Benchmarks extend gains in late morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks extended gains in late morning deals, led by gains in PSU, Banking and Energy stocks. Sentiments remained up-beat as the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) data, released by the National Statistical Office showed that the jobless rate in urban India marginally declined further in Q3 (October-December) of FY24 to 6.5 per cent from 6.6 per cent in the preceding quarter, thus reflecting continued improvement in the labour markets. Some optimism also came as Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri lauded the economic growth of India, citing a robust expansion of 7.6 per cent in the last three quarters. Puri highlighted the significant strides made in employment across government, public, private, and informal sectors. He expressed optimism about India's economic trajectory, referencing projections from international analysts and rating agencies forecasting India's economy to rank among the top three globally within the next five years. On the global front, Asian markets are trading mixed ahead of a key U.S. inflation report that could help shape the Federal Reserve's rates outlook and determine the timing of interest rate cuts.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 71452.52, up by 380.03 points or 0.53% after trading in a range of 70924.30 and 71505.67. There were 22 stocks advancing against 8 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.36%, while Small cap index was down by 0.41%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were PSU up by 1.32%, Bankex up by 1.13%, Energy up by 0.92%, Oil & Gas up by 0.60% and Auto up by 0.57%, while Metal down by 2.19%, Basic Materials down by 1.28%, Realty down by 1.20%, IT down by 0.50% and Power down by 0.45% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ICICI Bank up by 2.15%, NTPC up by 1.58%, Axis Bank up by 1.37%, SBI up by 1.14% and Bajaj Finserv up by 1.13%. On the flip side, Wipro down by 0.54%, HCL Technologies down by 0.52%, Infosys down by 0.50%, JSW Steel down by 0.43% and Tech Mahindra down by 0.39% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, India’s industrial production growth slowed to 3.8 per cent in December 2023, mainly due to poor performance of mining and power generation segments. The factory output growth measured in terms of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) was at 5.1 per cent in December 2022. In November last year, IIP growth stood at 2.4 per cent. During April-December period of this fiscal, IIP growth touched 6.1 per cent, up from 5.5 per cent in the corresponding period a year ago. For the month of December 2023, the Quick Estimates of Index of Industrial Production (IIP) with base 2011-12 stood at 151.5.

As per the latest data, the manufacturing sector’s output growth accelerated to 3.9 per cent in December 2023 as against 3.6 per cent a year ago. However, the Electricity sector growth slowed to 1.2 per cent in December 2023 from 10.4 per cent growth in the year-ago period. The mining output growth also declined to 5.1 per cent in the month under review from 10.1 per cent in the same period a year ago. The Indices of Industrial Production for the Mining, Manufacturing and Electricity sectors for the month of December 2023 stood at 139.4, 150.6 and 181.6 respectively. 

As per use-based classification, the output of primary goods logged 4.6 per cent growth in December last year, down from 8.5 per cent in the year-ago period. The capital goods segment growth decelerated to 3.2 per cent in December 2023 compared to a growth of 7.8 per cent in the year-ago period. The expansion in intermediate goods segment was 3.4 per cent in the latest month under review, higher than 1.5 per cent recorded in the same period a year ago.

According to the data, infrastructure/construction goods reported a deceleration at 4.1 per cent in December 2023 compared to 11 per cent expansion in the same period a year ago. Consumer durables output expanded 4.8 per cent in December 2023. It had contracted 11.2 per cent in December 2022. Consumer non-durable goods output slowed to 2.1 per cent compared to 7.9 per cent expansion in December 2022.

The indices stood at 151.7 for Primary Goods, 103.3 for Capital Goods, 159.3 for Intermediate Goods and 177.9 for Infrastructure/ Construction Goods for the month of December 2023. Further, the indices for Consumer durables and Consumer non-durables stood at 114.0 and 178.0 respectively for the month of December 2023.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 21707.30, up by 91.25 points or 0.42% after trading in a range of 21543.35 and 21725.00. There were 37 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Coal India up by 3.17%, UPL up by 2.62%, ICICI Bank up by 2.06%, Hero MotoCorp up by 1.68% and HDFC Life Insurance up by 1.47%. On the flip side, Hindalco down by 13.59%, Grasim Industries down by 1.82%, Adani Enterprises down by 0.88%, JSW Steel down by 0.66% and Wipro down by 0.59% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mixed; Nikkei 225 surged 920.53 points or 2.43% to 37,817.95 and KOSPI increased 23.83 points or 0.9% to 2,644.15. On the flip side, Jakarta Composite plunged 64.12 points or 0.89% to 7,233.55 and Straits Times fell 19.55 points or 0.63% to 3,118.75.