Markets continue fine fettle trade in late afternoon session

Indian equity markets continued to trade firm in late afternoon session following positive cues from European markets. Barring banking stocks, there was buying across all sectoral indices. Investors took support amid largely positive signals from global markets as robust US labour market data offered the latest evidence of strength in the world's largest economy. Sector wise, textiles industry remained in limelight as Union Minister for Textiles, Commerce and Industry and Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Piyush Goyal, has approved 11 project proposals related to technical textiles worth nearly Rs 103 crore. These project proposals include nine R&D projects, one project on machine development and one project on equipment development. 

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed even as softening Fed expectations and bullish forecasts on AI demand lifted technology stocks. European markets were trading higher continuing the tech-inspired global rally as investors shake off the negative sentiment from earlier in the week.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 71632.37, up by 445.51 points or 0.63% after trading in a range of 71542.74 and 71895.64. There were 23 stocks advancing against 7 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 1.28%, while Small cap index was up by 0.90%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were PSU up by 2.17%, Oil & Gas up by 2.05%, Metal up by 1.52%, Telecom up by 1.47% and Energy was up by 1.46%, while Bankex down by 0.08% was the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel up by 3.48%, NTPC up by 3.09%, Tech Mahindra up by 2.56%, Tata Steel up by 2.33% and Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.16%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 3.83%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.05%, HDFC Bank down by 0.88%, SBI down by 0.38% and Power Grid down by 0.19% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, with renewed focus on next generation administrative reforms, the Government has 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.  

The scheme will take up ambitious next generation administrative reforms in matching with the new aspirations of Viksit Bharat. The revamped Scheme for Administrative Reforms has 2 verticals: Comprehensive System for Redressal of Public Grievances and Administrative Reforms.

The Scheme for Comprehensive System for Redressal of Public Grievances has an allocation of Rs 128 crore seeks to take forward the 10-Step Centralised Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS) reforms aimed at improving quality of grievance redressal and reducing timelines by developing an AI enabled comprehensive system for redressal of Public Grievances. 

The Scheme for Administrative Reforms with an allocation of Rs 107 crore seeks to utilize the resources for the various schemes including Scheme for Prime Minister’s Awards for Excellence in Public Administration for 2024-25 and 2025-26, National e-Governance Awards Scheme for 2024-25 and 2025-26 and Conduct of Civil Services Day Conferences.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 21595.60, up by 133.35 points or 0.62% after trading in a range of 21575.00 and 21670.60. There were 38 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bharti Airtel up by 3.52%, ONGC up by 3.34%, NTPC up by 3.07%, Tech Mahindra up by 2.51% and Tata Steel up by 2.40%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 3.78%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.03%, HDFC Bank down by 0.88%, SBI down by 0.33% and Power Grid down by 0.28% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; Nikkei 225 surged 497.1 points or 1.38% to 35,963.27, Taiwan Weighted added 453.73 points or 2.57% to 17,681.52, KOSPI increased 32.70 points or 1.32% to 2,472.74 and Straits Times was up by 13.21 points or 0.42% to 3,152.99. On the flip side, Shanghai Composite weakened 13.5 points or 0.48% to 2,832.28, Jakarta Composite plunged 50.7 points or 0.7% to 7,202.27 and Hang Seng was down by 83.1 points or 0.54% to 15,308.69.

European markets were trading higher; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 44.06 points or 0.59% to 7,503.15, France’s CAC rose 16.4 points or 0.22% to 7,417.75 and Germany’s DAX was up by 40.73 points or 0.25% to 16,608.08.