Benchmarks continue to trade higher in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade higher in morning deals, led by gains in IT, TECK and PSU stocks. Sentiments remained positive with Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal’s statement that the rate of rupee depreciation has come down and expressed hope that after 8-10 years, it will start appreciating against US dollar, helping the Indian economy to grow at faster pace. Some support also came with private report stating that India is expected to clock a GDP growth in the range of 6.9-7.2 per cent in the current financial year on the back of improving economic fundamentals. Traders also took a note of SBI Research in a report stated that retail inflation in India is unlikely to come down much but is expected to hold at nearly the same level in the January-March 2024 quarter. Once the CPI comes under control for fruits, vegetables, spices, and cereals, headline inflation is expected to drastically reduce to come near the mid-point of the RBI inflation target of 4 per cent. On the global front, Asian markets are trading mixed ahead of a week packed with geopolitical risk, Chinese economic data and earnings reports from major U.S. banks.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 73104.85, up by 536.40 points or 0.74% after trading in a range of 72909.00 and 73288.78. 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 0.26%, while Small cap index was up by 0.12%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 1.77%, TECK up by 1.47%, PSU up by 0.72%, Healthcare up by 0.70% and Bankex up by 0.60%, while Utilities down by 0.50%, Power down by 0.46%, Metal down by 0.44%, Basic Materials down by 0.30% and Auto down by 0.11% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Wipro up by 6.55%, HCL Technologies up by 2.57%, Tech Mahindra up by 2.55%, Infosys up by 2.04% and HDFC Bank up by 1.97%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finance down by 1.18%, Power Grid Corporation down by 0.73%, JSW Steel down by 0.64%, Bajaj Finserv down by 0.60% and Tata Motors down by 0.43% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, retail inflation based on Consumer Price Index (CPI) inched up to a 4-month high of 5.69 per cent in December 2023, mainly on account of higher food prices. The CPI was at 5.55 per cent in November 2023 and 5.72 per cent in December 2022. In August 2023, inflation touched a high of 6.83 per cent. The December inflation remains within the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) comfort zone The RBI has been tasked by the government to ensure retail inflation remains at 4 per cent with a margin of 2 per cent on either side.

The National Statistical Office (NSO) under Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation in its data has showed that Rural CPI (General) in December 2023 stood at 5.93 per cent as against 5.85 per cent in November. The Urban CPI (General) stood at 5.46 per cent in December as against 5.26 per cent in November. The index value for Rural, Urban and Combined CPI (General) stood at 187.6, 183.6 and 185.7 respectively, in December 2023.

Retail inflation in the food basket was at 9.53 per cent in December 2023, up from 8.70 per cent in the preceding month and 4.19 per cent in the year-ago month. Within the food basket, inflation picked up in pulses to 20.73% in December from 20.23% from November, for vegetables it jumped to 27.6% in December from 17.70% in November, fruits it stood at 11.14% in December from 10.95% in November, and sugar to 7.14% from 6.55%, while it was just fractionally lower for cereals at 9.93% in December from 10.27% in November also for spices at came down to 19.69% in December from 21.55% in November. 

Inflation continued to ease M-o-M basis in the case of milk (to 5.07% from 5.75%), meat and fish (to 1.15% from 2.15%) and egg (to 4.36% from 5.90%). Fuel and light prices fell 0.99% year-on-year, compared to a 0.77% dip in November. Transport and communication prices rose 1.96%, slightly below November levels of 2.09%, while inflation in personal care and effects stood at 7.28% in December.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 22031.30, up by 136.75 points or 0.62% after trading in a range of 21963.55 and 22081.95. There were 30 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Wipro up by 6.55%, HCL Technologies up by 2.59%, Tech Mahindra up by 2.49%, ONGC up by 2.15% and Infosys up by 2.01%. On the flip side, HDFC Life Insurance down by 2.83%, Hindalco down by 1.23%, Eicher Motors down by 1.20%, Bajaj Finance down by 1.20% and Tata Consumer Product down by 1.12% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mixed; Nikkei 225 surged 308.82 points or 0.87% to 35,885.93, Taiwan Weighted added 69.7 points or 0.4% to 17,582.53, Shanghai Composite strengthened 10.3 points or 0.36% to 2,892.28 and Straits Times rose 9.52 points or 0.3% to 3,201.24.

On the flip side, Hang Seng declined 25.03 points or 0.15% to 16,219.55, KOSPI dropped 4.68 points or 0.19% to 2,520.37 and Jakarta Composite plunged 13.68 points or 0.19% to 7,227.46.