 crore at present.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 21681.60, up by 62.90 points or 0.29% after trading in a range of 21674.05 and 21726.50. There were 38 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Hero MotoCorp up by 2.63%, Bajaj Finserv up by 1.61%, Bajaj Auto up by 1.45%, Reliance Industries up by 1.22% and Indusind Bank up by 1.20%. On the flip side, Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 2.22%, Infosys down by 1.28%, Adani Enterprises down by 0.39%, Adani Ports & SEZ down by 0.33% and Sun Pharma down by 0.29% were the top losers.

All Asian markets are trading higher; Nikkei 225 surged 679.91 points or 1.94% to 35,121.63, Hang Seng jumped 218.67 points or 1.34% to 16,315.95, Taiwan Weighted rose 54.59 points or 0.31% to 17,520.22, Jakarta Composite advanced 31.69 points or 0.44% to 7,258.99, Straits Times added 18.82 points or 0.59% to 3,198.78, KOSPI increased 3.96 points or 0.16% to 2,545.94 and Shanghai Composite was up by 2.57 points or 0.09% to 2,880.27.