Domestic indices make bullish start of new week ahead of Budget, US Fed rate decision

Indian markets made gap-up opening on Monday tracking firm cues from other Asian counterparts with investors creating fresh positions amid hopes several central banks across the globe will start reducing interest rates to put struggling economies back on track. GDP data from several countries, and the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement, are among the key economic events this week. Also, domestically, investors are keeping close eye on developments regarding the interim budget in the ongoing week. Domestic indices soon gained traction and are trading in fine-fettle in early deals with gains of around 0.85% each on account of value buying. 

Some support came in as Union minister Ajay Bhatt said India is becoming self-reliant in defence production, and for the first time, leading the top 25 countries in defence exports. Traders took note of former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan’s statement that India needs to focus more on education and healthcare to become a developed economy by 2047. 

On the sectoral front, infrastructure industry stocks are in focus with report that as many as 431 infrastructure projects, each entailing an investment of Rs 150 crore or more, were hit by cost overrun of more than Rs 4.82 lakh crore in December 2023. In stock specific development, SJVN zoomed on order win for 100 MW solar project.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 71289.89, up by 589.22 points or 0.83% after trading in a range of 70880.54 and 71353.23. There were 26 stocks advancing against 4 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.67%, while Small cap index was up by 0.75%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Utilities up by 2.54%, Oil & Gas up by 2.24%, Power up by 2.12%, Energy up by 1.95% and PSU up by 1.72%, while IT down by 0.21%, Realty down by 0.16% and TECK down by 0.02% were the few losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Sun Pharma up by 2.17%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 2.00%, NTPC up by 1.86%, Power Grid up by 1.85% and Axis Bank up by 1.73%. On the flip side, JSW Steel down by 1.05%, ITC down by 0.76%, Infosys down by 0.75% and Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.03% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said ‘Every partner needs to collaborate to put India on course to becoming the third-largest economy by 2027-28, with a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) surpassing $5 trillion’.  At present, the Indian economy is estimated to be about $3.7 trillion. 

Sitharaman said with a common purpose of ease of doing business for nation building during India’s ‘Amrit Kaal’, all the stakeholders need to come together and contribute for benefits to citizen of India. She said this year’s theme of International Customs Day which is ‘Customs Engaging Traditional and New Partners with Purpose’ resonates with the Motto of ‘Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas’ given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

She highlighted many initiatives taken by Customs such as Faceless Assessment, Direct Port Delivery, Single Window Clearance, Authorised Economic Operator (AEO) Scheme need to evolve with overall objective of growth of trade and business. She also said special focus on MSMEs, new startups and inclusivity will align with the vision of the prime minister.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 21534.85, up by 182.25 points or 0.85% after trading in a range of 21429.60 and 21562.60. There were 38 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Adani Enterprises up by 4.48%, ONGC up by 4.21%, Adani Ports & SEZ up by 2.80%, Sun Pharma up by 2.79% and SBI Life Insurance up by 2.67%. On the flip side, Cipla down by 2.40%, Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 1.36%, LTIMindtree down by 0.81%, JSW Steel down by 0.76% and ITC down by 0.67% were the top losers.

All Asian markets are trading higher; Nikkei 225 surged 388.59 points or 1.08% to 36,139.66, Hang Seng jumped 149.79 points or 0.93% to 16,102.02, Taiwan Weighted rose 93.88 points or 0.52% to 18,088.91, KOSPI increased 37.24 points or 1.48% to 2,515.80, Jakarta Composite gained 24.19 points or 0.34% to 7,161.28, Shanghai Composite added 8.59 points or 0.29% to 2,918.81 and Straits Times was up by 0.14 points or 0% to 3,159.67.