Positive trade continues in Indian markets

A positive trade continued in Indian equity markets in early afternoon deals, with both Sensex and Nifty holding notable gains, on the back of positive cues from other Asian markets along with heavy buying at PSU and Telecom counters. Adding some comfort among traders, the Government approved an outlay of Rs 235 crore for revamped Scheme for Administrative Reforms of Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG) to be implemented in next two years (2024-25 and 2025-26) of the 15th Finance Commission Cycle.  Some support came after Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das said at the World Economic Forum in Davos that slowing global growth is reason for concern, a cause of worry but India is better placed to deal with various geopolitical challenges.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green, even as Japan's tertiary activity index decreased for the third straight month in November. According to data from the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry, the seasonally adjusted tertiary activity index dropped 0.7 percent month-on-month in November, faster than the 0.2 percent decline in October.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 71663.17, up by 476.31 points or 0.67% after trading in a range of 71542.74 and 71895.64. There were 24 stocks advancing against 6 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 1.15%, while Small cap index was up by 1.01%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were PSU up by 1.84%, Telecom up by 1.75%, Industrials up by 1.46%, Power up by 1.36% and Capital Goods up by 1.29%, while there were no losing sectoral indices on the BSE .

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel up by 4.08%, NTPC up by 2.92%, Tata Steel up by 2.44%, ICICI Bank up by 2.07% and Tech Mahindra up by 1.81%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 3.46%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.56%, HCL Tech. down by 0.33%, Reliance Industries down by 0.30% and HDFC Bank down by 0.21% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Suman Bery has said that the cooperation between India and Singapore in the field of green finance has a promising future. He also asserted that the two countries can work within the framework laid out in the G20 New Delhi Leaders' Declaration on sustainable finance.

Bery said adopted on September 9, 2023, the G20 New Delhi Leaders' Declaration resolved to pursue environmentally sustainable and inclusive economic growth and development in an integrated, holistic and balanced manner, among other things. He noted that Singapore has pioneered artificial intelligence (AI) in Asia and plans to triple the pool of AI experts to 15,000 as part of the National AI Strategy 2.0 unveiled in December.

Since technology establishments in Singapore and India are comfortable with each other, he said there could be scope for technological human interchange in this area. Region-wise, he pointed out that Singapore has always advocated for India's presence in the ASEAN Circle. He also said ‘Singapore is very interested in India being more active in ASEAN, and there are good reasons for us to do that, for it is the fast-growing part of the world.’

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 21604.85, up by 142.60 points or 0.66% after trading in a range of 21575.00 and 21670.60. There were 41 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bharti Airtel up by 4.03%, NTPC up by 2.87%, Tata Steel up by 2.48%, ONGC up by 2.33% and ICICI Bank up by 2.00%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 3.57%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.55%, Divi's Lab down by 0.44%, Reliance Industries down by 0.36% and HCL Tech. down by 0.25% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 surged 497.1 points or 1.38% to 35,963.27, Taiwan Weighted increased 453.73 points or 2.57% to 17,681.52, KOSPI increased 32.70 points or 1.32% to 2,472.74, Straits Times increased 11.9 points or 0.38% to 3,151.68 and Jakarta Composite gained 8.48 points or 0.12% to 7,261.45, while Shanghai Composite weakened 14.15 points or 0.5% to 2,831.63 and Hang Seng declined 149.06 points or 0.98% to 15,242.73.