Firm trade continues over Dalal Street

Firm trade continued over the Dalal Street in early afternoon deals, with Both Sensex and Nifty Trading higher, on the back of heavy buying at almost all counters except Capital Goods and Industrials despite mixed cues from other Asian markets. Sun Pharma gained the most among major industry leaders on the BSE. Sentiments also remained optimistic, after Union Minister Jitendra Singh has said that India will emerge as the world’s third largest economy in Narendra Modi's third term as Prime Minister. He said the country has great stakes in the return of the Government headed by PM Modi in order to continue the upward trend in Bharat’s growth story.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed, after Japan's consumer sentiment improved further in January to the highest level in just over two years. The data from the Cabinet Office showed that the seasonally adjusted consumer confidence index rose to 38.0 in January from 37.2 in December. Further, this was the highest score since December 2021, when it was 38.8.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 71652.97, up by 513.07 points or 0.72% after trading in a range of 70846.04 and 71851.39. 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 by 0.97%, while Small cap index was up by 1.36%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Healthcare up by 2.11%, Basic Materials up by 1.21%, Bankex up by 1.21%, Auto up by 1.13% and Realty up by 1.10%, while Capital Goods down by 1.47% and Industrials down by 0.59% were the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Sun Pharma up by 3.80%, Axis Bank up by 2.13%, Tata Motors up by 2.08%, Bajaj Finserv up by 1.84% and HDFC Bank up by 1.65%. On the flip side, Larsen & Toubro down by 4.24%, Titan Co down by 1.05%, Nestle down by 0.36%, NTPC down by 0.30% and Hindustan Unilever down by 0.11% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the government is considering tweaking production linked incentive (PLI) schemes for certain sectors including textiles, food processing, and pharmaceuticals. A Cabinet note is finalised to seek approval for the changes from the top authorities. The changes would help these sectors attract more players.

The scheme was announced in 2021 for 14 sectors, including telecommunication, white goods, textiles, manufacturing of medical devices, automobiles, speciality steel, food products, high-efficiency solar PV modules, advanced chemistry cell battery, drones and pharma with an outlay of Rs 1.97 lakh crore. While certain sectors like electronics are doing well, others are not performing up to the mark.

The government has disbursed Rs 4,415 crore under PLI schemes for eight sectors, including electronics and pharma, till October this fiscal. A total of Rs 1,515 crore was disbursed in FY24 till October, while it was Rs 2,900 crore in 2022-23, when payments under the scheme commenced. The incentive amount was disbursed for large-scale electronics manufacturing, IT hardware, bulk drugs, medical devices, pharma, telecom, food processing, and drones. The schemes aim to attract investments and cutting-edge technology in key sectors; ensure efficiency, bring economies of size and scale in the manufacturing sector and make Indian companies and manufacturers globally competitive.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 21680.95, up by 158.85 points or 0.74% after trading in a range of 21448.85 and 21739.75. There were 39 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 4.70%, Sun Pharma up by 3.51%, Eicher Motors up by 2.91%, Divi's Lab up by 2.32% and Cipla up by 2.19%. On the flip side, Larsen & Toubro down by 4.18%, Titan Co down by 1.09%, Britannia down by 0.48%, NTPC down by 0.43% and SBI Life Insurance down by 0.34% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; Hang Seng declined 237.88 points or 1.51% to 15,465.57, Taiwan Weighted lost 145.07 points or 0.81% to 17,889.56, Shanghai Composite weakened 36.26 points or 1.28% to 2,794.27 and KOSPI dropped 1.72 points or 0.07% to 2,497.09, while Jakarta Composite gained 25.28 points or 0.35% to 7,217.50, Straits Times rose 4.83 points or 0.15% to 3,154.87 and Nikkei 225 surged 220.85 points or 0.61% to 36,286.71.