Sensex, Nifty trade firm in early deals

Indian equity benchmarks, after a three-day slump, made strong opening on Friday tracking positive cues from global peers. Markets are trading firm in early deals with gains of over 0.80% each. Traders took encouragement as Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das said slowing global growth is reason for concern, a cause of worry but India is better placed to deal with various geopolitical challenges. Some support also came in with a private report that Covid-19 cases are seeing a downward trend in India, with active cases falling to their lowest since December 21, 2023. 

On the global front, Asian markets are trading mixed, following the broadly positive cues from global markets overnight, as markets were boosted by the rally in technology stocks that mirrored their peers on Nasdaq. Mining and energy stocks were also up amid a rebound in commodity prices. 

Back home, the Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) has requested the Union Government to consider the introduction of the safe harbour rule for the sale of rough diamonds through Special Notified Zones. In stock specific development, Coal India rose amid reports that it is mulling the mining of critical minerals, including lithium. However, IndusInd Bank fell despite reporting 17% growth in Q3 profit.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 71793.57, up by 606.71 points or 0.85% after trading in a range of 71649.88 and 71876.83. There were 27 stocks advancing against 3 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.80%, while Small cap index was up by 0.99%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 1.60%, PSU up by 1.29%, Industrials up by 1.27%, Capital Goods up by 1.24% and Metal up by 1.05%, while there were no losers on the BSE sectoral front.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Titan Company up by 2.82%, Axis Bank up by 2.10%, NTPC up by 1.70%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.61% and Tech Mahindra up by 1.60%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 1.81%, Reliance Industries down by 0.18% and HCL Technologies down by 0.06% were the few losers.

Meanwhile, with sharp fall in kharif crop output and weak progress in rabi sowing for some crops, rating agency ICRA has projected the India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate to slow down to below 6 per cent in the December quarter. India had registered a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate of 7.6 per cent in the July to September period. 

The rating agency said the year-on-year growth in ICRA Business Activity Monitor eased for the second consecutive month to a six-month low of 8.1 per cent in December 2023 -- as against 9.6 per cent in November 2023, while it was 7.9 per cent in December 2022. It noted this can be attributed to a combination of factors, including easing in momentum of activity after the end of the festive period, tapering of demand for electricity and petrol with the onset of the winter season in North India, as well as unfavourable base effects for some indicators. Despite a moderation in year-on-year growth, the index witnessed a sequential uptick of 1.4 per cent in December 2023, driven by eight of the 14 non-financial indicators.

ICRA further said while the Business Activity Monitor suggests that growth in economic activity remained healthy in the third quarter of the ongoing fiscal, the trends across a majority of indicators point to some softness vis-a-vis the previous quarter, partly on account of base normalisation. It said ‘Given this, along with the slump in government's capex in October-November 2023 (-8.8 per cent year-on-year), and ICRA's expectations of little-to-no growth in the agri GVA (Gross Value Added) owing to the sharp fall in kharif crop output and weak progress of rabi sowing for some crops, we project the GDP growth to moderate below 6 per cent in Q3 FY24 from 7.6 per cent in Q2 FY24’.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 21638.65, up by 176.40 points or 0.82% after trading in a range of 21597.30 and 21665.65. There were 44 stocks advancing against 6 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Titan Company up by 3.01%, ONGC up by 2.31%, Coal India up by 2.21%, Axis Bank up by 2.14% and NTPC up by 1.90%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 1.85%, Reliance Industries down by 0.40%, Apollo Hospital down by 0.22%, Cipla down by 0.06% and LTIMindtree down by 0.05% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mixed; Nikkei 225 surged 421.17 points or 1.19% to 35,887.34, Taiwan Weighted rose 403.59 points or 2.34% to 17,631.38, KOSPI increased 27.62 points or 1.13% to 2,467.66 and Straits Times added 10.07 points or 0.32% to 3,149.85. On the other hand, Hang Seng declined 30.4 points or 0.2% to 15,361.39, Shanghai Composite fell 13.49 points or 0.48% to 2,832.29 and Jakarta Composite was down by 4.13 points or 0.06% to 7,248.84.