Benchmarks extend gains in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks extended gains in morning deals, led by gains in Banking. Healthcare and Auto stocks. Traders took support as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) raised India’s growth projection for 2024-25 (FY25) by 20 basis points (bps) to 6.5 per cent in its World Economic Outlook (WEO) update on Tuesday, citing buoyant domestic spending and improved global growth prospects. For FY24, the IMF raised India’s growth estimate by 40 bps to 6.7 per cent compared to its October report. Traders took a note of report that the government is considering tweaking production linked incentive (PLI) schemes for certain sectors including textiles, food processing, and pharmaceuticals. On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly in red as investors looked ahead to the Federal Reserve's interest-rate decision later in the day for clues to the Fed's rate trajectory. The U.S. central bank is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged, but the accompanying statement could have a significant impact on the outlook for rates. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 71521.72, up by 381.82 points or 0.54% after trading in a range of 70846.04 and 71573.51. There were 23 stocks advancing against 7 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.82%, while Small cap index was up by 1.24%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Bankex up by 1.50%, Healthcare up by 1.41%, Auto up by 1.18%, Basic Materials up by 0.88% and Consumer Discretionary up by 0.81%, while Capital Goods down by 2.19%, Industrials down by 1.08%, Consumer Durables down by 0.29% and Telecom down by 0.22% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Motors up by 2.50%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.04%, ICICI Bank up by 2.04%, Indusind Bank up by 1.90% and Axis Bank up by 1.85%. On the flip side, Larsen & Toubro down by 5.63%, Titan Company down by 1.60%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.42%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.35% and Wipro down by 0.28% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers has said that the government has allowed a profit margin of up to 12 per cent for manufacturers of potassium and potassic fertilisers as part of guidelines issued to evaluate the reasonableness of maximum retail prices for these fertilisers.

In efforts to curb possible instances of companies making unreasonable profits from the sale of the fertilisers, the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers came out with the guidelines with retrospective effect. The guidelines for evaluation of the reasonableness of maximum retail prices (MRPs) of P&K fertilisers under the Nutrient Based Subsidy (NBS) Policy was issued on January 18, 2024 but will be effective from April 1, 2023. GST will be excluded from the evaluation of the reasonableness of MRPs.

For importers of P&K fertilisers, including di-ammonium phosphate (DAP) and Muriate of Potash (MoP), the profit margin allowed is 8 per cent. It has permitted 10 per cent profit for manufacturers and 12 per cent for integrated manufacturers. Unreasonable profit earned by the company will have to be refunded, or else it will be recovered by the ministry or adjusted with the future subsidy payment, as per the guidelines. In case of urea, the government fixes MRP and pays the difference between the cost of production and retail prices as a subsidy to companies.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 21620.35, up by 98.25 points or 0.46% after trading in a range of 21448.85 and 21649.30. There were 33 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 3.87%, Tata Motors up by 2.66%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.90%, Axis Bank up by 1.86% and ICICI Bank up by 1.74%. On the flip side, Larsen & Toubro down by 5.82%, Titan Company down by 1.66%, SBI Life Insurance down by 0.93%, Tata Consumer Product down by 0.81% and Britannia Industries down by 0.60% were the top losers.