Domestic indices maintain gains in late morning deals

Domestic equity indices maintained their gains in late morning deals on account of hectic buying by funds and retail investors. Sensex surged past 73,000 mark for first time and Nifty above 22,000 level. Buying action in tech stocks again lifted the indices. Benchmark indices also outperformed broader markets with BSE Mid cap index and Small cap index gaining in the range 0.10-0.35%. Sentiments remained upbeat as the United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai said India and the United States have agreed to bolster trade ties and deepen cooperation in areas such as critical minerals. The sentiments were further supported by Indian rupee appreciating 10 paise to 82.85 against the dollar at the Interbank Foreign Exchange on increased selling of the US currency by exporters and banks. On the BSE sectoral front, traders were seen pilling up positions in IT, TECK, PSU, Energy and Oil & Gas, while selling was witnessed in Utilities, Power, Metal, Basic Materials and Consumer Disc. 

On global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green after the China’s central bank left its medium-term policy loans rate unchanged. The People’s Bank of China surprised markets and held the rate on some 995 billion yuan ($138.84 billion) worth of one-year medium-term lending facility (MLF) loans, keeping it unchanged at 2.50%. Back home, in the stock specific development, DroneAcharya Aerial Innovations surged as it has secured a prestigious contract from the Indian Army, Ministry of Defence.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 73175.96, up by 607.51 points or 0.84% after trading in a range of 72909.00 and 73288.78. There were 23 stocks advancing against 7 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.33%, while Small cap index up by 0.10%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 1.73%, TECK up by 1.51%, PSU up by 1.11%, Energy up by 1.08% and Oil & Gas up by 0.99%, while Utilities down by 0.24%, Power down by 0.21%, Metal down by 0.19%, Basic Materials down by 0.18% and Consumer Disc down by 0.08% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Wipro up by 6.74%, HCL up by 2.69%, Tech Mahindra up by 2.41%, Infosys up by 2.10% and HDFC Bank up by 1.69%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finance down by 1.01%, Bajaj Finserv down by 0.89%, Tata Motors down by 0.40%, Asian Paints down by 0.34% and JSW Steel down by 0.22% 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 22057.20, up by 162.65 points or 0.74% after trading in a range of 21963.55 and 22081.95. There were 35 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Wipro up by 6.96%, HCL up by 2.87%, ONGC up by 2.82%, Tech Mahindra up by 2.63% and Infosys up by 2.14%. On the flip side, HDFC Life Insurance down by 3.27%, Tata Consumer down by 1.46%, Bajaj Finance down by 1.10%, Eicher Motors down by 0.98% and Hindalco down by 0.91% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 surged 346.36 points or 0.96% to 35,923.47, Taiwan Weighted added 51.92 points or 0.3% to 17,564.75, Straits Times rose 7.94 points or 0.25% to 3,199.66 and Shanghai Composite strengthened 6.88 points or 0.24% to 2,888.86. However, Hang Seng declined 40.11 points or 0.25% to 16,204.47, KOSPI dropped 8.17 points or 0.32% to 2,516.88 and Jakarta Composite plunged 13.68 points or 0.19% to 7,227.46.